There are many mustang grapes on my property. They make lots of grapes each year, but they taste like chili peppers.
In
2005, I decided to grow some interesting grapes I found in a local
nursery. One was called Himrod, another was Thompson seedless.
My neighbors said I couldn't grow grapes on a
Texas river bank, especially the river I lived on. I needed to be up
on a hilltop, where frost was rare.
They were right
about the
frost. I had late frosts every year. After a late frost, I would want
to cry. Almost all my vines would lose their flowers. No matter how
good I got at keeping them healthy the rest of the year, there would be
little or no fruit.
After
losing the 2009 crop to a late frost, I came across some vines
flowering on a river bank 30 miles from my home. I was on my way to
visit a place called 'Sand Hill', but to get there we crossed a number
of creeks. One had these magnificent flowering vines.
When I tasted the
fruit that fall, it was small, but very good. The obvious solution was breeding.
Why cry? As a breeder, the late frosts are just helping me select good vines.
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