June 5th and 6th, 2009

Leon, Scott, John and I met Friday about 5PM to work on the 2008 crop. The vines had grown about a foot since last weekend. We trimmed a lot of growth from the bottom of each plant and some we were able to select and divide into two cordons. That is how much they had grown from the week before! We walked thru the 2007 crop at sunset. You can't believe how beautiful it looks. The evening was cool and everything was so green from the rain earlier that week. On Sat. we met at 7AM to tie up and lightly prune the 2007 crop. We thought we could finish in a couple hours but we worked until 3PM. We were tired, hot and sunburned when we finally quit. We had planned on putting the wire on the last 5 rows of '08 but couldn't get it done. This needs to be finished soon as the vines are about to reach that height and will need to be cordoned and tied. We will not be working this weekend but plan to go back on the 20th to prune and tie the 2008 crop AGAIN. It is a constant job! Again, I can't tell you how beautiful the vineyard looks right now. I have some sad news, however, the bird eggs were gone. Perhaps it was the 5 ft bull snake John saw earlier that week in the same area.( No pictures were taken this weekend, sorry!)