it will really help to know where you are ...

might want to throw in some info about soil.. wind.. temps.. etc ...

your indication that you farm is a great start... but relevant facts might get you more precise info ...

the biggest problem i had with my minor grape experience.. is .. not unlike tomato ... you cant wait for the first bunch or two... but you better start thinking about the other 40,000 pounds you will end up with.. if you are successful .. lol .. it better be a REALLY BIG table... lol because they will all come ripe within minutes of each other ... so you might also want to consider a type that is not only good table eating.. but also has other purposed which excite you... are you interested in wine grapes .. jelly grapes.. raisin grapes.. etc ... is suspect not all fit all categories ...

we await your info..

ken

I'm zone 6-7 depending on which map you look at lol, the joys of the great lakes basin. Our farm is very much clay, but we amend as need be and where need be, i also raise a lot of poultry (turkeys, ducks and chickens mostly but i have quail and other odds and ends). As with the tomatoes and what not that are surplus from the garden, anything that we don't use, or that our family and friends cant the birds get as a treat! they go crazy for gooseberries. I would ideally like to get one or two plants each of a couple cultivars that would ripen at different times. Or at least that's the goal. As nice as it would be to do other things with the grapes then just eat them, we don't have time, but we do eat a fair bit of fruit, a big bag of grapes from the store is good for every ones lunch bout it, we like to have them out for snacking on too. And we have a pretty long growing season here, lots of sun, and the poultry keeps the bugs down. there are different areas we can plant them on the farm, some more exposed then others, but the wind in general doesn't seam too bad.

I hope that helps some ;)
Thanks

You won't do much better than Jupiter a black, hardy, seedless table grape. I'm eating some right now that were forced late by pruning. It has a bit of Muscat flavor.

Other possibilities are Glenora, Reliance, and Canadice.

I am in zone 7 in the East. I just removed three arbors of grapes. They were more trouble than they were worth. I tried several varieties, but store bought were better grapes to eat. We don't make jelly or jam, but I did make raisins a couple years, but still have several quarts left from last year. This climate just will not produce decent eating grapes. We like the thick skin grapes that you can take a bite out of. These are some of the varieties that I have grown for 10 years or so. Villard Blanc, Jupiter, Neptune, Canadice, Himrod, Reliance, Vanessa, Concord (seedless and seeded) and two varieties of Muscadines. Insects killed the Muscadines (or a combination of drought and cold)Himrod made the best raisins! But, Himrod developed a very poor crop most years. I even tried Flame but they only produced very small grapes. The closest grape to what we like were Canadice.

Raisin making was a chore using dehydrators. First, you have to pick over the grapes which takes forever.The grapes would dry at different times so they had to be checked and picked over many times over a 24-36 hour time period. I used different dehydrators so I know the inconsistent drying problem was the moisture content of the grape as well as hot spots in the dehydrators.

The one thing I will miss is walking by one of the arbors and grabbing a handful of grapes. But, still there is a lot of spraying to prevent fungal diseases as well as insects, japanese beetles and bees, animals such as foxes and birds. Foxes get the low ones and birds and bees the rest. Also, the climate is too hot and too humid. Oh, did I mention they all seem to get ripe at the same time!

They were more trouble than they were worth.

===>>> yeah.. i didnt want to mention that part.. they seemed so enthusiastic.. lol ...

the drunken wasps and bees in fall.. from the ones that fell to the ground.. really put a nix on the enjoyment of the rest.. since i had toddlers at that time ...

but .. a farm.. with much space.. go for it ..

ken

I'll plant them near the carnivorous bog, that should help thin the wasps down lol! It does sound a bit troublesome, but i think i'd still like to try one or two, Jupiter sounds promising, will just be a matter of tracking it down!
Thanks!

I planted Concord (for juice/jelly) and Canadice for fresh use. Both grew well and bore well this season. However, the wasps attacked my ripening Canadice mid-August and ruined 1/2 my crop. I ended up purchasing 3 wasp traps that I hung from the wires and had to empty out every 3 days. The concord ripen late sept/early oct here and escaped the wasp issue by that time. I hope I can get a
better crop of Canadice in 2012 as they have great flavor.