Happy July 4th!

Can you believe it's July? I still haven't taken out the kayak because it's been so cold. Yet the numbers show that our temperature average was, well, average. Yet I remember last year being so much warmer. The vines have grown but the flowers still have not opened. Last year, I noted bloom on July 8. We still have a few days to catch up. 

Our rainfall total for June is quite low again and significantly less than last year but similar to 2018. The truth is that the variability of our climate is increasing. Better than the record heat along the West coast of the states. 

I've noted that we have an extraordinary number of clusters so I have to learn how to reduce the number to improve the yield. It's always something. 

MONTHLY VALUES FOR NEWPORT UP TO 03-JUL-2021

Total rainfall in millimetres for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2021	225.6	147.6	141.1	45.6	113.5	64.1	9.0						746.5
2020	139.5	342.8	178.2	25.5	54.7	164.5	187.9	137.9	153.4	228.0	206.6	232.7	2051.7
2019	146.8	115.0	228.5	100.7	112.5	76.6	82.7	228.9	175.5	160.7	148.1	220.6	1796.6
2018	274.6	155.6	86.2	94.3	70.4	65.9	58.6	179.1	148.3	140.9	172.6	201.0	1647.5
LTA	166.7	126.5	141.2	96.8	94.7	89.7	100.9	132.5	131.5	176.0	170.4	180.2	1607.1

Mean temperature in degrees Celsius for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2021	5.0	6.7	7.9	9.0	10.4	13.3	15.4						8.8
2020	7.2	6.0	6.6	11.0	12.8	13.8	14.4	16.0	13.8	10.5	9.1	6.1	10.6
2019	6.9	8.4	7.9	10.2	11.7	13.1	16.3	15.5	13.7	10.3	7.1	7.1	10.7
2018	5.9	4.6	5.5	9.1	13.1	16.1	16.1	15.0	12.4	10.9	8.3	8.1	10.5
LTA	6.1	6.1	7.3	9.0	11.5	13.8	15.4	15.4	13.5	10.8	8.3	6.5	10.3

Note on the orchard. The new peach tree has one set of leaves, the apples have very few apples, the cherries are shrivelling and dropping off (I think they have leaf curl fungus), one cherry is dying completely most likely due to canker and there are few crabapples and no plums. Only the pear tree is doing okay.

The peach tree in the greenhouse definitely has peach leaf curl and almost all the leaves are yellowing with a touch of red and curling before they fall off. That means Bordeaux mix treatment in the Autumn and no moving it into the polytunnel before then. Looks like the cherry trees and roses (which have had aphid infestation as well as black spot) will need Bordeaux mix as well.  

I think I should give up on gardening. 

More work on the Polytunnel

 

We now have electricity and water in the polytunnel. It's really nice to have those done. Without water, I couldn't bring any plants up. But it was a big job. Alex had to dig a ditch from the field to the garage and around three sides of the polytunnel. That's a long way. 

First, the yellow drain pipe around the polytunnel for drainage. Then an electric wire from the garage to the tunnel and up into the field for the electric fence. Finally, a water hose from the field down to the tunnel and on to the garage. 

I shlepped stones and clods of dirt to fill in when all was confirmed in working order. Finally, I topped it all off with the remaining soil that had been dug up. 

Alex has straightened the door surround which got flexed when the plastic was made taught, causing a poor fitting of the doors. Then he continued with building the shelving and stand for the farmhouse sink. It's all coming together. 

My rotating composting drum has arrived but it had a broken wheel which was replaced by the company within a couple of days. Now I just have to continue to level the soil so we can finish the floor. 

Record-breaking heat wave to hit US west coast

A record-breaking heatwave is about to hit the west coast of the United States during the worst drought on record. 

From California to Oregon and Washington State, temperatures are expected to remain well above normal for days. The National Weather Service has issued warnings. 

⚠️Record-Breaking and Dangerous Heatwave coming to the West. Over 80 sites are forecast to break daily high temperature records starting this weekend. All-time June monthly records could also be broken in some locations in the Pacific Northwest.  

https://weather.gov/safety/heat

What is that going to do to the 2021 grape harvest and all other crops?  The last time California had a record-breaking heatwave, it came at harvest time in September 2017 and turned the grapes into raisins. 

Update 28-06-21

It's hit as predicted and it is unprecedented. Portland, Oregon reached a temperature of 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44.4 Celsius) on Sunday, breaking the all-time record of 108 F (42.2C) which was set just a day earlier. Seattle this 104. 

When temperatures reach this high, grapes shut down to conserve water. If this continues, mitigation strategies will have to be implemented. 

Polytunnel works

 

Alex bought wood and supplies from the Coop last week and we schlepped it all up the hill to the polytunnel. While he continued to dig a trench up to the water trough, he also started to build the raised beds. 

He's brought electricity up to the tunnel and water down from the field, although the water is not quite plumbed yet. He found an old disused farmhouse sink at Ross, which I have cleaned up after years of being neglected in the barn. That we shall set up by the door. It will do just fine. 

I have rescued a stainless steel table we had been using in the nursery as a rooting table and cleaned that up to use as a potting table in the tunnel. Alex is planning to build shelving along the east wall. The progress is slow but steady. 

Now that we have electricity and soon will have water, I can start setting up the seating area. Table and chairs, potted plants, peach tree, Avocado tree, Fig tree, Rose of Sharon, Acer (red), Kiwis, Citrus tree (to be added), eating grape. What else?  Possibly a hammock or two...

Now that I am fully vaccinated, I'll feel free to go shopping for more stuff in a couple of weeks. 

New signage is up

 

The old sign sort of rotted into oblivion so Alex gave me a new sign for Christmas. This week, he replaced the old one with the new. Happy Summer Solstice! Everything is so slow this year. Northerlies this week brought frigid temps again. 

Extreme drought in the US

Houseboats on a shrinking Lake Oroville

They estimate that 88% of the western states are experiencing drought. Four states are under extreme drought conditions which are expected to get even worse. The entirety of four states -- California, Oregon, Utah and Nevada -- have drought conditions. The situation is dire as ponds, streams and wells dry up and cattle go thirsty just as summer is approaching. The fire situation is expected to bring a new level of tragic loss to the region.  The Storm Prediction Center's fire weather outlook was classified as "critical" or "extreme" across parts of Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and Arizona.

Lake Mead, the country's largest reservoir, is at its lowest level since it was filled and electricity production at the Hoover dam is down by 25%. The Colorado River which supplies over 40 million people will deliver 30% less water this year. About 130 houseboats have been removed from a shrinking Lake Oroville in California. 

Las Vegas, home to 2.2 million people, gets just 4 inches of rain a year. That's unsustainable. Having lawns is being made illegal in some places. Utahns are being asked to pray for rain while farmers are being asked not to grow. Some are predicting a megadrought that will last many decades. God help the USA.

They haven't really measured the extent of damage the last season did to the vineyards. This coming season can do nothing but add to the injury. 

I have said since we moved to Ireland, thank God for being on an island in the Atlantic. I am grateful for every drop of rain we get.

Lake Oroville Dam before the drought

 

Happy June Bank Holiday

 

Rubble collected in fishboxes

It's not the way I would have chosen to spend a June Holiday, but we got it done before the rain. To keep the polytunnel from flooding due to rain, we had to improve the drainage. That meant digging a trench, laying a drain pipe and covering it with stones to improve the percolation. 

The downside, I was soaked after working so hard on the inside with the sun out. I was using Alex's heavy-duty crowbar to break up excess cement spread across the dirt floor, then picking up the pieces and tossing them into fish boxes. Backbreaking work. 

Alex finished digging the trench on the outside of three sides of the tunnel (East, West and North) and laid the pipe, then spread the rubble over the pipe while I continued breaking up cement and carting soil to close the gap between the polytunnel and the earth. Just as we were finishing up, the sky opened up and I thought we'd be testing our work. But the shower passed, and we realised it was lunchtime. We finished laying the soil inside along the north side of the tunnel and called it quits. 

We've decided to hire a rototiller and till the entire floor to level it out. So use of the polytunnel will have to wait. Then we'll lay down black plastic sheeting and a walkway of gravel. On the right will be vineyard equipment storage and an old farmhouse sink with running water. On the left will be raised beds, a potting bench, and some shelves. I'm going to get a few pallets from the coop and build some pallet furniture -- for the shelving and benches. Beyond that will be a table and chairs and possibly a hammock. I can see coming in there for lunch or a gentle snooze in winter sun. 

The rest of the afternoon got chilly and showery. Tomorrow, we may have to go to the boat if the weather improves.