We did a much overdue clean-up of the vineyard this week. The weather was remarkable (ie, no rain). The vines had grown exponentially after the last rain and they sort of got away from us. The Solaris in particular grew astronomically and the weight of the growth pulled down the primaries off the stakes. Luckily, none broke. But extracting the vines from each other proved a real challenge and it took me three days to extract, tie-up and stake the vines in the whole vineyard. Definitely worth the effort. Very zen-like activity.
I managed to get all the vines lifted up off the ground in time for Alex to mow just as the rain started. More of a drizzle really. We really need some solid rain, but the forecast for the bank holiday weekend, which had promised rain for weeks, seems to have improved -- and not to our benefit.
The Solaris have more grape clusters than I thought initially after I had a chance to see them clearly. I cut off the parts of the vine that were unproductive and unwieldy. The young Solaris from this year will be trained as mature.
The young Chardonnay still have a ways to go, but the 5-year-olds are looking healthy. They do not have many clusters.
I am still really encouraged by the Pinot Noir. That 3 yo vines are so healthy and vigorous is encouraging.
Does anyone have a recommendation for a good tool for tying vines? Mine sucks.
Last words...praying for rain! RIP James Lovelock. Gaia theory lives on!
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| Happy place. |
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