RAIN!
3/4 " ON SUNDAY
1 1/2 " ON WEDNESDAY
3/4 " ON SUNDAY
1 1/2 " ON WEDNESDAY
Friday, July 31, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
July 24-27, 2009
BIRD UPDATE: As you know the birds invaded our vineyard this last week wiping out maybe 50% of our Sangiovese grapes. John and Scott tried bagging the grape clusters with paper bags. Hard work with not so good results. Sat night Scott built the nifty extra large paper towel dispenser and mounted it on the three wheeler. Sunday morning we used an entire roll of baling wrap to cover all except 4 rows of the 2007 crop. The birds were upset. We found some birds tangled in the netting as you will see Leon helping untangling a small robin. Tangled in the web you will also see Scott trying to sneak grapes. With only 4 rows left unprotected we thought we might fake out the birds...not to be. We walked thru the rows as they moved from uncovered row to uncovered row. We made "Terror Eyes" out of the sacks and stapled them along the rows hoping to scare the birds away. ("Terror Eyes" are available for $50.00 per balloon or $44.00 per balloon for 6 or more....so we made our own!) Monday morning John had purchased a partial roll of netting and was trying to drape the netting until Scott and he could get the tops and bottoms tied down. A special thanks to Dr. Gary Strebel for his valuable time and his encouragement to get the grapes covered NOW!
DEER UPDATE: Please start saving your hair clippings, especially men's or untreated hair. Fill knee high hose with the clippings and mail them to John or Scott. We can hang these every ten feet on the perimeter of the fence or we can try soap shaving every 6-8 feet on each row. The soap method could result in unwanted bubbles in our wines so start collected hair clippings from your barbers!
SANGIOVESE GRAPES: Please note how much they have matured in just two weeks and how beautiful they are!
BIRD UPDATE: As you know the birds invaded our vineyard this last week wiping out maybe 50% of our Sangiovese grapes. John and Scott tried bagging the grape clusters with paper bags. Hard work with not so good results. Sat night Scott built the nifty extra large paper towel dispenser and mounted it on the three wheeler. Sunday morning we used an entire roll of baling wrap to cover all except 4 rows of the 2007 crop. The birds were upset. We found some birds tangled in the netting as you will see Leon helping untangling a small robin. Tangled in the web you will also see Scott trying to sneak grapes. With only 4 rows left unprotected we thought we might fake out the birds...not to be. We walked thru the rows as they moved from uncovered row to uncovered row. We made "Terror Eyes" out of the sacks and stapled them along the rows hoping to scare the birds away. ("Terror Eyes" are available for $50.00 per balloon or $44.00 per balloon for 6 or more....so we made our own!) Monday morning John had purchased a partial roll of netting and was trying to drape the netting until Scott and he could get the tops and bottoms tied down. A special thanks to Dr. Gary Strebel for his valuable time and his encouragement to get the grapes covered NOW!
DEER UPDATE: Please start saving your hair clippings, especially men's or untreated hair. Fill knee high hose with the clippings and mail them to John or Scott. We can hang these every ten feet on the perimeter of the fence or we can try soap shaving every 6-8 feet on each row. The soap method could result in unwanted bubbles in our wines so start collected hair clippings from your barbers!
SANGIOVESE GRAPES: Please note how much they have matured in just two weeks and how beautiful they are!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Birds, Guns, Sacks, and Nets
A sad week at the vinfyard. The robins have attacked and destroyed large amount of grapes. Guns were used with not much result after the dead birds were left on the ground. Scott came up with the idea from his book that to install sacks on the clusters. Very hard to sack a cluster! But Trish found the solution with baler wrap. So it was put on the 2 rows on Sat. and will be finished on Sunday. Trish and Leon are coming down to help and they are bringing more chemicals for me to apply this week. We are very close in making a deal on the 07' grapes. More news later from Sandyland Vinfyard. johnnie
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Happy Firecracker Day 2009
It was HOT at the vineyard this weekend. We managed to get the 2008 crop, Rows 38-22, tied and pruned. We are seeing some new growth in the 2008 crop due to the fact that we have started a 24/7 watering schedule. In other words it takes about 7 days, 24 hours a day (12 hour shifts) to water all the rows. We talked about solar powered timers but we don't have the time this summer to make changes and install timers. Friday morning John misted with fungicide ( 2nd application) while we went thru the 2007 crop. We tied up the wild growth, used Ag ties on the sagging cordons , and added black ties to the drooping drip lines. The vines are maturing and the grapes are growing. It is amazing how quickly the fungicide stops the black rot growth and you can see the fungus dissipate within a short time. Hope everyone has a safe 4th!!!!
It was HOT at the vineyard this weekend. We managed to get the 2008 crop, Rows 38-22, tied and pruned. We are seeing some new growth in the 2008 crop due to the fact that we have started a 24/7 watering schedule. In other words it takes about 7 days, 24 hours a day (12 hour shifts) to water all the rows. We talked about solar powered timers but we don't have the time this summer to make changes and install timers. Friday morning John misted with fungicide ( 2nd application) while we went thru the 2007 crop. We tied up the wild growth, used Ag ties on the sagging cordons , and added black ties to the drooping drip lines. The vines are maturing and the grapes are growing. It is amazing how quickly the fungicide stops the black rot growth and you can see the fungus dissipate within a short time. Hope everyone has a safe 4th!!!!
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