Vines in mid-summer

 

The Vitis vanessa grapes in the polytunnel are progressing nicely. The clusters are a nice shape and size. There is a good quantity for the first time. 

The Albarino vines we kept in pots are variable. One is vigorous, one is just getting along, one is trying to leaf, and one is playing dead. 

The vines in the vineyard are doing very well, and, if we have a decent summer, we may have our best harvest yet. One vine in the short row of Solaris is hosting a bird's nest so Alex chose not to prune near it. Yesterday, a plump female pheasant popped out of the hedge in front of him and made a ruckus running away from Alex as a mini-me popped out after her and stood perfectly still. It's nice to know we are harbouring biodiversity. 

Bird's nest in the vine.

What's really surprising is that many of the baby Rondos we planted this year have already developed one or two clusters of grapes. We only lost one plant in the drought, and the second one we thought had perished has just sprouted a leaf. 

I spotted my first ladybird (ladybug) of the season and bagged the few cherries we have, which are already turning red. Lots happening in the polytunnel and gardens. It may be a lovely summer as the high is on its way. 

Newly planted Rondo with two bunches

Hello ladybug!

Cherries protected from the predators. 

Poor cherry tree got a severe pruning this year and will again next year.

In the nick of time...

Alex securing a vine to the wire trellis

Yesterday, I spent a good portion of the day in the vineyard pruning vines and training them onto the trellises again. There were branches down throughout the vineyard from the strong winds on Saturday. There had been vigorous growth, and many of the vines would need to be tied on as their weight would be a problem in the strong winds forecast for tonight. My problem was that I am too short to reach many of the canes, nor can I reach many of the wires to tie them on. 

Today, Alex started on the vines, including pruning, tying, replacing broken poles and pulling weeds from around the plants. I came out with him after lunch and tied what I could, starting with the Chardonnay and Pinot noir, which are still short compared with the Solaris. 

It was already blowing pretty hard, and we had only until 4 pm when the heavy rain was to arrive. We had to skip pulling weeds and pruning. We just managed to tie up all the heavy loose branches when the weather turned. Let's hope we did enough. It is forecast to be gusting into the 40s. Better than yesterday's forecast which showed gusts over 50 knots. 

Interestingly, as I started pulling weeds from around the baby Rondo vines planted this year, I noticed that two of them had two bunches of grapes forming each. Astonishing. I had to stop pulling weeds halfway and join Alex in tying up because the weather was turning so quickly. Just as predicted, it started raining heavily at 4 pm. So here I am documenting the case of the June Bank Holiday rush to secure the vineyard before the storm. 

See the baby grape clusters?

This lovely grape cluster is readily visible. 

Much tidier

Even the roses got tied up this week. 

PS It's gusting over 55 knots!

Marine heatwave and first pruning

 Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies on 22 May 2025
(from the Marine Institute’s Marine Heatwave Monitoring Tool).

Met Éireann has reported that Ireland is experiencing a marine heatwave similar to that of June 2024. As of mid-May, temperatures at several IMDBON buoys were already more than 1°C above the monthly average. With a week remaining in the month, the final monthly averages will likely be even higher.

Given that we are on Clew Bay, I wonder what effect the higher ocean temperature will have on our vines. They are looking exceptionally good this year. It was drizzly and chilly this morning, but cleared up beautifully after lunch. I spent the afternoon pruning vines and training them onto the trellises. It got so warm I stripped down to T-shirt.

I also cleared growth from around the roses and tied them up as they are huge this year. The Tequila Sunrise and the yellow ones are already taller than me, and with the rain and sun, they have started blooming prolifically. Everything is growing exponentially.

Interestingly, I look at vines so differently now after taking part in the pruning workshops. Vines are so extraordinarily symmetrical and methodical. A cane shoots out and forms a leaf. Shortly after, it forms an inflorescence, then a simple tendril, then either a tiny inflorescence or a tendril with some flower buds on it, then another tendril that is very vigorous with multiple limbs, then more growth with leaves in between. Some form two inflorescences and so two bunches of grapes. The tendril with grapes or tiny bunch is younger than the other bunches. It's an insurance policy and will develop later, just in case something goes drastically wrong. Because the vines expend a lot of energy on the tendrils and tiny bunches, we prune them out at this time. That helps the primary bunches of grapes to develop more vigorously, or that's the theory. 

So that was my job today. I pruned what I could reach of the branches in advanced stages. I pushed them up through the wires to rest on top of the trellis. I picked off any shoots forming along the woody upright trunk. I pulled grass and weeds from around the vines. 

It was a very serene Zen experience to be in the vineyard performing these tasks today. I loved it. Ghost and Mini kept me company, sleeping in the tall grass in the shade between the vines, invisible to the world. It was so beautiful out and the perfect temperature. Yet all around, I could see we had our microclimate, and it was raining over Westport and Newport. Clare Island parted the clouds for us again.

Primary inflorescence

Secondary inflorescence

Tiny backup inflorescence 

Tendril with inflorescence

Tertiary tendril

Tendril and leaf bud, which get clipped off

Sky over us

Sky over Westport

Rain, glorious gentle rain!

It started to sprinkle the day before yesterday, gently irrigating the land. We got about 7.5 mm on Friday when the rain continued with more vigour, but still gently, not inundating the parched soil. Towards evening, the sun came out. Yesterday we got 13.3 mm, and it continues in passing showers today. It is lashing out there at the moment, and we've had wind gusting more than 47 knots. So our total rainfall for the month to date is a whopping 23 mm, not even 1/4 of the 99.2 mm LTA. They are promising eight days of rain now before the high returns and a heat wave follows. 

Nevertheless, everything is going to grow even more robustly now. Let the vines bear fruit. 

Climate madness

NOAA has predicted an active North Atlantic hurricane season ten days before its official start. Hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov 30. The current outlook predicts a 60% chance of an "above-normal" hurricane season, with between 13 to 19 named storms. Six to 10 of those are expected to strengthen into hurricanes, and three to five could become major hurricanes, according to the forecasters. They estimated a 30% chance of a "near-normal" season and a 10% chance of a "below-normal" season. They held their news conference in New Orleans to commemorate the 20 year anniversary of Katrina's landfall there.

Continued ENSO-neutral conditions, warmer than average ocean temperatures, forecasts for weak wind shear, and the potential for higher activity from the West African Monsoon, a primary starting point for Atlantic hurricanes, all tend to favour tropical storm formation. And we are getting very close ... the two-year running average for the global surface temperature anomaly is now 1.599°C above the 1850-1900 baseline. Sea ice is tracking at the same level as last year. 

Rain, finally!

A gentle rain has started to quench the parched earth. You can sense a collective sigh of relief by all living things. It's a nice steady rain that will have a chance to soak in. The best kind. 

The dust, cobwebs and pollen are washing away. The moss will soon be turning green again. Perhaps the flowers on the vines will open and the wind due tomorrow will help them get pollinated. I've loved the sun, but I love the rain as well. The all-powerful water without which nothing can survive. The poor hedgehog was out searching for it the other day. I hope she's okay. Alex gave her a dish of water.

Furnace has had 2.5 mm of rain this month through yesterday. We didn't have that much even. We'll see after the next three days how far we catch up. In the meantime, I had a glass of our White Seahorse Solaris last night with my fish pie. It's very pleasant. 

Alex's Vevor distillation machine arrived today. Another project awaits in the winery. He also bought an apple crusher that takes a bushel of whole apples and chops them up. No more hand chopping, or so they say. 

Another beautiful day in paradise

 

Another beautiful day in the west of Ireland. No rain. Sunshine. Not too hot. Goldilocks weather. We spent the night in Westport, had dinner at Arno's and saw a play at the Town Hall Theatre, both exquisite. This morning we rode ebikes around the Quay and through Westport Estate where a transformation is underway. By midday we were home and tending to the critters and gardens. Our slice of paradise.