Remy: Thompson seedless are naturally small berries. What you are seeing is somewhere near the normal berry size of that cultivar. Commercial growers achieve larger berries by spraying gibberellic acid to first thin the fruit off each cluster and then to plump up the remaining berries. They also use other tricks like girdling the trunk. You could do this. It's not that hard. But it doesn't increase the flavor or sweetness and may do the opposite. Doing a better job of pruning, thinning, and other cultural tasks can increase berry size somewhat if they are limiting factors. Commercially berry size increase is used only for Thompsons destined for table grape use or other special applications like Jumbo raisins. The normal raisins are grown with small berries just like yours. So the vast majority of Thompsons are grown like yours with small berries.

1. Grape spacing at 8ft is OK but your math may be wrong. You have 64ft (8x8) of grapes in a 50ft row. 2. Varies by spacing but I would go with two posts. 3. Yes. 4. Red raspberries, like Heritage, sucker freely and will continue to fill in all available empty space. If you are not going to put them in a raised bed, then put in a physical barrier to slow their spread into your blackberry area. You can use a few cinder blocks and dig down about 4-6â to set them. It wonâÂÂt fully prevent the red raspberry spread but it will keep it manageable. There are a number of online resources with pictures, measurements, and advice for grape trellises. I would highly suggest reviewing those if you have not already. You didnâÂÂt ask but IâÂÂm going to provide my opinion on your blackberry and raspberry selections (thatâÂÂs what we do in this forum). - Triple Crown is great but you need 8ft between the plants. - Black Satin is not so good. It will overlap your TC harvest in late summer and will likely get infested with SWD. The flavor is poor too. Try an earlier fruiting variety like Osage or Ouachita (3-4ft spacing) and you will have a longer period of blackberry production and avoid SWD on the earlier varieties. - There are newer varieties of red raspberry that are superior to Heritage. Both Prelude and Caroline would be very good choices for red raspberries.

Okay, so you got the "grape growing bug" huh? Many people live in their homes for over 20 years and from day one often thought about growing some sort of fruit tree or another yet put it off for some reason. Many of their neighbours could be known to have such trees and could have planted them 10, 20 or even 30 years ago and its odd that most people don't pickup on that and get going themselves. Now for the real speech when it comes to growing grapes. Your best bet is to hit the garden centers in the spring and you'll probably pay about 10 bucks or so for a gallon pail with a vine in it. Buy at least 3 so they have company :) That's the easiest way and most newbies can do it this way. Once your vine(s) starts producing fruit, no matter what you initially paid to get it all going, the amount your vines yield will far exceed the low startup costs. Those thinking ahead to next spring should be doing many many other things right now-during the fall and yep, sometimes some of it can be done during the winter too. There's a fair amount of prep to get ready for your vines that will be available at the garden centers or nurseries next spring. First of all you should check with some of them and find out exactly when they get them each year and they'll give you a close enough date. Before that though, you have to worry about where you'll position these ever-advancing vines, you can't really change them to another location later on unless you are pretty lucky or you get advice from someone with more experience. Soil bed preperation is very very important and you'll need to prepare some kind of trellis-these things get realllll heavy too so be prepared to build strong supports. Choices for supports are the older cast iron plumbing pipes that are often ripped out of renovated homes and you use angle joiners etc. to make an overhead trellis. You can also use thick posts such as 4X4's-the kind used for fence building and build something that resembles a child's jungle gym. If you plan on placing the vines near your home, you can use thick wire or thick nylon mesh, or wooden lattice affixed to the home's walls to support the vines but remember this, the vines and fruit can weigh well into the hundreds of pounds during the years they produce decent amounts. Trust me on this too, you need to read read and then read about proper yearly maintenance-fertilizer, soil testing, cutting/pruning back once in awhile. Yeah I know, its sad to cut back something you desire to keep growing really fast but it IS important to do this, the pruning part is important to get rid of slow or poorly growing shoots and once pruned, the vines seem to take off once again. The dead stuff you ignore, stresses the vine s even more so get rid of the ugly stuff and treat the vines with the respect they deserve. Yep, some people I know have grown pretty good Concords and work at it alot all summer long and then again, some I know just abuse the heck out of them-the usual "I inherited these with the home I bought and I hate the things so I hope they die thing." The latter seem to grow more aggressively and maybe just maybe they're telling the guy something ya think (spite?)? To summarize the yearly yield thing here in as short an answer as possible, they do NOT always grow ALOT each year and some years they seem to just need a break as do crabapple trees and plum trees too. I live in the western part of Canada, we get pretty nice weather starting in May and it usually goes right until Halloween and almost always the grapes have been picked by then. I still have some Concords ripening right now, has alot to do with the fact we haven't had any frost this time of year but its coming. For making wine from these grapes, the first frost seems to help and they've always ripened at that point but frost seems to increase their sugar content without rotting them by then. Lastly, "if" you can find a friend or neighbour or someone in your city who's willing to provide you with some cuttings, try them too, you might be surprised in how well they grow. For this thread, too much to explain at why you could get some right now and keep them in the refrigerator (in peat moss) and they'd be okay to start next spring if so desired. Google it or search around and you'll find out how easy that really is. Yes I know, some things seem quite bizarre but strange things can and do work and I use this example: Where I live almost all seeds for the garden advise against planting anything until after the last frost. Well, on a package of dill seeds it also advises this. This year's dill will drop alot of stray seeds in my garden and come next spring when the garden is near frozen, I've got seedlings going-everywhere! Also, root crops can be planted late in the fall and by next spring they do start growing on their own. Carrots are easy and carrot seeds started now will lay dormant during the 6 months I'll see snow on the ground and then they'll grow with a vengeance next spring. Beets, turnips, some onions etc.-same thing, plant now. I've used these examples because for the grapes, they're even hardier than the dill and carrots so if they can grow here under many different conditions, harsh winters and serious owner neglect, if you are more serious and dedicated to growing your own for jelly, juice and wine etc., then you shouldn't have much to worry about. Personally, I'm quite serious about it and I protect my vines very well each winter-going on 12 years now-they need to be placed where there's little traffic around them and do NOT trample on their beds when the earth is rock-solid frozen if you can help it. Same goes for the spring when they put alot of energy into pushing away their former "winter blues." And for heaven's sakes, put aside the budget-starter-from-seed-thing and pay the nurseries or garden centers for the things they import each year and you'll be glad you did. When you need a helping hand, I'm sure they'll help as much as they possibly can. Grape vines can also teach you alot about patience to be sure. Good luck and I hope this addition reaches those who've asked before me....

I get some hot flashes sometimes - but that is all I get. You can not tell, unless I am ripping some piece of clothing off. :) I feel fine. Great. I am increasing my weight bearing exercises to help with bone health. I also take magnesium (The Magnesium Miracle by Dr. Carolyn Dean). And Iodoral iodine along with 200 mcg of selenium. EVERY DAY. Then, there is the Vit D3 with K2. Vit C far away from the iodine. CoQ10. Resveratrol/grape seed/blueberry tabs. Gingko biloba. Sometimes some garlic. I just bought some cinnamon with milk thistle. My triglycerides always run high. I bought a blood test online and want to take the cinnamon for awhile to see if it helped at all. But, I feel no different. Well, there is NO PMS. No bloat. No ruined clothing. No buying pads/tampons. Free at last. Good luck and good health to you!!