June 20, 2009
The 2008 crop has been pruned and tied. Yippee! 2007 crop has been tied. Yippee! For the first time we are caught up for a couple weeks. Yippee! The fungicide was sprayed Monday, the 2008 crop has been trimmed and the mowing is finished. The sign has been hung. The vineyard looks great for it's first public viewing this weekend for Ashley's wedding. The grapes are abundant and it really looks beautiful. Leon saw a baby horny toad...so the family is still around. And I think the bull snakes are there also. The rose bushes are coming out of the damage they received and might have new blooms this weekend. (AND plans are been drawn up to convert a cotton harvester into a grape harvester as we speak.)
Unfinished projects include painting the posts and painting the trim on the barn. And it will be time to mist with fungicide in 10 days or so. We need to watch for mites this year also. See everybody this weekend!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Proper Vineyard attire...
large hat for shade (note decorative hatband of grapevine), large, white shirt to reflect the summer sun, baggy shorts with lots of pockets to stuff full of supplies, kneepads to protect tender knees when kneeling on stickers, rubber boots to keep feet dry in early morning dew, nailbag with floral tie tape, extra floral tie tape, sunscreen, bug spray, citronella wristband to ward of pesky mosquitoes, monster hook on belt to hold spare gardening pad and large pruners for woody vines, small hoe for extra large weeds, ag ties for cordones, bag of irrigation clips, cellphone to call siblings that are goofing off at the barn, and a cold, refreshing beer!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Stockholders feeling the Heat !
Another fun day at the vineyard on Sat. when Barb, John, MJ, and Rob came down to put in hard day. After the tour of the money crop of 07' it was time to go to work. With a few questions of what, how, why, where the pruning of the row 32 - 38 were worked over. I put the wire on those rows . John N. ran his weed eater on several rows doing a great job. I believe he is going to be the permant weed eater man at the vineyard. His final comment was "I wish that I could do it for a living". It was a fun day for talking and sweating. Lunch was enjoyed by all of us that was brought by them. The day ended at 2:30 but then I got on the lawn mower and mowed the 07' rows. It sure is nice having a good lawn mower there to use when needed. johnnie
Monday, June 8, 2009
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!)
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!)
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
May 30, 2009
Leon and I met Scott at the vineyard about 10 AM. The vines were so tall in the 2007 crop it was an hour before we saw each other. Leon used his weed eater on the first 12 rows of the 2007 crop. Scott and I finished pruning and tying up the last 16 rows of the 2008 crop. We also knocked off all the new growth on the 2007 vines and tied up some up the growth to the two wire trellis lines. Believe me, these vines are going crazy. There are still some flowering clusters but many have bloomed and have started forming the grapes.
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