Seems like all I’ve been doing lately is thinning and tucking, thinning and tucking…. so much green growth this year!
I forwarded pictures of the Crimson Clover vineyard to Paul earlier this month and showed him how woolly the vines were. Then I sent him pics of the rows that Gerry and I finished, and the ground that was covered in green from all the foliage we took off.
After that I shot over to the Sesson site and assessed what the next steps are for there. The shoots are ready to be pulled down to make canes and a few are ready for spur positioning. Very quickly I went through one row and took a photo to show “the boss”.
Paul relies on me to be his eyes in the vineyards this time of year; he goes to his office job during the day and I fill him in on what’s happening with the vines. I know that frustrates him to no end and he’s looking forward to the career change, but we’re not quite there yet.
As for the Mourvedre vineyard at home, I haven’t had the heart yet to drop the clusters on some of the heartier vines. They’re amazing this year. We had one casualty with the weedwhacker so I’m sad about that, but not overly concerned.
I’ve got Zinfandel plants that are purely for landscaping at this point (to shield our driveway from the neighbors) that have sent secondary shoots with flowering clusters already. On the primaries, I think I spotted what looks like the very first few signs of veraison. I’ve actually enjoyed these grapes for eating, if you can get past all the seeds that is.
That’s the quick vineyard update for today – after lunch I’m heading over to the church to clean up their 20 cabernet vines (make that 18, two of them need replacing) and finish up my thinning and tucking.