An answer to my questions from OMAFRA's Ken Maltby
Larry Paterson
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Hello Larry:
Ken Maltby
Ken has, through OMAFRA and personally, been very supportive to grape growers in Central Ontario. On the eve of the Canadian release of Frontenac vines (see Landot Family Information) it seems that
amateur and possibly commercial grapegrowing without extreme winter protection tactics may be at hand. I would like to publicly thank Ken for all his support, including a presentation (to the left) at the COVA seminars 2001.
I have no problem with you posting the following notes on your listserver, however, I want your readers to realize that some of the comments are personal observations reflecting my own experiences and lessons learned growing up on a dairy farm in the coldest county in southern Ontario (Dufferin), a few years of commercial market gardening, and many more years as a hobby gardener. I do not pretend to be anything more than a student of weather and its relationship to plant production, and expect that many of your readers can enlighten me on many of the issues I will attempt to address.
I spoke with a couple of guys in the office about the information you had requested last Friday.
We have a few County soil maps still available at the Lindsay OMAFRA office, however clients are encouraged to request maps and other services from the Agricultural Information Contact Centre (1-877-424-1300) at head office in Guelph. There is a $15 charge for these county soil maps now.
Topography maps, are not available through OMAFRA, however, the MNR on Water Street in Peterborough can provide you with these.
As for weather records, temperatures were often recorded for various soil and crop projects, monitoring spring, summer and fall temperatures. However with the amount of restructuring in OMAFRA within the past decade, colleagues in the Lindsay office could not provide you with any consistent information that would be of any value. Most of these records were thrown out when the local soil and crop advisor positions were eliminated. I suspect that Environment Canada would have historic data, but I doubt if there would be sufficient recording stations in the Peterborough area, to help you locate optimum micro-climes.
Larry, I believe that you are already working with the best criteria. I will add some of my personal comments to reinforce your own thoughts. Your pursuit of a property sloping to the south is of primary importance and probably more important than scouring soil and topography maps. Steeply sloping land throughout the Kawarthas, tends to be well drained (often a gravel-bottom) with poorer quality soil (if that's what you desire for grape production) and minimal depth due to erosion.
There is a general trend from warm to cooler as you move farther north (no surprise) but the difference between north and south Peterborough County is not as drastic as it is between South Peterborough and below the ridge in
Durham/Northumberland. There is a big reason that most commercial apple growers are located close to Lake Ontario. As you drive north beyond Orono, you lose the moderating effect of the Lake, not to mention the increased elevation.My colleagues agreed with your basic criteria for selecting a property, but not in your approach. They believe that topography maps may be less beneficial than putting the word out with a realtor, whom you trust, to look for a property that has:
1. south-facing slopes - many of the moraines in Peterborough County run southwest to northeast. I have heard different arguments over the years
about the best direction for situating your greenhouse or garden rows, in
order to maximize the heat from the sun. Some have suggested that facing
southeast is better than southwest. My preference has always been to face
sun-loving plants to the southwest. It has been my experience that the snow on the west side of the fence line, melts before the snow on the east side of the fence line. Some critics have told me this is because most of the cold winter winds come from the northwest, therefore there are deeper snow drifts on the east side of the fence, than on the west. I had always thought that because the air temperature is generally warmer in the afternoon, than in the morning (especially in late winter) that the snow on the east side of the fence (sun in the morning) lasts longer. Over the years I have also watched how the snow melts at ski hills in the spring, and again, I'm not convinced that the southeast is the warmest face.However, following the advice of growers with much more experience than I, they would suggest you site your greenhouse in a north-south direction, so that it can take advantage of the early morning rays of sunshine to warm it up as quickly as possible. As the air temperature is usually much warmer by mid-day and afternoon, it is the morning rays that you should focus on maximizing. A greenhouse that runs from north to south, or northwest to southeast, collects more morning heat that one running east to west. Another reason for choosing the southeast over the southwest has to do with chilling injury. I have heard some growers talk about "southwest injury". I believe it is an injury resulting from high afternoon temperatures on the bark of a tree, preceding the nighttime temperature dropping below zero. I'm not sure if this can cause problems with grape vines, but perhaps someone like Margaret Appleby could be consulted for her knowledge on these topics. 
2. Frost drain, regardless of the direction the slope faces, the bottom must provide a frost drain. Some of the moraines around the county have shallow mounds at their base that acts as trap, instead of a drain. Dense vegetation at the bottom of the hill can also act as a frost-trap. In either case, plant above the trap-line. It is easy to determine where the trap-line is by walking downhill (mid-morning or early evening) you will feel the cooler air when you hit the trap-line.3. Lake frontage, river frontage or large ponds can help create a micro-climate advantage. Many of the slopes around some of the lakes in this area would be great, if you can afford the property.4. Wind protection - if we again assume that the majority of our wind comes from the northwest, then situating your vineyard on the south/southeast
slope will help protect the vines - both in winter and in early spring. Also you can locate your vineyard in between protective tree borders. I know of many gardeners and homeowners who have successfully increased the temperatures in their gardens, backyards and homes by planting/not cutting down trees that act as wind breaks on the north and west sides.5. Mulches/row covers - you mentioned that covering your vines with a plastic mulch helped one of your members protect their vines. This is similar to the plasticulture techniques for growing heat-loving crops on black plastic mulche, then covering them with plastic supported by hoops -(mini-greenhouse effect). I have been using this system for almost 15 years. This past fall, I harvested my last head of boston leaf lettuce on November 8th using a mini-greenhouse system. Meanwhile unprotected cauliflower was taking a beating from the heavy frosts during October and November, only a few feet away from the lettuce. The lettuce had at least a 5 - 6 degree advantage inside the mini-greenhouse, although it surprised me how tough this variety of leaf lettuce actually was.One of the property location tactics suggested by one of my colleagues is to fly over the area in a small plane. From the air you can pick out a lot of desirable topographic details that you cannot observe from the road.Larry, in summary, I'm not sure that I have been much help in my ramblings above. Like I stated earlier, I'm a student, not a professor of this weather business. I hope my comments will stimulate some thinking and good conversation, over one of your favourite bottles of wine, of course.Good luck with your scouting!
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