The Grape Grower

A Guide to Organic Viticulture

Foreword by Roger B. Swain
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing

Grapes are the most popular and widely grown fruit in the world. From the tropics to Alaska, grapes will grow successfully in almost every climate. Whether you raise them for fresh eating, or for making wine, juice, or jellies and preserves, the right grapes will reward you with abundant crops for a modest investment of time and effort.

Now for the first time comes a book for grape growers who wish to use organic growing methods to raise healthy, thriving vineyards in the backyard or on a small commercial scale. The Grape Grower distills the broad knowledge and long-time personal experience of Lon Rombough, one of North America’s foremost authorities on viticulture.

From finding and preparing the right site for your vineyard to training, trellising, and pruning vines to growing new grapes from seeds and cuttings, The Grape Grower offers thorough and accessible information on all the basics. The chapters on grape species, varieties, and hybrids are alone worth the price of a college course in viticulture. Technical information on the major (and minor) insect pests and diseases that affect grapes, as well as their organic controls, makes this book an invaluable reference that readers will turn to again and again.

Rombaugh also provides a wealth of information on hardy but little-known grapes that are native to North America, and on a wide range of topics, including:

  • pruning neglected or overgrown vines
  • growing grapes on arbors and in greenhouses
  • controlling animal pests in the vineyard
  • bunch grapes and muscadine grapes for the South
  • winter protection, and how to increase the hardiness of grapes
  • creating your own new varieties

Reviews and Praise

  • "A great how-to book. The only reference you need if you want to raise a few grape vines."--Rocky Mountain News


More Reviews and Praise


  • "It would be difficult to find a book covering any aspect of growing grapes that is not included here."--Gardening Newsletter

  • "Packed with useful information, this book benefits from the author's personalized writing style. Immensely enjoyable."--Choice Magazine



About The Author


About Lon Rombough

Lon Rombough was a well-known garden writer, nurseryman, and fruit grower, with more than thirty-five years experience growing grapes and maintains hundreds of varieties in his small vineyard. A prominent member of North American Fruit Explorers, or NAFEX, he lived in western Oregon. 

Connect with this author

Books By Lon Rombough

Pages:304 pages
Book Art:Black and white, color photos and illustrations
Size: 8 x 10 inch
Publisher:Chelsea Green Publishing
US Pub. Date: December 1, 2002
UK Pub. Date: June 17, 2013
Paperback: 9781890132828

Available In/Retail Price

Paperback, 304 pages, $35USD, £27.50GBP