The message
from Pam Moore contains these words:
On Mon, 24 May 2004 23:08:52 +0100, Jaques d'Alltrades
wrote:

Black Hamburg.

Rusty, please tell me; I have a vine which was given to me as Black
Hamburg. It is outside on my allotment and not every year do I get
ripe grapes. However, even when ripe the grapes are about the size of
blackcurrants.
Does this sound like Black Hamburg to you?

Well, Black Hamburg isn't a large grape, and grown outside they do tend
to be a lot smaller even, but blackcurrants sounds a bit small aven for
a starving vine. In an unheated greenhouse they are about the size of
marbles unless you really cut back on the number of bunches.

Vines need a lot of water, but that should be no problem as the roots
will find it, however deep it is - within reason. They also need
feeding, and usually lacking the traditional dead donkey when I plant
one, I amass a lot of bones from the kitchen and supplement them from
the butcher's throwouts and bury those about two and a half feet under
the vine. (And set some tubes of ratbait nearby!)

Then I mix a good quantity of bone meal (and/or hoof-and-horn) with the
soil round it.

In an open aspect (i.e., not against a brick wall or in a greenhouse)
you should expect to get grapes thinks between the size of a ·36" and
a ·45" ball more thinks that might be difficult to visualise for a non
muzzle-loading shooter - wrens' eggs to robins' eggs? /thinks

When I was an anklebiter I 'found' a Black Hamburg which had gone feral
(stop me if I've told you already) in my corner of the garden, where, on
doing a bit of archæology, I discovered a greenhouse had once stood. The
grapes on that were as described - between the size of a wren's egg and
a robin's egg. In the years they ripened I made some pretty wicked wine
from them.

For an eating grape, it makes a very pleasant wine.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/