Storm damage

Rainbow means rain

Last week's storms dumped a lot of rain and brought gale-force winds. Because the vines are still with leaves, they must have been whipping around because a number of the support posts broke at ground level. So Alex bought small fence posts which he pounded into the ground behind the old supports and secured the supports with attached vines to the posts. The ground is very wet but soft so it was easy to get the posts in. 

View of the vineyard from the East

I went up in the afternoon to tie up any loose vines using strips of nylon stocking. I also cut off the excess of the primary vine so it wouldn't whip around in the wind. They had grown quite a bit. I would have liked to have pruned more but this is not the right time to do that. Luckily the rain held off. 

I spotted a couple of issues that I will need to continue to take care of tomorrow. First, the pink ribbons that Alex tied onto the vines were constricting the vines as they grew fatter, like a girdle, creating indentations like waists. So I have to remove all of those urgently. Second, we had used electrical tape to secure the vines to the poles and that was, unfortunately, damaging the branches at the point of contact or killing them altogether. So I have to replace all of those. 

Autumn in the vineyard is lovely

On the positive side, the 4 yo Solaris vines had more small grape clusters than I thought and they are now very sweet. Interesting that the birds haven't found them. The two small clusters of Chardonnay grapes on one of the 4 yo vines are still hard and not ripe but I have hope. The roses we planted at the end of each row and along the fence are still blooming. Two pink, one climber dark pink, and yellow tinged with red at the entrance. 

Chardonnay grapes

The donkeys are in good shape and the vineyard cat is frolicking but complaining about being ignored. Plus there are signs of a badger digging. They like grubs so it's a natural form of pest control, as long as they don't take an interest in eating the vines. I hear and periodically see pheasants in the field and we have the occasional visit by a fox and a pine marten. Our rewilding and natural approach seems to be working. This time of year we get beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Today, I am feeling blessed. 

Fiery dawn

Morning pastels

Sunrise

Pink rose as an indicator of mildew

Ghost watching the donkeys

The donkeys watching me

Heavy cloud cover coming in