Much overdue clean-up

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!

Happy place. 

Pruning, staking and tying

Dyna-Living Vineyard Tying Tool  

We have been working away at pruning the vines, staking those with broken supports, and tying the primaries onto the stakes. Alex bought me a cool concept machine to use for tying. It sounds impressive and promises a lot, but it leaves much to be desired. It takes an engineering degree to figure out how to load it. It works like it's supposed to about 50% of the time, leaving you frustrated and wasting plastic tape and staples. 

I finally finished today but ended up hand-tying quite a few that the machine just couldn't get around or when I just couldn't get it to work properly. I'm sure part of it is practice, but many times either the machine didn't grab the tape properly or it didn't staple but cut the tape.  Anyway, it's now done. And we have amazing weather for the next week. 

What's most amazing is that in January we still have a rose blooming in the vineyard!

Pruning time

Starting to look tidier

Staking the trunk until
it can stand on its own

We've had a couple of good weather days during which I managed to clear the grass from around the 3-year-old plants, as well as prune and stake the primary trunks and cordons. We had some damage in the last two storms. A few of the loose canes which I would have chosen as cordons had broken. They must have been whipping around in the wind. Some are doing exceedingly well while others are middling. This will be a telling year. In some cases, I couldn't tell which was the more vigorous trunk so I left two for now, but will select one out next year.

There are five plants missing which Alex has already ordered. Mostly Solaris. Casualties of the grass cutting, etc.

The first five Chardonnay vines are doing well but the other 25 are not looking as well. Some appear dead. We'll have to wait and see. I have to remember that it's their first year.

The Albarino vines look wonderful and the Pinot noir look pretty good but not as vigorous as the Albarino. There is not much to do with those two rows this year but clear.

3-year-old vines doing well

I sowed seeds of 'green manure' among the first ten plants although I did not prepare the soil/grass before sowing. I just wanted to introduce a little diversity into the grass which is quite thick up there but doesn't have much clover or other binding and nutrient gathering varieties mixed in. I will have to start digging up a few remaining docks plants and there are a few new rushes that I will have to dig out.

Today I will tackle the pruning of the ten mature vines. I am choosing the spur pruning method which is easier and I can readily visualise which spurs to maintain.  I believe that's how the Spanish and Portuguese prune theirs. I will train two main cordons from each trunk overhead and leave spurs with at least two buds on each. Let's get to it.

Oh, and in a final note, our vineyard has just expanded to include kiwis. Alex brought a particularly robust and tasty kiwi fruit home and planted the seeds which all came up. Now we probably have the only kiwi plantation in Ireland as well. The two plants we have trained on a south-facing wall in our garden is doing well but have not produced fruit. Not sure if we have both sexes represented.

Different pruning and training methods (Credit: Wine Folly)

Daria's Vineyard as of Jan 2020

One-year-old Albarino

One-year-old Pinot noir

Finally managed to prune and train

Last week, we had a spell of beautiful weather after several days of strong frost.  As it's already February and things are starting to bud, I thought it was time to take the plunge ad prune. I documented my work by taking one photo of each vine so I can compare this year's growth to Next year's. Here we are.

Red grape vines (Rondo) 

The red grape vines were variable in their take. Two did well, two did poorly and one is mediocre.