The Selkirk College in collaboration with Okanagan College are offering a five (5) day course on vineyard management practices. This introductory level course titled "Cool Climate Viticulture: An Introduction" is being held March 30th-April 3, 2011 (Wednesday to Sunday) 9 am - 4 pm at Selkirk College in Nakusp.
Contact: Chris Faint (Coordinator, Selkirk College) at 250-265-4077 for further details.
This course will cover the topics of;
*The Grapevine - Grapevine phenology. Annual growth cycle of the vine. Stages of development.
*Grape Varieties & Rootstocks - Species of vines for viticulture. Popular grape varieties, their characteristics and strengths and weaknesses. Considerations when selecting a rootstock. Grafting.
*Vineyard Year - The major vineyard tasks from a management perspective.
*Site Establishment & Propagation - Cool climate considerations and its effect on the vineyard. Site selection. Preparing a site. Methods of propagating grape vines.
*Pruning & Trellising - Aims, timing and principles of pruning. Types of pruning systems. Determining yield through pruning. Choice of training and trellising systems.
*Soils & Nutrition - Suitable soil characteristics for viticulture. Soil nutrition and fertility. Soil management. Cover crop management. Grapevine nutrition.
*Irrigation - Principles of irrigation
*Canopy Management - Canopy microclimate. Canopy management techniques including shoot thinning, bunch thinning and leaf plucking. Assessing the canopy.
*Pest & Diseases - Major pest and diseases affecting grape vines and methods of prevention and control.
*Wine Quality - How quality wines start in the vineyard. Methods of harvesting. Analysis of grape composition and quality.
Field Trip to a local vineyard in Nakusp
Cost: $649 per person
The course is usually offered over a period of several weeks in Kelowna or Penticton this makes attending this course difficult for those who live in the interior. This is the first time such a course has been offered in Nakusp so if you are at all interested in this topic, or starting your own backyard or commercial vineyard, you absolutely should not miss this course.
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