Lisa's Photo Gallery: 

Growing Thompson Seedless Grapes



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Vineyards are usually pruned between December and February, when they are dormant. After pruning, the vines are tied to the wire. Buds start to swell in almond orchards in late January.


A vineyard before it has been pruned.


A different vineyard after its been pruned and tied.


Yes, really! The video camera WAS focused when taking the above picture. You can't see much because of the fog. January in Fresno County typically is cold and foggy. The fog rolls in overnight, and usually dissipates by noon, although some days the sun doesn't peek out at all.  

Here's what it looked like when the fog lifted. Oh, that's better.

Now let's get a close up of those beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains (about 40 miles away).

Late May... The grapes are blooming! Really, those are blooms, but they are so small that the only way to see them is by stopping your car and actually going out into the field to look - even the video image above doesn't show them very well.

Other images from the end of May.

 


By early July, the fruit cluster is swelling, though small and not sweet yet. The fields are being sulfured to control mildew.

Now they are ready to be harvested!

  
Grapes are cut by hand and laid on trays to dry in the hot sun.  (Grapes which will be used for grape juice and other products can be machine harvested.)




After approximately 2 weeks, the grapes are turned so the undersides get more sun. 

When they are all dried and look like raisins...

 
Then the trays  are rolled, before being picked up and put into bins to be transported to the processing plant where they are washed and packaged for shipping.

On a related note... Besides being dried into raisins, grapes are also used to produce wine. Well, have you ever wondered where the cork on the wine bottle comes from? Well, the answer isn't found in Fresno County, but I thought I'd pass on a link where you can find the answer, it is quite fascinating. Click here for a photo essay on harvesting cork from Cork Trees.

All pictures � Lisa Goodell, all rights reserved.

Click here for Cotton photos  
Click here for Almond photos 

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Did you find the answer...

Q: Are grapes processed into raisins in a factory? 

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