Bud break throughout

 

Rondo

The wind continues for a third day, but at least it has been sunny most of the time. The occasional shower or hail squall blows through, and it gets cold. Then the sun comes out again and warms things up. The Rondo and Solaris are preparing to leaf, and the Pinot Noir has bud break. The Chardonnay is lagging but promising. One Chardonnay vine is farther ahead than the rest. The kiwis are looking fine, and Alex has prepared a new row for the new teinturier vines. He mowed the vineyard for the first time this year. 

The cherry tree has lots of buds, some of which are already flowering. And just when I thought there were no mushrooms in the lawn, I almost stepped on a bunch of fruiting bodies. There is a clearing by the trees we planted at the top of the vineyard that potentially have truffles beneath them. I want to clear that out so we can get in there and harvest truffles. Another feature of the vineyard experience. 

I tried weeding a section of the flower garden, but grabbed a nettle which sent pulsating signals through my hand with damaged nerve. Something went wrong during carpal tunnel surgery and I now have a loss of sensation in half my hand. 

Solaris

Pinot Noir

Chardonnay

Cherry tree flowering

A bit wet and windy again today

 

This weather is getting old. We have one really spectacular day and then a string of bad weather days. I would really like a few days of good weather so I can get out in the garden and clean up the flower beds. We have a beautiful new picture window and all I can see is weeds. 

Alex mowed the vineyard the day before yesterday. I need to get up there tomorrow and see what's up with the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. I'm excited about the Albarino in the polytunnel. 

Inflorescence in the polytunnel

 

It's amazing how quickly the vnes in the polytunnel are progressing. All the vines are already producing inflorescence, the flower bunches that will eventually produce grapes. The Concord grape is most prolific, followed by the Albarino, but they are all already in production. Amazing as they just leafed. 

Meanwhile, in the vineyard outside, the Pinot Noir buds have now swollen but are still tightly closed. Same with the Chardonnay. 

Meanwhile, the US is some 4-7 weeks ahead of schedule for everything. And our rosemary is extraordinarily prolific this year. And the moon shots from Artemis II are mind blowing. 

Bud brushing has begun

 

We have an abundance of wildlife in the vineyard, which includes lots of ladybugs (called ladybirds here). The buds are swelling on the main trunk, and we walk the rows, brushing off the buds we don't want sprouting. 

Storm Dave had brought lots of rain, wind, thunder and hail, but otherwise was not too bad. When the storm had passed by Easter morning, the donkeys emerged from the shed and started frolicking around. Easter turned out lovely but cold and we had a house full of guests. The first course was crab salad and devilled egg, accompanied by our very own Solaris 2025 vintage. The verdict was unanimously positive. All agreed that it is a highly complex wine with tones of citrus and elderflower. Beyond that it was hard to describe, but all drank a wee crystal glass with amazement and glee.

Thankfully, today is rather benign and not as cold as yesterday. Even more important, I do believe we avoided frost. 

What we do have is a weird congregation point for flies, actually, several of them. Alex thinks it's a meetup for mating. I just think it's gross. 

The astronauts are approaching the moon and I am about to go watch the NASA YouTube channel. 

Weather warnings kick in

Weather warnings kick in for Storm Dave from mid-day today. 

Met Éireann has put a yellow warning in place for all of Ireland from 1pm Saturday. While the west of Ireland will face the worst of the weather, Dublin is still expected to face some very strong gusts. 

A Status Yellow rain warning is in place until 4pm in Mayo and Donegal. It has been raining hard since the early morning hours. Met Éireann has extended the yellow warning into the early hours of Easter Sunday. However, Sunday afternoon will be much improved from the looks of the models. 

The March Climate Statement was issued by Met Éireann. March 2026 was mild and sunny overall, and wet for most of the country. There was a mobile Atlantic regime that brought winds from the south and west, with rain and showers, which were heavy at times. The majority of stations recorded rainfall totals above their 1991-2020 Long-Term Average (LTA) for the month. The South and Southeast were drier than average. Periods of high pressure brought dry and sunny days. All stations recorded temperatures above their LTA, with a national mean March temperature of 7.97 °C, which is 1.51 °C above the 1961-1990 LTA and 0.84 °C above the 1991-2020 LTA. There were also lower temperatures with wintry showers in the middle of the month, along with windier conditions, particularly in the north and northwest. The month ended with a mixture of wet and dry weather.

Solaris bud burst and Dave

 

The Solaris displayed bud burst in the sunshine yesterday. Still no signs of progress on the others. 

Today, it's been miserable and raining all day. Tomorrow we get Storm Dave, although we'll be spared the worst as the storm tracks north to Scotland. We'll get rain and wind, but not strong gale-force. It should be through by noon on Sunday, which would be great as we're having friends over for Easter with a young child who needs an egg hunt. 

Meanwhile, as we practice storm avoidance and celebrate Easter, four astronauts are on their way to circle the moon on Artemis II. They won't be landing, but they are travelling around the dark side. I wonder if we'll be able to see any of their trajectory. Godspeed brave souls. 

Other fruit promising bounty

Red cherry

I am particularly pleased with the onset of flowering in the orchard. The one cherry tree is going to be covered in blossoms and seems to be making a recovery. I am afraid that we ruined our cherry trees and plum tree by pruning at the wrong time of year. Stone fruit have to be pruned in later spring/early summer. Pruning in winter exposes them to stressors like rust and canker. I am afraid the yellow cherry has both. It is weeping rusty-coloured liquid from its joints. 

Still no sign of bud break in the Solaris, Chardonnay or Pinot Noir. Easter Sunday will be held here and we have several guests coming. We were going to do a big Ukrainian-style Easter, but my hand surgery got in the way. 

Blueberry

Yellow cherry

Red cherry