Bud break today!

Rondo

It was a beautiful day in Mayo, sunny and calm. I had a hunch bud break (or bud burst) would happen in the sunshine today. Four out of 5 varieties did, more than a week earlier than the past two years. The only vines not showing any signs of waking up are the Albarino. They don't look very happy but it doesn't look like any more have died. Let's hope we don't get frost -- let the cycle begin. 

Solaris

Chardonnay

Pinot Noir

Albarino

 

Bud burst getting close

It's going to happen in the next couple of days, if it hasn't already started. And that's weird because we've had miserable cold and wet weather, certainly not conducive to bud break. 

 

Sunny warm day

The pear and cherry trees are blooming weeks earlier than normal in Holland. I already wrote about the cherry blossoms peaking in Japan and Washington DC weeks earlier than expected. 

France has experienced one of the mildest winters on record and that has vignerons worried. Some vineyards in France are preparing for frost, as the early budding may mean a prolonged risk of exposure of tender buds to frost damage. 

I think our bud break will be about two weeks earlier this year than last. Today in the vineyard...

A little progress

 

Solaris is farthest ahead

I'm visiting the vineyard routinely now as the buds are starting to swell. Yesterday, St Patrick's Day, was warm and sunny but there was standing water throughout the vineyard and it's raining again today. Last year, bud break was recorded on 10 April. The year before, it took place on the 7th of April. Given that February was the warmest on record and the ninth consecutive warmest month globally, I'd say that bud break will come early this year. Let's hope we don't get a late frost and spring storm. 

In the climate statement issued by Met Eireann, they noted that the winter of 2023/2024 was the eleventh consecutive season with above-average temperatures. December and February were mild and wet while January was cool and dry overall.  

Global Mean Temperature Anomaly 

In France, vignerons are bracing for frost in April after a particularly mild winter. UK grape growers will soon have access to an app that will warn them of impending frost. Climate change is leading to buds bursting earlier, leaving them vulnerable to subsequent bouts of frost.

Cherry blossoms are blooming early from Tokyo to Washington, DC as climate change makes winters and springs warmer. It's wreaking havoc on the tourism industry drawn to the cherry blossom spectacle. The National Park Service announced PEAK BLOOM on Sunday, St Patrick's Day, a near record. But this is the fastest that the blossoms have gone through the five stages of the bloom cycle, and a warming climate has been a factor. Let's hope that the bloom cycle of our grapes is not similarly affected. 

Chardonnay is looking good. 

Pinot Noir coming along

Albarino is the last one in line

Rondo is slow getting started this year. 

The fields are very wet. 

Global SSTs are heading off the charts

The North Atlantic is staying particularly warm.

A beautiful day

Yesterday was a beautiful day, and I got a lot of work done in the garden. Salted the weeds on the patio, planted out the iris bulbs, did lots in the greenhouse and polytunnel, and checked on the vineyard. The buds are definitely swelling, with even some evidence on the Albarino but there they look very weak. I'm not holding much hope for the latter.

A herd of grapevines?

In Alex's dealings with the government regarding agricultural grants for the establishment of the vineyard, Teagasc informed him that he first had to apply for a herd number. A herd number you say?  We weren't planning to keep any animals, yet surely enough, the form he filled in for a herd number listed grapes among the horticultural items that one could grow under a herd number. 

The official reviewing the application set it aside because it didn't specify which animals we were planning to keep. When Alex finally tracked him down, he said, "Oh well, we weren't sure what to do with this as you didn't specify if you were planning to raise cattle or sheep."

Alex responded, "Neither, I checked none next to animals and checked grapevines in the other field." 

Well then, it appears that we indeed have a herd of grapevines on our land. Nope, it doesn't show up in any lists of names for a grouping of grapes. 

Cuttings taking root

My new assistant, the feral orange tabby we call Ginger,
who is making herself comfortable in the polytunnel.  

Alex has been saving cuttings from the vineyard winter cleanup and trying various ways of rooting them. A batch is outside, another batch came into the polytunnel after being kept in a fridge for a few weeks, and the third group is in the greenhouse. The polytunnel route seems to have been the most successful. 

The rootstock appears to be doing the best and the Albarino the worst. Encouraging are the Pinot Noir and the Ross House white eating grape. The latter one is a cutting from a vine that is at least 50 years old and lives in the greenhouse at Ross. We can`t wait to establish it in the polytunnel. 

There are also Cox`s Orange apple tree cuttings budding so I am assuming they have sprung roots.