Layout - With approximately 2,500 new vines due to arrive this spring, one of the first tasks is to complete the layout. Chris and I went out one damp weekend to get started. Preparing the layout entails accurately measuring between existing plants and the new plant location. A small bamboo stick has to be placed in the ground at each spot you intend to plant a new vine. It is a somewhat tedious task. We managed to finish a small block over 4 or 5 hours. Over the following weekends, Chris continued work on the layout with hired labor. They finished up much faster than we would have without the help!
Mowing - The cover crop in the vineyard has definitely started to grow again. Farmer Chris spent some time recently to mow it. It looked so nice when it was done.
Weed control - In addition to mowing, weed control is an important spring task. I got to play around on the ATV to do some of the weed spraying. I did the fence line. Chris did the in row spraying that will keep the weeds from growing near the vines.
Trellis construction - The trellis for the existing plants is missing some of the support wires called the catch wires. These are used to catch the canopy when it starts to grow larger throughout the season. There is a lower set and a higher set. Chris has been working hard with the help of hired labor to install the catch wires. Soon he will also have to start work on the trellis for the new plantings.
As you can tell, there is a lot to do on the vineyard. This will be a very busy growing season. We hope to get a small crop off of the sauvignon blanc vines, but the we will drop the fruit from all of the other vines to encourage root growth.
Keep an eye on the blog for the latest updates!
No comments:
Post a Comment