Several weeks ago it was warm enough to be out in T-shirts. Alex noted that the new chardonnay vines were sprouting and quickly planted them out in the field. Then he planted out the Pinot vines. There is still a batch of Albarino bare root vines that are heeled in to plant and trellises to build. But he was off buying cattle for his mother today so it will have to wait. Tomorrow, we're doing a webinar about sailing in Galicia, so it will have to wait again. Oh well, we have a few days open next week I think.
The bumblebees were out in force, feeding on the heather during the good weather. I counted 13 queens on one bush one day, mostly
Bombus leucorum. It was good to hear their buzzing in the garden. The heather bush was the first thing I had planted when we were building the house. So glad I did. But I was also glad to learn that grapevines are not dependent on bees for pollination. The news about the collapse of the insect populations last week was alarming. More about that another day.
The plums and cherries were getting ready to sprout and the forsythia and magnolia flowered. Then the storms came, Freya and Gareth. Wind over 50 knots, lashing rain, thunder and lightning (we never see lightning here), snow, hail and sleet, and freezing temperatures. Between the hail, the cold and the wind, everything dried out. The carnage among the daffodils was notable. In the first storm, I was able to salvage the broken ones. The second storm that followed wreaked such havoc that all the blossoms were desiccated. It was awful. But the vines had not broken their buds.
Today I noted that they have, just. Only the Rondo and Solaris. The Chardonnay have not formed robust buds yet. Another storm is coming in tonight, with heavy rains and snow forecast for north of us. I truly hope it doesn't do the damage that it might. Farming is a crap shoot in this changing environment. I guess we knew that.
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| Rondo |
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| Solaris |
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| 2yo Solaris |
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| Newly planted Chardonnay vines |
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