Growing Table Grape Varieties for Subtropical Hawaii Using Organic Practices

Grape Survivors 2015-2022 Rainfall Chart Kawanui Farm 2003RESEARCH Objectives:GrowingTableGrapes_Web

Project site:  Kawanui Farm is located at the 1,450 foot elevation on the western side of the Hualalai Volcano in the Kona District of Hawaii Island. The soil composition is rich basalt volcanic ash and the average rainfall is 42 inches but we have measured a low of 23 inches in 2003 and high of 123 inches in 2004.  2020 is looking like rainfall totals will be more than 100 inches. The farm faces southwest and the land is gently sloping. The vineyards use the modified Geneva Curtain style of grape trellis that has been sustainably built using old growth redwood from recycled water tanks. To my knowledge we are the first modern age people to live on this land, so the soils have always been used organically.

Final Report:  Climate change has come to the Hawaiian Islands.  Our rainfall from 2019-2021 was almost 100 inches each year without our usual 6-month dry season which is very unusual.  Coincidently, the timing coincided with our SARE project, and created some difficulties for grape varieties that don't like a wet and cloudy climate year round. However, but...as it turned out, it created an extreme "vetting" situation and because many of the varieties that had some subtropical genetics in their parent lines were able to survive and produce tasty grapes.  2022 and 2023 so far have been more "normal."  More sun and more dry days, and a more distinct wet/dry season....conditions that grapes favor.   An electronic copy of our Booklet is attached above that will provide more details.  

Objective One:  Observe and record information for each of the fifty six grape varieties that have been vetted in the five vineyards.  (Observation Criteria in" Other Documents") Research findings year 1:  Gerry has over 100 pages of observations and notes from 2015-2022 following the Observation Criteria in Other Documents.  A summary of that information will be included here in attached documents.  A representative selection of notes and photos will be made into documents that will be included in this report.  See Log Book and Red Folder Summary and Photos documents (attached) Research findings year 2: Gerry has continued through year 2 to record observations in his Log Book.  We received 16 new grape variety scions from UC Davis in 2020 and out of that group only 5 varieties grew well, 2 of those we have not yet tasted.  Grape varieties with some subtropical (wild) parent genetics were best suited to Hawaii's unique climate and soil conditions.  We have wild chickens that decided they liked ripe grapes also!  Gerry chose grape clusters that were out of their reach and bagged them as they turned color and this solved the problem.  Grape varieties that were slow to get started in the Spring, were more subject to Chinese Beetle damage, but some of those slower varieties caught up and were able to grow a good amount of leaf coverage to support flowering and fruiting.  Varieties that grew quickly in the Spring and/or had the subtropical wild trait of white "felting" on the underside of the leaf were ignored by the Chinese Beetles.  Each of the 12 varieties grow at different rates, have different structure and leaf patterns, different timing for flowering and fruiting, and different cluster and grape sizes.   They all received the same organic implements and respond well to additions of on-farm compost, wood ash and bone meal.  All vineyards are covered with a thick layer of leaves recycled from trees and plants growing on the farm.  Mulch helped to preserve moisture and cool the soil during dry periods, while breaking down and forming compost.  See Booklet Chapter 8 for detailed information on varieties. Chapter 8

Objective Two:  Research, observe, and document how best to prune and train each grape variety at the right time, with the right technique, the right amount of pruning, and create a dormancy period.  Research findings year 1:  The needed dormancy period for grapes was helped by a return to dry weather and cold nights.  All the leaves that had not already fallen were removed by hand by the end of December.   Right now (February 2022) Gerry is pruning all the vineyards and observing and documenting pruning by variety.  Two varieties began to bud out very early, at the end of January, and so they were pruned much earlier than we have ever pruned before, but each variety is different.  By the end of February all the grapes will be pruned and any scions will be planted out in the greenhouse.   Summary of observations will be included in this report.  (see Red Folder document and Blog #4 www/kawanuifarm.org for additional information on pruning) Research findings year 2:  Climate change is asking farmers to change their practices and respond to what our crops are telling us.  The 2022-2023 pruning season saw drier days and cooler nights, which facilitated a greater leaf drop from most of the varieties in November and December.  Something we had not seen in previous years. Gerry helped dormancy by removing the last leaves in early December.  Grapes began to bud out in January facilitating pruning that started in early February.  All varieties were pruned by first week of February.  Over the past 7 years of experimenting with various amounts of pruning, Gerry has discovered that in the subtropics, grape varieties need to be pruned yearly at 98% of the year's growth.  That may sound like a lot, but some varieties can grow stems up to 30 feet in length.  We continue to use the modified Geneva Double Curtain Trellis system (from Cornell) to maximize vine growth area.  This system has proven to be very successful.  More vine area means more leaves, more flowers and grape clusters.  See Booklet Chapters 5 and 6 for more details on Training and Pruning.

Objective Three:  Experiment with, observe, and document sustainable organic growing methods that will achieve optimum growth, plant health, and eventually excellent taste. No outside inputs will be used, instead on-farm nutrients will be recycled creating compost and mulching systems.  Research findings year 1:  We applied compost, bone meal/shells, wood ash, kelp, when the vines when needed during their growing season, not during their dormant period.  Now that spring has begun in the subtropics (this year it was the end of January 2021) we are watering and applying compost and kelp to awaken them, as they had been dry for three months.  We have kept a thick layer of mulch on the surface of all the vineyards to protect the soil and preserve moisture as the late fall and winter this year has been very sunny and dry with 1/2 to 1 inch of rain per month.  All varieties are given the same treatment, varieties that did not grow well in 2021 were removed and more promising varieties were planted in those spots.  Just because a variety did not do well here, is not a reflection on organic practices.  Low input sustainable systems are essential for future food production in Hawaii.  The 14 varieties that have survived and thrived indicate that some varieties of table grapes can be successfully grown in Hawaii, however we have not tasted all the varieties, hopefully that will happen this summer.  Taste will be the final component.  Research findings year 2:  We followed the same practices as outlined above in 2022-23.  Two varieties were removed due to poor performance, two are on probation, but....you can't judge too quickly as some varieties are slow to get going, but then in the next year or so they become acclimatized and begin growing well.  Grapes don't like a lot of nitrogen, as that produces mostly vine and leaves to the detriment of flower and fruit production, so our compost which is highly diverse and well broken down, seems perfect for grape production.  We continued to recycle as mulch (composting in place) all the leaves from every tree that were cut back this year on the farm.  Mulch in the subtropics is essential as tropical sunlight and pounding rains can erode soil structure.  Recycling on-farm organic matter helps to create on-farm sustainability in the subtropics.  In Hawaii, we have so many invasive species that move around in organic matter and impact production that creating a closed loop of farm soil implements is essential.  The Little Fire Ant alone, necessitates this practice.  Organic systems work the best for the plants and for the food that is eaten by us humans.  See Chapter 4 in Booklet for more details.  

Objective Four:  Observe and record the effects of climate change on the grape varieties chosen for the vineyards. Research findings year 1:  There had been 3 years of constant rain (90+") during 2019, 2020, and 2021 in an area that "traditionally" has a 6 month wet 6 month dry season.  Also, the temperature  was well below normal, days and nights quite cool, and days cloudy.  The grapes all still grew, but some of the varieties died, the Chinese Beetles decimated others, and so this 3 year period was an extreme vetting process.  Of the 56 varieties 14 remain healthy and promising after 6 years.   The weather has returned to its normal wet/dry cycle in late 2021.  The winter nights have been cool down to 56 degrees.  Soils in Kona are very porous with good drainage, but the 3 years of rain depleted minerals even with a layer of mulch on the surface of the soil the soil has become a bit harder.  Because our volcanic ash soils have been organically managed for 24 years, Gerry knows they will come back from any loss of nutrients in 2019-2021.  We continue to apply additional farm grown compost, but it's important not to provide too much nutrition, as we don't the plants to be all leaf and vine.  Grapes are grown traditionally in drier hotter areas, and so many of them are right at home.  With these changes in climate we had poor fruit production last summer, and the grapes that did fruit had diminished taste.  Even with subtropical parent lines, many grape varieties cannot grow and produce well with constant rainfall, but luckily, there are very few areas of Hawai'i that have a 12 month rainy season.  Part of the vetting process, in today's climatic rollercoaster, will be to observe and find varieties that will weather these extremes and thrive.  Research Findings year 2: The weather and climate in the Central Pacific is changing.  As described above 2019-2021, rainfall increased from a normal 40" a year to almost 100" per year, with rainfall coming from a new direction, the Southwest.  Warm moist air moved northward from the equator toward the Hawaiian Islands driven by new wind patterns that we have not see in the last 50 years.  Grapes usually like dry and warm or hot weather, not wet and cloudy.  However, the unusual weather helped us vet varieties that could be tough and hardy in extremes which may become the norm. Other observations include increased invasive species that have decimated our avocado trees, Kona Coffee crop, and other trees and crops.  There are no grapes being grown on Hawaii Island so there are no grape diseases here yet, and the only pest has been the Chinese Beetle. We discovered that varieties with subtropical wild genetics (white felting on the back of the leaf) are a deterrent to the beetle.  In the Autumn when grape leaves would naturally fall in temperate climates, the Chinese Beetles come out helping us bring the grapes into dormancy.  In 2022-23, our wet/dry season has been somewhat more normal with more sunny days and dryness that the grapes prefer.   

Objective Five:  Taste and record the flavor profile of every grape variety.  Grapes produced in these systems must have excellent taste.  Research Findings year 1: Due to extreme rainfall and many varieties still young (including all he 2020 UC Davis scions), there was poor grape production last summer and we were unable to taste many of the varieties.  Of those we did taste, none of them were very sweet and the number of clusters was greatly diminished.  We expect all this to change in this summer's fruiting, as the weather has been dry and hot, exactly what grapes like.  Research Findings year 2:  Grapes do not start producing fruit until the third or fourth year, are in their prime in six to eight years, and then produce at that level for the next 100 years.  This summer, our twelve producing varieties in the five vineyards were between two and seven years old.  A few had good production like Tamiami (around 300 grapes clusters on 4 vines) but many of the varieties only were beginning to produce fruit.  We were able to taste nine of the twelve varieties and their flavor profiles are documented in Chapter 8. We made some excellent raisins with 5 of the varieties, with Tamiami being the best tasting.  All the varieties are seeded grapes, as they have a more deep and wide flavor profile, and the small seed in the raisin, after dehydrating the grapes had a tiny crunch that was acceptable.  We were able to produce juice from 6 of the varieties, that varied in sweetness and flavor.  A detailed description of each is found in Chapter 8 of the Booklet.  

We are looking forward to the next decade of production to expand our culinary production and we hope that many growers across the Hawaiian Islands will also be adding grapes to their garden or farm production.  The first grape, the Isabella, was thought to have come to the Hawaiian Islands in 1792, so it has taken 230 years for this research to get started.  We are grateful for this opportunity to be able to begin to research and grow this important addition to Hawaii's diet.  We are grateful and stand on the shoulders of those early grape breeders from Southern Florida, Texas, and Puerto Rico who made significant discoveries about growing grapes in subtropical environments.  These stories are outlined in the Introduction of the Booklet.  

Educational Objectives: 

Objective One:

Identify group of potential stakeholders statewide interested in learning to grow grapes.  Education year 1:  After reaching out to a list of grower organizations, a grower group of 110 stakeholders was identified statewide who are interested in learning to grow grapes.  All names are now part of our WIX website list serve.  This makes communication with the group easy when we send out our Shout-out and Blog, containing research information,  resource additions to the website, and new photos and videos.  We are pleased that so many people were interested.  Education year 2:  Our Stakeholder group grew this past year from 110 to 188.  Each of these growers signed up to receive our shoutouts informing them of new blogs, videos, and resources being added to our farm website.  We also answered every email sent to us and kept those in a Stakeholder file.  The group was diverse and all the Hawaiian Islands except Lanai were represented. About twenty people emailed us saying that had one variety of grape in their home garden but very few were happy with the production.  Temperate varieties are sold in Hawaii during the early Spring in a few nurseries,  usually hybrid seedless green or red varieties that never produce or grow well in the subtropics.  Link to Kawanui Farm website: https://www.kawanuifarm.org/aloha-grape-lovers    

Objective Two: Communicate ongoing research and educational information to stakeholder group that was identified in Objective One, in a short readable blog every four months for two years.  ( 6 blogs over 2 years) Education year 1:  By the end of March 2022, we will have posted 4 Blogs with interesting grape research information, links to new videos, photos, and resources. All Blogs are posted on www.kawanuifarm.org/blog  Education year 2:  We created an additional 5 Blogs this year for a total of 9 over 2 years, with additional shoutouts about interesting grape resources when we posted them.  As we added grape resources and/or reports to the website, which reflected Gerry's ongoing research notes, or other interesting grape resources we informed our Stakeholders.  We used Instagram #grapesforhawaii to post grape photos with short stories, and encouraged our Stakeholders to post any photos also.  We found that to be a difficult way to engage Stakeholders, as only a few people posted photos of their grapes in Hawaii. Link to Blogs: https://www.kawanuifarm.org/blog/categories/events   

Objective Three: Host an on-farm or virtual Demonstration/Workshop for stakeholders in August 2021. Education year 1:  Due to COVID, Objective Three has been modified and approved.  Instead of one in-person workshop in year 1,  we created 12 short videos each one illustrating an aspect that would have been covered in the workshop.  All videos have been posted on our farm website on our youtube channel.   https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpmu1Dkx7DJuTOspCgN9RdhB26_ZECk0m Gerry has also hosted 2 "mini-workshops" here for a morning with a few interested stakeholders who live in our area of Hawaii island.  They received a farm tour, and talk story with Gerry about his research documents and findings.  We keep in contact with many of our stakeholders by email as they ask questions and make comments.  We have a mini-group that have had Vineyards in California and now live in Hawaii.  We have 4 stakeholders in the Kona area and one on Oahu that we are sharing scions with in March 2022.  Education year 2: Again, we were unable to host an in person gathering due to COVID and decided to create a new series of instructional videos which was approved by SARE.  In year 2 we added another 10 grape instructional videos for a total of  22 on- farm instructional videos, with Gerry talking in each one about some aspect of grape production in the subtropics.  These videos are posted on our Kawanui Farm website and are listed also as a Product.  Each of these videos covers some aspect of production and we discovered that shorter videos, smaller bites of information,  were more interesting to our Stakeholders.  COVID is just beginning to lessen here in the Islands, and we hope to have one or two Grape Workshops in 2023-2024.  One on Pruning in the Winter of 2024 and one on the Summer Harvest and culinary possibilities in the Summer of 2023.   Link to videos: https://www.kawanuifarm.org/grapes   

Objective Four:  Host a second on-farm or virtual Demonstration/Workshop for stakeholders August 2022.  This Objective is for next summer.  We will need to evaluate where we are then with COVID.  Either we will make 10 more videos or have an in-person workshop.  In lieu of a Survey that would be given to workshop participants I thought of another way to fulfill that requirement.  IF we cannot have an in-person workshop in August 2022, we plan on reaching out to a group of 20 Stakeholders with the SARE Survey and ask them a few questions about our educational materials, were they effective, relevant, helpful, interesting, and compile the results.  I will submit the questions to SARE for approval.  Education year 2:  Objective Four follows what is written above.  We created more instructional videos for our Stakeholders.  We were able to figure out a way to gather feedback from our Stakeholder group statewide in an online Survey that was sent to everyone in February and March 2023, using the same format as the SARE in-person Survey.  We received approval from SARE after submitting the questions and format to Cayley.  Both the Excel Survey Results and Copy of the Survey Questions are attached.  We are pleased that 57 of our Stakeholders took the Survey who had been following our research and education program for the past 2 years, and we are pleased to see that so many of them learned new information that they will be applying or sharing with colleagues. SARE Survey for Grape StakeholdersSURVEY FOR OUR GRAPE STAKEHOLDERS(2023-04-09)

Objective Five: Write, publish, and mail a booklet “Growing Table Grapes in Subtropical Hawaii Using Organic Practices." Downloadable copy available on Kawanui Farm website.  Education year 1:  Once a week Gerry and I and sit down and write for a morning. We started writing the booklet last summer and we have written the Introduction and are on Chapter 6.  I have also been meeting with printers, because we would like this printed locally if possible, it will be a Spiral Bound plastic coated cover, with room for field notes at the back.  I think we are making good progress.  I would like to be finished by early next fall.  We need to wait until this coming summer of 2022 to actually taste many of the varieties that were planted years ago, and write up those chapters.   We bought our grape press and we are set to make juice, raisins, evaluate taste, etc.  Education year 2: We were able to finish writing and publish a 56 page Booklet that will inform Hawaii's Growers of the findings of our SARE grape research and education project from 2021-2023.  We were able to print 100 copies and mail them by March 31 to all Stakeholders who requested a copy.  We also mailed a copy to Western SARE c/o Bruna Irene Grimberg at Montana State University.  We also created a PDF for our website and sent a shoutout to all our Stakeholders informing them that they can read online or download.  This was an ambitious work, but a very important one to spread this research and education knowledge as widely as possible both within the State of Hawaii and any of the warmer regions of the US. GrowingTableGrapes_Web

Objective Six: Create a grape repository of successful varieties for Hawaii's growers. Education year 1:  We continue to vet varieties, and whittle down the weaker ones, and we are making scions available to a few stakeholders in our area this year 2022.  It is still our vision to offer scions of our best varieties ( there will be limited supply) to Stakeholders who are really interested in March 2023 along with our published booklet either mailed or downloadable on our farm website.   Education year 2:  In this past year, another 2 varieties were removed from the vineyards leaving 12 successful varieties out of the 58 trialed.  This year, we successfully shared scion wood and barefoot varieties with 8 growers on Hawaii Island.  In the future, we hope to be able to share our yearly scion wood variety list with our Stakeholders once a year and make these successful varieties available to some growers in the Hawaiian Islands.  Chapter 7 in our Booklet outlines all the possibilities for Hawaii's growers to start adding grapes to their farms or gardens. Chapter 7 Vetting Varieties