Enjoy Muscadines Year Round!

Add a Taste of the South to your
 Holiday Meals and Parties

Muscadines are like Christmas, they only come around once a year. I am excited when they ripen in mid August and I am sad when the harvest is over in mid October. If only there were muscadine flavors available year round, the world would be a better place.

Well, what if I told you we have many muscadine products available year round. Now you can enjoy this wonderful southern flavor with your favorite meals and we have packaged them in gift boxes that you can mix and match and choose your favorites to share with family and friends this Christmas season.

• Our red and white muscadine juice contains 100% pure juice, best served chilled and is out of this world. Save a bottle to ring in the new year with. (Our most popular item)

• Our muscadine and scuppernong jelly and preserves make breakfast the best meal of the day, you are responsible for the buttered biscuits.
  
• Don't forget to try our muscadine syrup on your pancakes, we've been told that if I-Hop offered muscadine syrup they would sell more pancakes.
  
• For our grill masters we offer muscadine steak sauce and muscadine bbq sauce, fantastic on steaks, chicken, and pork.
   
• Our kickin muscadine pepper jelly is made with jalapeno and bell peppers, it is perfect with cream cheese and crackers or it compliments vegetables very nicely. Great addition to party menus
   
• For chips and dip fans we have muscadine salsa. It is a tomato based salsa with muscadine fruit to enhance the flavor and texture, it is wonderful and is more nutritious than the average salsa.
  
• For salad lovers we offer our muscadine vinaigrette. It is a combination of muscadines, vinegar, and oil for a healthy alternative to the average salad dressing.

We are sort of like Blue Belle Ice Cream with our muscadine products, we eat all we can and sell the rest. You don't have to wait until the fall to enjoy the flavors of muscadines, all you have to do is give us a call or order online and we will take care of the rest.

Greg Ison
Add a delicious taste of the south to you holiday meals.

We offer many Muscadine Gift Boxes perfect for Christmas gifts

 

Muscadine Gift Boxes are Perfect for Christmas Gifts
www.isons.com

Muscadine Fall Maintenance Reminder

 

It's time to remove any fruit left on the muscadine vines

For more information visit www.isons.com

Removal of fruit.

Any fruit left hanging on the vine that was not harvested should be removed. If left on the vine the fruit will rot or mummify (become raisin like) on the vine. This rotting fruit can lead to a build up of disease over the winter and will be present in the spring. If you do not remove the fruit you will have much more disease pressure such as ripe rot or macrophema rot that can affect next years harvest.

 

Many vines will also have what are called "shot berries", these are grapes that get about as big as a dime and are green and will not ripen on the vine. They are the product of the vine either trying to set a second crop or late blooms being pollinated but do not have enough time allowed for the ripening of the fruit. Any green or shot berries should also be removed this time of year.

 
Do not prune too early. For years we pruned our vines beginning after the Thanksgiving Holiday. But through trial, error and experience we have found the best time to prune muscadine vines is from mid January to mid March. We have found that a vine that has not been pruned can handle colder temperatures or big swing in temperatures better than a vine that has been pruned. In general we experience our coldest temperatures from late December-January, by pruning later we are giving our plants a better chance of coming through the winter with little or no cold weather damage.

If you are used Blue-X plant shelters this year and your vines have reached the top wire, now is the ideal time to remove the shelters.

On a planting report we have a beautiful crop of muscadine vines this year, so if you are thinking about adding a few vines or considering planting some acreage now is a good time to begin getting your orders in. Take advantage of the Early Bird Discount by ordering before November 15th. The all new 2013 Catalog will be available later this week. Check it out or request one to be mailed to you.

I hope these tips will ensure  that you have an abundant crop for 2013.

Happy Planting & Keep Growing!
Greg Ison

I did not know I was so green

We have all either noticed or taken part in the new green movement. We all know the importance recycling, we now take our own shopping bags to the grocery store, we are fuel conscious by buying hybrid or electric cars, and email has taken the place of letters. But are we as green as we should be with our most important commodity.  Water is essential in our daily lives. From the showers we take, to brushing our teeth, to washing clothes, the food we cook, to quinch our thirst, and to water our plants. I have always taken the approach that someone else would do my share and that one single person can not or could not make a difference. Water is the life line of a farm or plant nursery. We have to have it, the plants have to have it, and we would not be in business without it.

One of the ways we are "green" is the use of our drip irrigation systems. Drip irrigation is a low flow, low pressure watering system that drips water right to the root zone of our plants. When we water with a hose or overhead sprinklers we are wasting water either by runoff or watering weeds or other undesired plants. Drip irrigation can provide optimum moisture levels in the soil at all times, resulting in less water lost to the sun and wind. With drip irrigation, water is not wasted on non growth areas, and the root zone  is maintained at a steady moisture level.

Drip irrigation is simple and inexpensive to use. If you can connect a garden hose to a water faucet then you can install a drip system. We have fittings that will adapt to a garden hose or faucet, from there you will run the tubing on the ground by the plants you wish to water, and lastly punch a hole into the tubing and place an emmitter near the root zone. Simply turn on the water supply and  you will have water going to the root zone of your plants without the waste of time nor water.

We recommend using drip on new or established planting to ensure healthy plants, larger fruit, increased yields, and earlier production.

Over the last year we have planted additional acreage in peaches, blueberries, blackberries, and muscadines.We had to plant the majority of the acreage during the hot months of June and July, our nursery schedule does not allow planting at other times. Because of the use of drip we were able to successfully plant with little or no plant loss.

Yesterday before I left work I turned on a single valve and was able to water 2 acres of peaches, 1 acre of blueberry, and  a 1/2 acre of blackberries with our drip system. Not only was I being green with the conservation of water, I was able to get home and enjoy time with the ones who mean the most to me. I think I may wear a green shirt to work tomorrow.

Save money and lower your water usage.
Give us a call with any drip irrigation questions.  We will be happy to assist in the layout of your drip system.

Greg Ison

 Isons drip irrigation by Jain

Drip Irrigation

Advantages and Benefits of Drip Irrigation System

·   Water Efficiency

·   Water only goes where needed

·   Ease of Installation

·   No special tools or glue required

·   Reduced pest problems and weed growth

·   Only water the roots plus increase fruit yield and plant quality

·   Works anywhere in the home garden

·   Save money and lower your water usage