I must confess, I miss it already. Even though the season is officially over, I miss the bull work, the repetition, the looking forward to the "possible" harvest which the migrating birds enjoyed this year. There was the official bud break which occurs about April 1st, and then the rapid growth of shoots which inevitably leads to a huge amount of pruning that needs to be done. This year I taught my brother and his wife the solitary nature of pruning.....visualizing the end intent, choosing the shoots to get you there, and trimming off those that have been determined their place is better on the ground than with the vine.
This year was tough, but I look forward to a completed irrigation system next year to help spur new growth. Even though I only plan to replace half of the vines that didn't make it through the serious drought we had, I wish I could replace all of them and then expand even more. The next expansion isn't planned until Spring of 2012 with 3 new varieties. It can't come soon enough, and once again I'll set up the "perfect plan" to make it all run smoothly....though it hasn't yet.
Last week I was walking the vineyard and I could see the absolutely straight rows of poles I put in with the help of my son Chris. It was his first introduction to farming and driving a tractor....well, at this type of farming anyway. I'm sure that at the end of the day he was mentally trying to figure out if there was a better way. Maybe there is....someday we'll find it....but it was a project successfully completed and that he can be happy about.
The Fall is a time to shut the place down and start looking at all the little projects that were put on the back burner during the hectic growing season. I drained the irrigation system, and my other son Rich was with me and was assigned to finish the trellis system (Geneva Double Current) for the Nortons. We know we'll need the full trellis next year....Nortons grow like crazy.
December will be dedicated to more little projects. But there is one BIG one I'll begin. When we started this vineyard Diane and I talked about the winery, but at the time it was years off. The clock has ticked, the vines have grown, and we are now at the time when we must pay attention to the winery. We have sat with a local architect we like in a preliminary discussion and now we have to get serious. In December I will have another meeting with the architect and we will get the project rolling. We plan on putting the shovel in the ground in Spring of 2012, so that gives us just over a year to do all the advance work. There is so much to do, and I suspect that even with all this prethought we will still run out of time towards the end. First crush is planned for Fall of 2012 and we have to have a place to do it all in. Build a winery, put in the fermenting tanks with the destemmer, crusher, pumps, filter system, etc. etc. Then have a tasting room, a minny bakery on the side, along with a gift shop.
It can seem overwhelming at times.
It is a very exciting time.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
No need to reflect...season's over
Sounds kind of depressing, doesn't it ? In the past I've used the end of the year to reflect, but looking at the last few blog entries it appears that I have been making comments in this regard throughout most of the season as events have unfolded and completely altered my "big plans" for 2010.
Things just didn't go as smooth as I had wanted. They started off on the wrong footing with a delay in the new field opening due to a late soy harvest in 2009. And then my key guy had decided for him that 3 squares a day and a roof over his head, complements of the Virginia Commonwealth, was going to dominate his year. It was one of the driest and hottest years on record, and with new plants and a non-existent irrigation system, it proved that crop losses in the vineyard matched those in other crops.....we lost 50% of our new vines, mostly Cabernet Sauvignon. Diane, ever the optimist when it comes to things of a growing nature, thinks that some will show signs of life if we just continue to water them through October. I'm not too sure.
General pruning and weed control took a back seat to getting the new block up and growing and watered, which pretty much worked its way well into September before this task could be considered done. Way too long for an expansion.
I'm looking ahead to next year, and the year after which as they say will be here sooner than you think. As for the grapevines in Block 1 and Block 2, there is always the pruning that is requiring. This can be done anytime once they become dormant up until they start to have bud break. A mild winter will allow this to be done piecemeal during the next 4 or so months. And then there are the replacement vines to be put in Block 2....almost 1000 of them. Gulp ! But time wise this won't take very long since they are already marked with the irrigation system working to give them a good start.
As for weeding and fertilizing, we have all the sprayers now converted to handle vines already up to the top wire, as well as having directional nozzles to aim at the one year old plants still close to the ground. This past year we added a new piece of equipment that will spray herbicides in the most efficient and directed manner available. We tried it this past year and it was a great success, though we weren't as diligent as we should have been in maintaining a spray schedule.
Our big purchase in 2011 will be an in-and-out tiller. It is just another cool piece of equipment that attachs to a 3-point capable tractor and tills weeds under the wires, toggling out and in around the grapes for absolute ground coverage. It is hypnotising to watch this thing work. When we get the website up we'll have a youtube of it in action. I calculated that it would take nearly 2 weeks to till the two blocks using a conventional tiller so it didn't take much in the way of justification to decide to get one of these fast running Italian machines for next year.
And now I am putting together the plans for the winery. First crush will be Fall of 2012 and we need a winery to do all this in. That means the chrome-plated shovel must be ready to break earth in that same Spring.....just 16 months away. Diane and I have talked about styles and layouts, and right now we are looking at a nice post and beam barn layout. It would fit well with the local architecture and allow us the flexibility to alter the inside to meet our needs. Initially the winery, tasting room, and retail outlet need to be considered, but ultimately a small bakery, coffee shop, and restaurant are to be added shortly afterwards. There is alot to consider and soon we will need the help of an architect to fine tune it, but at least "we think" we know what we want.
Of course, all of this must in some way coincide with my selling my business and home in Massachusetts, both tough nuts to crack in a downer economy, but things always seem to work out with perseverence and focus.
One final note. The birds got to the Norton grapes in a very timely manner. They know the BRIX reading as well as any refractometer does. When I returned to pick them, all I saw was grape bunch skeletons. It kinda capped the year I guess, but on the bright side this was not a major harvest year, and it forewarned us of a problem that needs to be addressed before next Fall.
Things just didn't go as smooth as I had wanted. They started off on the wrong footing with a delay in the new field opening due to a late soy harvest in 2009. And then my key guy had decided for him that 3 squares a day and a roof over his head, complements of the Virginia Commonwealth, was going to dominate his year. It was one of the driest and hottest years on record, and with new plants and a non-existent irrigation system, it proved that crop losses in the vineyard matched those in other crops.....we lost 50% of our new vines, mostly Cabernet Sauvignon. Diane, ever the optimist when it comes to things of a growing nature, thinks that some will show signs of life if we just continue to water them through October. I'm not too sure.
General pruning and weed control took a back seat to getting the new block up and growing and watered, which pretty much worked its way well into September before this task could be considered done. Way too long for an expansion.
I'm looking ahead to next year, and the year after which as they say will be here sooner than you think. As for the grapevines in Block 1 and Block 2, there is always the pruning that is requiring. This can be done anytime once they become dormant up until they start to have bud break. A mild winter will allow this to be done piecemeal during the next 4 or so months. And then there are the replacement vines to be put in Block 2....almost 1000 of them. Gulp ! But time wise this won't take very long since they are already marked with the irrigation system working to give them a good start.
As for weeding and fertilizing, we have all the sprayers now converted to handle vines already up to the top wire, as well as having directional nozzles to aim at the one year old plants still close to the ground. This past year we added a new piece of equipment that will spray herbicides in the most efficient and directed manner available. We tried it this past year and it was a great success, though we weren't as diligent as we should have been in maintaining a spray schedule.
Our big purchase in 2011 will be an in-and-out tiller. It is just another cool piece of equipment that attachs to a 3-point capable tractor and tills weeds under the wires, toggling out and in around the grapes for absolute ground coverage. It is hypnotising to watch this thing work. When we get the website up we'll have a youtube of it in action. I calculated that it would take nearly 2 weeks to till the two blocks using a conventional tiller so it didn't take much in the way of justification to decide to get one of these fast running Italian machines for next year.
And now I am putting together the plans for the winery. First crush will be Fall of 2012 and we need a winery to do all this in. That means the chrome-plated shovel must be ready to break earth in that same Spring.....just 16 months away. Diane and I have talked about styles and layouts, and right now we are looking at a nice post and beam barn layout. It would fit well with the local architecture and allow us the flexibility to alter the inside to meet our needs. Initially the winery, tasting room, and retail outlet need to be considered, but ultimately a small bakery, coffee shop, and restaurant are to be added shortly afterwards. There is alot to consider and soon we will need the help of an architect to fine tune it, but at least "we think" we know what we want.
Of course, all of this must in some way coincide with my selling my business and home in Massachusetts, both tough nuts to crack in a downer economy, but things always seem to work out with perseverence and focus.
One final note. The birds got to the Norton grapes in a very timely manner. They know the BRIX reading as well as any refractometer does. When I returned to pick them, all I saw was grape bunch skeletons. It kinda capped the year I guess, but on the bright side this was not a major harvest year, and it forewarned us of a problem that needs to be addressed before next Fall.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
The Dog Days of Summer
What'll you do when that great plan made earlier in the year goes absolutely to pot ? Remember Jerry.......well he came back temporarily only to be "relocated" to a State facility for about 6 months. Apparently the vineyard didn't keep him busy enough to stay out of trouble.
So that completely erased my visiting the vineyard once a month to my being an A+ member of AirTrans, going back and forth to Virginia 3 times in August alone.
Oh, and lets toss insult to injury here and have August to be one of the hottest months on record with almost no rain.
Remember the ongoing project of putting the irrigation system in ? It took 3 trips down to finally get the system working for the Petit Verdot....finally. And it looks like I may have found someone to help complete the layout for the Cabernet Sauvignons during my latest absence, but even so he may only be able to get 2/3 of it done by the time I return 7 days from now. But it is progress. Maybe we'll have the system fully in by Labor Day !
The question then comes down to how many of these vines were hardy enough to survive without alot of water. I guess we''ll see if we get any new growth in the next month or so having been finally properly taken care of.
Working in Virginia, in the fields, in the summer, is an experience in itself. When you get up early in the morning, maybe around 6:30 or 7, you are as refreshed as you're going to be with hopefully a full nights rest (trust me, that's rare for me regardless). It is in the upper 60's or low 70's outside, but the official dew point is barely a few degrees below this. The grass and the weeds are soaked, and any idea of not having your feet completely water-logged within the first 15 minutes of working in the field is utter nonsense. The heat rapidly rises, and for the first half of August this means upper 80's or mid-90's by noon. The dew point does stay put, but the humidity climbs nearly as fast. Five hours into the day you are drenched.....not just the shirt but also the pants, socks, and shoes. And oh, if you keep track of this sort of thing, they have what's known as the Heat Index which basically describes how miserable you are in numerical terms. How about 126 for a number ?....doesn't it just sound bad ?
But this is what is presented to you, and if you want to be productive at all you tackle this head on, putting on the suntan lotion, drinking plenty of fluids, and push on until around noon when sanity takes over and you have to retreat into an air conditioned house. Hey, but this is only 5 hours ! Back into the fields at around 5:30 or 6 to put in another couple of hours after the sun has dropped nearer to the horizon and teases you with what you believe to be cooler conditions.
Update on the BRIX levels....
During August I had checked both the Seyval Blanc and the Nortons. The Seyvals were rapidly moving up, first to a 20 reading and then finally to a 25 reading....already time to harvest !! I conferred with my winemaker and was told that the next time I was down here in Virginia I would have to pick them. So here I was, on the 2nd trip to Virginia in the month, only to find that the birds (we suspect turkeys) were monitoring the BRIX levels also. All the Seyvals were eaten !@!@#@! Our next hope is the Nortons (picture above). As of August 16th they measured 20 on the BRIX scale so we think they will be ready by Labor Day or shortly thereafter. Not sure if the birds like red grapes quite as much as they like the white ones, but maybe we can beat them to the harvest this time and give us enough of a test quantity to make some nice table reds or some blush wine.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
COMING AROUND AGAIN...
It is now early July and I am back on the vineyard.......or let's just say I have just left and am reviewing the work that has been done.
As I mentioned in my last blog we had several things to accomplish in order to make serious progress during this trip. I was able to rent a Ditch Witch and dig the trench to tie the water lines in Block 2 to the main system. Digging down into hard pack was really tough...not only were the cutters having a hard time ripping out the earth that was as hard as granite due to the drought, but as it was trying the wheels spun in the soft top sand and dug themselves in. Try moving a Ditch Witch that has dug itself into the ground....no easy task.
It took a day to dig the trenches needed, and the following day I had to go in with a trench shovel and clean out spots that I couldn't go deep enough with using the machine. In one spot I had to avoid slicing the telephone wire, which surprizingly was exactly where DigSafe (or Virginia's equivalent) said it was.....24" down. Of course I ended up slicing through another wire that wasn't identified, but it must not have been juiced or I would have lit up.
The day after I tied in all the irrigation lines that were preassembled (Diane flew down to help here, along with some pruning....more on that later) and called it a day. I didn't have the energy to test them that late in the day. In case there was a problem there wasn't enough time left to fix it anyway.
Changing subjects.....guess who showed up ? Jerry, of course. After his months (and months) of disappearance, he said he wanted to continue now that he had nearly fully recovered from his stint with depression, migranes,, etc. Well, Jerry owed me hours ( I had paid him in advance some during late winter when the weather wasn't great but he needed rent money) so who was I to say no, at least for now. So I used Jerry to test the system out and once we took care of only one gusher where a coupling failed, it was working fine and was ready to be backfilled. At that point I was mentally and physically fried (it was at the end on my 2 week stretch) so I just delegated it to him to do. While I was there he also started doing the tie-in work for the Petit Verdots.....drilling the bottom wire holes, running the wire, putting up the drip lines and installing the drippers. Hopefully this all will be done by the time I return. Really I hope earlier than my return so we can turn on the water to Block 2 .....it has been very very dry and the grapes need the water for basic survival. Some of the grapevines look rather sad...dead leaves that seemed so promising when planted are completely browned or have dropped off. Oh, the life of a farmer ! Cross our fingers and pray that the roots and trunk are still in good shape. We will know in the next few weeks our survival rate....once we get some water on them and see how they respond. There just isn't alot of rain in the forecast.
The other projects included some pruning, and some spraying. As mentioned , Diane came down for a few days and she was able to pry me away from the vineyard for a night on the town. We went over to Colonial Downs for some horse racing and fireworks on July 4th. They have a nice setup......the best that loser's money can provide. We bet on 9 out of 10 races....we lost on 9 out of 10 races. Now they weren't able to expand their facilities with the money we lost at only $2 a race, but come on, how can you lose a race betting Show on the most favored horse ? Ah, the gamblers nightmare; once again reinforcing why I don't do the Lotto, the track, or go to Vegas. But the fireworks at the track were first class and we had a great time. Of course there was a dark moment. After the show we raced to the ferry landing, got there in time only to find out that the ferry was full and we had to wait an hour (until 1:30 a.m.) for the next ferry to arrive and take us across the James. Bummer.
Diane helped with the pruning. I put her on the Cabernet Francs while I tackled the Nortons. All had become bushes by now and the 3 minutes it took for pruning vines to establish cordons last month now took double or triple the time this month. After a couple of days Diane had done 1 1/2 rows. I was on the Nortons and they bordered on a nightmare. These are being trained with a twin trunk, therefore double the amount of hedge to prune back, not to mention their ordinary vigorous behavior. I got through maybe a little over half of them before my 2 weeks were up and I had to return north. I can't imagine what they will look like when I return again. And those poor Viogniers.......they have yet to see pruning sheers since the initial cutting.
Lastly I did some spraying. I had reconstructed the boom system on the sprayer the last time I was there. It is now capable of spraying sideways at 2 levels in both directions as I ride down a row. It worked quite well actually. Testing out a speed / spray usage earlier in the week I was able to spray exactly 25 gallons of diluted spray of fungicide and insecticide in an hour doing Block 1. Previously this was a 5 to 6 hour job. When you have to rely totally on one person ( a.k.a. moi) you get pretty smart as how to get the work done faster and more efficiently. Now how can I be more efficient at pruning ?
That was my stint at the vineyard in the 1st half of July. I have been home now a couple of days and have gone through my period of decompression. I have already reserved plane tickets for a return trip in August. A one week stay devoted to finalizing the irrigation for Block 2, and more pruning, and seeing if Jerry finished the assigned tasks.
On a more intersting note, Diane tested the grapes we have hanging on the Seyval Blancs and they register a 5% sugar level. They have a long ways to go but we have many more sunny months to bring them up to the 25% Brix level we need at picking. Looks like a late September or October harvesting is on schedule. Maybe we'll have all the other grapes pruned by then !
As I mentioned in my last blog we had several things to accomplish in order to make serious progress during this trip. I was able to rent a Ditch Witch and dig the trench to tie the water lines in Block 2 to the main system. Digging down into hard pack was really tough...not only were the cutters having a hard time ripping out the earth that was as hard as granite due to the drought, but as it was trying the wheels spun in the soft top sand and dug themselves in. Try moving a Ditch Witch that has dug itself into the ground....no easy task.
It took a day to dig the trenches needed, and the following day I had to go in with a trench shovel and clean out spots that I couldn't go deep enough with using the machine. In one spot I had to avoid slicing the telephone wire, which surprizingly was exactly where DigSafe (or Virginia's equivalent) said it was.....24" down. Of course I ended up slicing through another wire that wasn't identified, but it must not have been juiced or I would have lit up.
The day after I tied in all the irrigation lines that were preassembled (Diane flew down to help here, along with some pruning....more on that later) and called it a day. I didn't have the energy to test them that late in the day. In case there was a problem there wasn't enough time left to fix it anyway.
Changing subjects.....guess who showed up ? Jerry, of course. After his months (and months) of disappearance, he said he wanted to continue now that he had nearly fully recovered from his stint with depression, migranes,, etc. Well, Jerry owed me hours ( I had paid him in advance some during late winter when the weather wasn't great but he needed rent money) so who was I to say no, at least for now. So I used Jerry to test the system out and once we took care of only one gusher where a coupling failed, it was working fine and was ready to be backfilled. At that point I was mentally and physically fried (it was at the end on my 2 week stretch) so I just delegated it to him to do. While I was there he also started doing the tie-in work for the Petit Verdots.....drilling the bottom wire holes, running the wire, putting up the drip lines and installing the drippers. Hopefully this all will be done by the time I return. Really I hope earlier than my return so we can turn on the water to Block 2 .....it has been very very dry and the grapes need the water for basic survival. Some of the grapevines look rather sad...dead leaves that seemed so promising when planted are completely browned or have dropped off. Oh, the life of a farmer ! Cross our fingers and pray that the roots and trunk are still in good shape. We will know in the next few weeks our survival rate....once we get some water on them and see how they respond. There just isn't alot of rain in the forecast.
The other projects included some pruning, and some spraying. As mentioned , Diane came down for a few days and she was able to pry me away from the vineyard for a night on the town. We went over to Colonial Downs for some horse racing and fireworks on July 4th. They have a nice setup......the best that loser's money can provide. We bet on 9 out of 10 races....we lost on 9 out of 10 races. Now they weren't able to expand their facilities with the money we lost at only $2 a race, but come on, how can you lose a race betting Show on the most favored horse ? Ah, the gamblers nightmare; once again reinforcing why I don't do the Lotto, the track, or go to Vegas. But the fireworks at the track were first class and we had a great time. Of course there was a dark moment. After the show we raced to the ferry landing, got there in time only to find out that the ferry was full and we had to wait an hour (until 1:30 a.m.) for the next ferry to arrive and take us across the James. Bummer.
Diane helped with the pruning. I put her on the Cabernet Francs while I tackled the Nortons. All had become bushes by now and the 3 minutes it took for pruning vines to establish cordons last month now took double or triple the time this month. After a couple of days Diane had done 1 1/2 rows. I was on the Nortons and they bordered on a nightmare. These are being trained with a twin trunk, therefore double the amount of hedge to prune back, not to mention their ordinary vigorous behavior. I got through maybe a little over half of them before my 2 weeks were up and I had to return north. I can't imagine what they will look like when I return again. And those poor Viogniers.......they have yet to see pruning sheers since the initial cutting.
Lastly I did some spraying. I had reconstructed the boom system on the sprayer the last time I was there. It is now capable of spraying sideways at 2 levels in both directions as I ride down a row. It worked quite well actually. Testing out a speed / spray usage earlier in the week I was able to spray exactly 25 gallons of diluted spray of fungicide and insecticide in an hour doing Block 1. Previously this was a 5 to 6 hour job. When you have to rely totally on one person ( a.k.a. moi) you get pretty smart as how to get the work done faster and more efficiently. Now how can I be more efficient at pruning ?
That was my stint at the vineyard in the 1st half of July. I have been home now a couple of days and have gone through my period of decompression. I have already reserved plane tickets for a return trip in August. A one week stay devoted to finalizing the irrigation for Block 2, and more pruning, and seeing if Jerry finished the assigned tasks.
On a more intersting note, Diane tested the grapes we have hanging on the Seyval Blancs and they register a 5% sugar level. They have a long ways to go but we have many more sunny months to bring them up to the 25% Brix level we need at picking. Looks like a late September or October harvesting is on schedule. Maybe we'll have all the other grapes pruned by then !
Friday, June 11, 2010
SO MUCH TO DO, SO MUCH TO DO
It's mid-June now, and I have just finished my 1 1/2 week stint on the vineyard. I remember last year going to work in Virginia a week at a time, usually once a month. This year the workload has grown (no takers on my job opening yet) and I visit with an open-ended schedule in the vineyard. I love working the fields, but I hate wasting 12 hours of driving each way to go to and from. That is another problem to address, but it doesn't help on the workload.
This latest trip was a success in as much as alot of "must do" projects were completed. I was visited by my brother Ron and his wife Barb who realized at the onset that that I would put them to work, especially on 2-man projects where I needed the extra hands. They had come up to Virginia to visit relatives in Maryland, but ended up putting some time in with me as part of a "working vacation".
I taught Ron the finer points of driving a farm tractor with its 3-point hook-up as we pounded in the last of the wooden posts in the Block 2 expansion. From there we used the gas auger to drill holes for planting the balance of the Cabernet Sauvignons that had been stored in a refrigerator from last month. In case anyone asks, a refrigerator can hold 625 grafted vines max.
During the week it was rather hot, so outside work was restricted to early morning and late evening, when the sun wasn't as glaring and a slight breeze made working the vines tolerable. I taught Ron and Barb how to prune 3 year old vines, establishing the cordons for next year's cane growth. We would go back in the field around 6 p.m. and work until 8 or so when light was too dim to make good cutting decisions, and when we were just exhausted enough to call it a day. There would ALWAYS be another day....there would always be more vines to prune too.
We concentrated on the Seyval Blancs while they were there. I have 10 rows of them, somewhere around 500 vines. They had grown so much since their first pruning that it took nearly 3 minutes a piece to cut off the unwanted shoots, not to mention all the fruit clusters that the vines had already allowed. Normally we would remove all these clusters but there were so many, and the vines were growing so well, that we left a couple on average on each vine for a Fall harvest, allowing us to get warmed up on wine production 2 years ahead of schedule.
Ron and Barb eventually had to leave, and after they departed I planted the 625 Cabs and worked on the spray systems for the next visit. The Japanese Beetles are out in full force now, and they love grape leaves. I also have to consider all the fungus issues that come with hot humid temperatures. Prudent spray use is necessary just to keep even.....I don't really know how the "organic" guys do it.
My next visit can't come soon enough. My mind is already back in Virginia and I know I still have the Viognier, Cab Francs, and Nortons to prune a 2nd time. I also have to tie in the irrigation system into Block 2. We have been rather lucky lately so the need to connect all the drip lines hasn't made it a priority (at least not with everything else that needed to be done).
It had been so dry in the Spring that my back fields still haven't been planted. We had soy last year, and it is getting a little late for corn. Maybe we'll get a grain in ?
This latest trip was a success in as much as alot of "must do" projects were completed. I was visited by my brother Ron and his wife Barb who realized at the onset that that I would put them to work, especially on 2-man projects where I needed the extra hands. They had come up to Virginia to visit relatives in Maryland, but ended up putting some time in with me as part of a "working vacation".
I taught Ron the finer points of driving a farm tractor with its 3-point hook-up as we pounded in the last of the wooden posts in the Block 2 expansion. From there we used the gas auger to drill holes for planting the balance of the Cabernet Sauvignons that had been stored in a refrigerator from last month. In case anyone asks, a refrigerator can hold 625 grafted vines max.
During the week it was rather hot, so outside work was restricted to early morning and late evening, when the sun wasn't as glaring and a slight breeze made working the vines tolerable. I taught Ron and Barb how to prune 3 year old vines, establishing the cordons for next year's cane growth. We would go back in the field around 6 p.m. and work until 8 or so when light was too dim to make good cutting decisions, and when we were just exhausted enough to call it a day. There would ALWAYS be another day....there would always be more vines to prune too.
We concentrated on the Seyval Blancs while they were there. I have 10 rows of them, somewhere around 500 vines. They had grown so much since their first pruning that it took nearly 3 minutes a piece to cut off the unwanted shoots, not to mention all the fruit clusters that the vines had already allowed. Normally we would remove all these clusters but there were so many, and the vines were growing so well, that we left a couple on average on each vine for a Fall harvest, allowing us to get warmed up on wine production 2 years ahead of schedule.
Ron and Barb eventually had to leave, and after they departed I planted the 625 Cabs and worked on the spray systems for the next visit. The Japanese Beetles are out in full force now, and they love grape leaves. I also have to consider all the fungus issues that come with hot humid temperatures. Prudent spray use is necessary just to keep even.....I don't really know how the "organic" guys do it.
My next visit can't come soon enough. My mind is already back in Virginia and I know I still have the Viognier, Cab Francs, and Nortons to prune a 2nd time. I also have to tie in the irrigation system into Block 2. We have been rather lucky lately so the need to connect all the drip lines hasn't made it a priority (at least not with everything else that needed to be done).
It had been so dry in the Spring that my back fields still haven't been planted. We had soy last year, and it is getting a little late for corn. Maybe we'll get a grain in ?
Monday, May 17, 2010
KEEP FOCUSED ON THE PRIZE
Alot has happened since my last entry. Part of it is that I have been relentless and focused on getting the work done that needed to be, and a good part of it is that I have had the help of others when I pleaded to the world for help.
To begin, Jerry disappeared from the map. His landlord even showed up looking for him because he skipped out of paying his rent. He has become a ghost who someday will reappear....they always do. And then I looked at several people to fill his spot, only to find out that the better, reliable workers were all taken elsewhere, and those that feigned an interest were no shows or not committed to the cause. Maybe the recession is over (or maybe farm work is REALLY hard and no one wants to do it). So what I did was get hold of Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia and presented internship openings to see if I could get any students that wanted to learn the vineyard trade. They are having their exams now.....possibly some interest there when they're over ?
But in the meantime I had to get to work. The vines were due to be shipped in at the end of April and lots had to be done before then.
My older son was shamed into helping for a week, so we drove down together in a 17 hour drive, stopping at vendors to pick up wire and machinery, along with stopping at a plastics vendor to chew him out for poor delivery. It was a long drive but Chris made it through without a complaint. Our mission together was to lay out the fields (Block 2) in a grid pattern and start pounding in posts. We did nearly all the field while he was in town. I think Chris had a new found respect for the work that goes in to just this step alone. Poles just don't "appear" in the fields. Each one needs to be placed, jockeyed into position, pounded, readjusted, and pounded again. Over and over and over. The 2 of us completed all the poles for the Petit Verdots, and got well into those needed for the Cabernet Sauvignons.
During this time Diane came down for a few days. Flew in and flew out. It gave Chris and I the chance to just work till we dropped.....Diane took care of feeding us along with doing some vineyard work in Block 1.....planting new vines where vines had died over the winter (or before) . She could only stay a few days, and found her escape on a Monday. Chris was quick to jump on that bandwagon too seeing it as his only available exit strategy. I don't blame him really. When I get down on the vineyard there is so much work that I rarely come up for air. Any food in the frige or the cabinets is used to allow me to survive and continue working. I just can't find the energy or time to go into town to buy food for well-rounded meals. With Chris he felt captive to this mentality and with his major contribution behind him returning to Massachusetts was looked forward to as a place for recovery.
And with a few more posts to pound in, I hired a guy who talked the talk but didn't walk the walk. He did however drive the tractor for 3 days so I could pound in the balance of the posts we had (we were still short around 20 posts which we'll get in at a later date). I offered him plenty of work after I left, recognizing this wasn't a career move for him. Being yessed to death but no-showing seems to be a trend down there. I was once again totally empty handed.
So a few weeks went by and I did a return trip to New England to earn a living, to only have my mind back in Virginia knowing vines would soon be on their way. Over 2700 vines arrived at the vineyard during that last week in April. I tried to contact the UPS driver to have them placed in the shade......communication was difficult at best. Fortunately my next door neighbor was able to move them well under the car canopy to keep them from being dried out in the sun.
On this trip Diane drove down with me along with her brother John. I think he was purely curious about the whole process. Diane and I have been talking about it for years. Her sister Annie came down once to help put in a fence so there were stories that needed to be tied together and a visit by him would allow this. And of course his help was surely needed.
Once again I was driven to get as much work done as I could, especially with 2 other people volunteering their blood and sweat (well, Diane is not really a volunteer). Diane focused on planting the Petit Verdots, while Johnny and I drilled holes with a gas powered auger ahead of her to speed up the planting. After 3 days John had fulfilled his duty.....the Petit Verdots were fully drilled and fully planted and he found a flight home. Once again we had dove into the project head first. No time to show John the sights, something he wished we had time for. Diane promised that if he came back "off-season" we would have time for more touristy stuff.
So that left Diane and me to get as much done in the upper field for the Cab. Sauvignons.
We did leave the vineyard for a short while though.....a kind of a breather. We visited Smithfield and went to a farmers market......nothing great there to buy, and the a local Inn was selling alot of their furnishings that didn't go along with their remodeling plans.....nothing there we needed either. Diane also zipped into town to pick up some food for me too, since she knew once she flew home (an unplanned flight, but I had to stay to finish the planting) I wouldn't leave the land.
Our efforts were spent on drilling holes. The Cab. Sauvignons required 1750 holes, and with that they need to be measured out between the posts before they were drilled. It is a 2 person job to efficiently do this. Constantly lining up the holes, measuring off of each post, and then drilling.
Now don't think that drilling is easy. Picking up an auger, placing it in position, repositioning it as required and then finally drilling is like doing 4 bench presses per hole. And then don't think we're drilling through soft crumbly loam.....THINK CONCRETE !! It has been dry for so long that the clay-filled soil was impenetrable. Even with both of our weights leaning on the 2 handles of the auger, there were times when the auger bit only was able to dig down an inch or two and kick up fine silt. It was tough going But after 4 more days we were able to drill 1140 holes.
Now this number wasn't the "magic number" we wanted, which was 1750 holes. But understand Diane's brain was clicking to solve this problem....i.e. not having the time to drill and plant all the vines. Her idea was to completely empty a spare refrigerator we had of its shelves and use it to store the vines we couldn't plant, which is what we did. We placed (more like jammed) 625 vines in the refrigerator (make a note that this is maximum capacity !) and turned on the machine to 37 degrees. This would keep them dormant until we were ready to plant them.
It was now time for Diane to fly away. She had an early (early equals 5:30 a.m.) flight out of Newport News on the following Monday, and that left me with the duty of planting all the Cabernet Sauvignon vines not put in cold storage. It took 4 days to do it....that's alot of deep knee bends (thank god it wasn't more bench presses), but it was finally done in time for me to drive back on Friday.
I had been down there 2 full weeks. With the help of John and Diane (and of course Chris previously), we got alot accomplished. There is a ton of work left, not to mention that grapes are actually growing on all our vines in Block 1 that have to be pruned off.
Block 1 needs to be pruned. A spray schedule has to be initiated. The irrigation system has to be extended into Block 2 (and that requires drilling wire holes, running wire and drip lines, putting in the drippers), completing the planting of the chilly Cabs., weeding (and weeding and weeding). It has now become a full time job.
I am due back in 2 weeks. Can't wait. Really.
To begin, Jerry disappeared from the map. His landlord even showed up looking for him because he skipped out of paying his rent. He has become a ghost who someday will reappear....they always do. And then I looked at several people to fill his spot, only to find out that the better, reliable workers were all taken elsewhere, and those that feigned an interest were no shows or not committed to the cause. Maybe the recession is over (or maybe farm work is REALLY hard and no one wants to do it). So what I did was get hold of Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia and presented internship openings to see if I could get any students that wanted to learn the vineyard trade. They are having their exams now.....possibly some interest there when they're over ?
But in the meantime I had to get to work. The vines were due to be shipped in at the end of April and lots had to be done before then.
My older son was shamed into helping for a week, so we drove down together in a 17 hour drive, stopping at vendors to pick up wire and machinery, along with stopping at a plastics vendor to chew him out for poor delivery. It was a long drive but Chris made it through without a complaint. Our mission together was to lay out the fields (Block 2) in a grid pattern and start pounding in posts. We did nearly all the field while he was in town. I think Chris had a new found respect for the work that goes in to just this step alone. Poles just don't "appear" in the fields. Each one needs to be placed, jockeyed into position, pounded, readjusted, and pounded again. Over and over and over. The 2 of us completed all the poles for the Petit Verdots, and got well into those needed for the Cabernet Sauvignons.
During this time Diane came down for a few days. Flew in and flew out. It gave Chris and I the chance to just work till we dropped.....Diane took care of feeding us along with doing some vineyard work in Block 1.....planting new vines where vines had died over the winter (or before) . She could only stay a few days, and found her escape on a Monday. Chris was quick to jump on that bandwagon too seeing it as his only available exit strategy. I don't blame him really. When I get down on the vineyard there is so much work that I rarely come up for air. Any food in the frige or the cabinets is used to allow me to survive and continue working. I just can't find the energy or time to go into town to buy food for well-rounded meals. With Chris he felt captive to this mentality and with his major contribution behind him returning to Massachusetts was looked forward to as a place for recovery.
And with a few more posts to pound in, I hired a guy who talked the talk but didn't walk the walk. He did however drive the tractor for 3 days so I could pound in the balance of the posts we had (we were still short around 20 posts which we'll get in at a later date). I offered him plenty of work after I left, recognizing this wasn't a career move for him. Being yessed to death but no-showing seems to be a trend down there. I was once again totally empty handed.
So a few weeks went by and I did a return trip to New England to earn a living, to only have my mind back in Virginia knowing vines would soon be on their way. Over 2700 vines arrived at the vineyard during that last week in April. I tried to contact the UPS driver to have them placed in the shade......communication was difficult at best. Fortunately my next door neighbor was able to move them well under the car canopy to keep them from being dried out in the sun.
On this trip Diane drove down with me along with her brother John. I think he was purely curious about the whole process. Diane and I have been talking about it for years. Her sister Annie came down once to help put in a fence so there were stories that needed to be tied together and a visit by him would allow this. And of course his help was surely needed.
Once again I was driven to get as much work done as I could, especially with 2 other people volunteering their blood and sweat (well, Diane is not really a volunteer). Diane focused on planting the Petit Verdots, while Johnny and I drilled holes with a gas powered auger ahead of her to speed up the planting. After 3 days John had fulfilled his duty.....the Petit Verdots were fully drilled and fully planted and he found a flight home. Once again we had dove into the project head first. No time to show John the sights, something he wished we had time for. Diane promised that if he came back "off-season" we would have time for more touristy stuff.
So that left Diane and me to get as much done in the upper field for the Cab. Sauvignons.
We did leave the vineyard for a short while though.....a kind of a breather. We visited Smithfield and went to a farmers market......nothing great there to buy, and the a local Inn was selling alot of their furnishings that didn't go along with their remodeling plans.....nothing there we needed either. Diane also zipped into town to pick up some food for me too, since she knew once she flew home (an unplanned flight, but I had to stay to finish the planting) I wouldn't leave the land.
Our efforts were spent on drilling holes. The Cab. Sauvignons required 1750 holes, and with that they need to be measured out between the posts before they were drilled. It is a 2 person job to efficiently do this. Constantly lining up the holes, measuring off of each post, and then drilling.
Now don't think that drilling is easy. Picking up an auger, placing it in position, repositioning it as required and then finally drilling is like doing 4 bench presses per hole. And then don't think we're drilling through soft crumbly loam.....THINK CONCRETE !! It has been dry for so long that the clay-filled soil was impenetrable. Even with both of our weights leaning on the 2 handles of the auger, there were times when the auger bit only was able to dig down an inch or two and kick up fine silt. It was tough going But after 4 more days we were able to drill 1140 holes.
Now this number wasn't the "magic number" we wanted, which was 1750 holes. But understand Diane's brain was clicking to solve this problem....i.e. not having the time to drill and plant all the vines. Her idea was to completely empty a spare refrigerator we had of its shelves and use it to store the vines we couldn't plant, which is what we did. We placed (more like jammed) 625 vines in the refrigerator (make a note that this is maximum capacity !) and turned on the machine to 37 degrees. This would keep them dormant until we were ready to plant them.
It was now time for Diane to fly away. She had an early (early equals 5:30 a.m.) flight out of Newport News on the following Monday, and that left me with the duty of planting all the Cabernet Sauvignon vines not put in cold storage. It took 4 days to do it....that's alot of deep knee bends (thank god it wasn't more bench presses), but it was finally done in time for me to drive back on Friday.
I had been down there 2 full weeks. With the help of John and Diane (and of course Chris previously), we got alot accomplished. There is a ton of work left, not to mention that grapes are actually growing on all our vines in Block 1 that have to be pruned off.
Block 1 needs to be pruned. A spray schedule has to be initiated. The irrigation system has to be extended into Block 2 (and that requires drilling wire holes, running wire and drip lines, putting in the drippers), completing the planting of the chilly Cabs., weeding (and weeding and weeding). It has now become a full time job.
I am due back in 2 weeks. Can't wait. Really.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Calming Effect....Well not really
Just yesterday I was spewing about how I was let down, my key guy decided to disappear, and restating the age old truism that "grapes wait for no man", I went out in the field today to complete the pruning required in Block 1.
It took about 3 days to till the 3 acres, and another 3 days to prune them.
For anyone who has been thrown into a rather mundane chore, where mechanical motions are learned fast and tend to take over one's motions, you can remember how your mind can wander (or not) depending on the circumstances that have presented themselves.
I for one do not wear an ipod with a set of earphones when I get put into these situations. I would rather not. The constant noise tends to be more of an irritant after awhile. The constant drone of pounding music, or miscellaneous chatter if you tune in to talk radio, are irritating to me. I have seen people with their Sony Walkman's (oh that is so 90's !) who seem to be inattentive to the task at hand and are using it merely to allow time to go by. That's great if you're on the clock and don't really care what you're doing, but if the task at hand should be done right then this minor diversion seems to be counter-productive.....giving the impression that time is passing by efficiently when the opposite is more the case.
In any event, I opt to go it alone. Me, my shears, and the grapevines all doing one thing. But the mind must think of something. Other than the exact moment when you stare at a vine, I am thinking of something else, and that tends to be the top 4 subjects of the day.
Before I touch upon those, the act of pruning is one that can impress a neophyte watching a "pruning veteran" go at a vine quickly with determination and swift cutting. Each year the vine should be trained to take the next step, and it is in the mind of the pruner to imagine this big picture before the shears start cutting. It is amazing how fast one can lop off shoots or canes when you stare at the vine and basically say that that doesn't belong, and will contribute nothing to the big plan. There tends to be a routine as you move from one vine to the next, and an occasional blip may occur when you approach a vine that didn't quite perform like its neighbors. But after 20 or 30 vines you've seen it all and the decisions tend to be easier, and more mechanical. Those shears will automatically move to a shoot that needs trimming, and hopefully few cuts are made with regret. But don't worry, grapes tend to rebound if you screw up, which does happen.
Now after nearly 16 hours of pruning over the last couple of days my mind is settling on the top 4 problems of the day. One never dreams of weekends in the mountains, a weeklong cruise in the Caribbean, and presents under the Christmas tree. You always think about problems. Some can be personal, others down right world-sized. I'm not sure it really matters; there is so much mental time available to cover them all, over and over.
Today I thought about Jerry, and what I am going to do to get the job done, especially getting the poles in. It is a 2 man job, like it or not. And, when am I going to fit it in ? I came up with only vague answers. And regarding Jerry, what actions do I need to take to cover my flanks and not get burned too much. Will he show up Tuesday or Wednesday and want to get paid for the one day he worked, or does he think I'm going to front him money as I have done in the past to cover his rent even when the weather was bad, anticipating that there will be plenty of time later on to make it up ?
And then I have this Facebook "friend" who has worked at the Social Security Adminstration his entire adult life, and thinks entitlements, especially the new health care bill, are OK and the finances regarding it be damned. He believes all of the GOP as assholes, and anyone who watches FOX News are one step above a lizard. Well I'm not trying to change his mind....I don't dare start a Facebook debate, but all I can think of is that if he represents the party of tolerance, what is he really tolerant about if it doesn't include the attitudes and opinions of the opposite party ?
How can I continue to be productive ? I've been flat out for 6 straight days. I want to do something to help the cause, but I'm tired of doing field work. Are there other projects I can do to show progress without feeling I am pushing myself too much? Is there such a thing as a productive assignment that will allow me to coast and chill out ? I did find one today (or so I thought) when I decided to move some machinery around in the barn,and do a little clean-up in there. Unfortunately I found that Jerry had absolutely destroyed a PTO attachment for the tiller and never told me about it, along with butchering several other pieces of equipment that now need to have parts that are mysteriously missing replaced before they can be used.
And then there are minor issues.....gettng the farm refinanced with the new lower finance rates that are available, figuring out how I am going to squeeze in getting my driver's license switched to Virginia, finding time to race across the river to Lowes to pick up a few items for the irrigation system (local hardware stores don't have the parts I need), when will be the best time to drive home, will I get any hits on the want ad I am putting in the paper, etc. etc.
It is hardly a relaxing time pruning the grapevines.
Maybe my next blog entry will be about those putting in those pesky poles.....maybe.
It took about 3 days to till the 3 acres, and another 3 days to prune them.
For anyone who has been thrown into a rather mundane chore, where mechanical motions are learned fast and tend to take over one's motions, you can remember how your mind can wander (or not) depending on the circumstances that have presented themselves.
I for one do not wear an ipod with a set of earphones when I get put into these situations. I would rather not. The constant noise tends to be more of an irritant after awhile. The constant drone of pounding music, or miscellaneous chatter if you tune in to talk radio, are irritating to me. I have seen people with their Sony Walkman's (oh that is so 90's !) who seem to be inattentive to the task at hand and are using it merely to allow time to go by. That's great if you're on the clock and don't really care what you're doing, but if the task at hand should be done right then this minor diversion seems to be counter-productive.....giving the impression that time is passing by efficiently when the opposite is more the case.
In any event, I opt to go it alone. Me, my shears, and the grapevines all doing one thing. But the mind must think of something. Other than the exact moment when you stare at a vine, I am thinking of something else, and that tends to be the top 4 subjects of the day.
Before I touch upon those, the act of pruning is one that can impress a neophyte watching a "pruning veteran" go at a vine quickly with determination and swift cutting. Each year the vine should be trained to take the next step, and it is in the mind of the pruner to imagine this big picture before the shears start cutting. It is amazing how fast one can lop off shoots or canes when you stare at the vine and basically say that that doesn't belong, and will contribute nothing to the big plan. There tends to be a routine as you move from one vine to the next, and an occasional blip may occur when you approach a vine that didn't quite perform like its neighbors. But after 20 or 30 vines you've seen it all and the decisions tend to be easier, and more mechanical. Those shears will automatically move to a shoot that needs trimming, and hopefully few cuts are made with regret. But don't worry, grapes tend to rebound if you screw up, which does happen.
Now after nearly 16 hours of pruning over the last couple of days my mind is settling on the top 4 problems of the day. One never dreams of weekends in the mountains, a weeklong cruise in the Caribbean, and presents under the Christmas tree. You always think about problems. Some can be personal, others down right world-sized. I'm not sure it really matters; there is so much mental time available to cover them all, over and over.
Today I thought about Jerry, and what I am going to do to get the job done, especially getting the poles in. It is a 2 man job, like it or not. And, when am I going to fit it in ? I came up with only vague answers. And regarding Jerry, what actions do I need to take to cover my flanks and not get burned too much. Will he show up Tuesday or Wednesday and want to get paid for the one day he worked, or does he think I'm going to front him money as I have done in the past to cover his rent even when the weather was bad, anticipating that there will be plenty of time later on to make it up ?
And then I have this Facebook "friend" who has worked at the Social Security Adminstration his entire adult life, and thinks entitlements, especially the new health care bill, are OK and the finances regarding it be damned. He believes all of the GOP as assholes, and anyone who watches FOX News are one step above a lizard. Well I'm not trying to change his mind....I don't dare start a Facebook debate, but all I can think of is that if he represents the party of tolerance, what is he really tolerant about if it doesn't include the attitudes and opinions of the opposite party ?
How can I continue to be productive ? I've been flat out for 6 straight days. I want to do something to help the cause, but I'm tired of doing field work. Are there other projects I can do to show progress without feeling I am pushing myself too much? Is there such a thing as a productive assignment that will allow me to coast and chill out ? I did find one today (or so I thought) when I decided to move some machinery around in the barn,and do a little clean-up in there. Unfortunately I found that Jerry had absolutely destroyed a PTO attachment for the tiller and never told me about it, along with butchering several other pieces of equipment that now need to have parts that are mysteriously missing replaced before they can be used.
And then there are minor issues.....gettng the farm refinanced with the new lower finance rates that are available, figuring out how I am going to squeeze in getting my driver's license switched to Virginia, finding time to race across the river to Lowes to pick up a few items for the irrigation system (local hardware stores don't have the parts I need), when will be the best time to drive home, will I get any hits on the want ad I am putting in the paper, etc. etc.
It is hardly a relaxing time pruning the grapevines.
Maybe my next blog entry will be about those putting in those pesky poles.....maybe.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
BACK TO SQUARE 1 (or is it Block 1?)
It took what seemed almost forever for the weather to cooperate so that we could start the needed prep work for the Block 2 expansion. This part of Virginia had the worst weather it has seen in years, and even though we didn't get walloped with the deep snows that D.C. saw, we did get just enough inches of the white stuff to freeze the ground.
Pounding poles into frozen ground is about the same as trying to pound a nail in a concrete surface. There would be nothing left of the equipment or the operator after just a few posts,
So we waited, and we waited, and now in mid-March it is time to get going. But the problem is that we waited so long that Block 1 now needs immediate attention......bud break occurred last year on April 1st and there is no reason to believe it won't be about the same time. We are watching bud swell and it appears we have a little time but not much.
For those that have gone through my previous blogs you may remember that one of my major themes (when times are tough, days are long, and mother nature is testing my determination) is the weeds, and what am I to do about them.
During the winter we came up with a strategy that includes tilling, spraying a pre-emergent herbicide down, and then following-up with some post-emergent herbicides as time goes on.
Bud break announces that Spring is here, and with that is the eruption of every little dormant weed seed that is in the field. There is no time to lose, and last year's debacle of getting to it one or two weeks too late amounted to seasonal anguish (and near suicide !).
Soooo, priorities have changed and we now have a full-court push to prep Block 1. Jerry and I (well, really just "I", more on that later), started the tilling and after 2 1/2 days we have completed it. It does leave a 6" strip directly under the wires that needs to be hit with some herbicide, and the pre-emergent stuff will be in Wednesday for us to spray the tilled earth.
It is past the traditional time to prune, though pruning takes place throughout the season, so we have to get that done too. This is the 2nd year for serious pruning, with each year moving forward requiring a game plan in regards to what you want to achieve. For our French varietals, this year we are setting up the vines to establish cordons, those are the 2 arms that go out to the left and right from the trunk which are located about 36" off the ground. From these the canes will be developed. For our Nortons, an American grape, we are using a Geneva Double Curtain trellising method, so we are training these using a double-trunk method, which requires these trunks to reach all the way up to the top wire that is 6' off the ground before we start allowing canes to develop. Just getting more upward growth is the goal for this year for the Nortons.
So, this week is dedicated to Block 1, with its tilling, its various spraying, and pruning. It is time intensive, but the weather is good, and in some ways it is soothing and medicinal if you can allow your brain to wander and chill out as you go through the mechanical motions of pruning and tieing.
Well, forget the time to day dream. I have a major problem I am trying to resolve, and even the pruning won't allow me escape it. Jerry has been sick lately, let's just say I think it is self-inflicted, and with that he has become a complete loss at being reliable, and available, during the most important time of the year. He has showed up to work one day, and hasn't called in on any of the others. For all practical purposes he has only worked a couple days over the past month, which is why we are so far behind on Block 1. Therefore I am doing all the previously described work myself. I don't mind doing it but we would be putting posts in already had we shared in the Block 1 effort. I've given up on him.....I've given him way too many Uncle Charlie speeches, called his cellphone so many times that I think I have personally filled his voice message center, and given him way too much slack (or benefits of doubt) where it is now affecting the work that needs to be done. I have put a want ad in the local paper and we'll see if I get any qualified candidates to help on the vineyard. Putting in the posts on schedule has suffered regardless, and as a result I have already pushed back planting the new vines until May 1st.
On a lighter note, I have been asked to speak about setting up a vineyard at an upcoming Virginia Tech Growers Meeting being held in the county in early May. They seem to think that I will have a captive audience even after they learn I've never really farmed before and I'm a Yankee. You figure. It is the desire of the local ag agent to have other vineyards in the county that could help replace, or at least supplement, the traditional crops grown in the area. Setting up a vineyard is a tough nut to crack for farmers used to a century of growing corn, cotton, soybeans, and peanuts. This is not throw down the seed and forget about it farming; this is farming that requires constant attention.
Next up......hopefully posts.
Pounding poles into frozen ground is about the same as trying to pound a nail in a concrete surface. There would be nothing left of the equipment or the operator after just a few posts,
So we waited, and we waited, and now in mid-March it is time to get going. But the problem is that we waited so long that Block 1 now needs immediate attention......bud break occurred last year on April 1st and there is no reason to believe it won't be about the same time. We are watching bud swell and it appears we have a little time but not much.
For those that have gone through my previous blogs you may remember that one of my major themes (when times are tough, days are long, and mother nature is testing my determination) is the weeds, and what am I to do about them.
During the winter we came up with a strategy that includes tilling, spraying a pre-emergent herbicide down, and then following-up with some post-emergent herbicides as time goes on.
Bud break announces that Spring is here, and with that is the eruption of every little dormant weed seed that is in the field. There is no time to lose, and last year's debacle of getting to it one or two weeks too late amounted to seasonal anguish (and near suicide !).
Soooo, priorities have changed and we now have a full-court push to prep Block 1. Jerry and I (well, really just "I", more on that later), started the tilling and after 2 1/2 days we have completed it. It does leave a 6" strip directly under the wires that needs to be hit with some herbicide, and the pre-emergent stuff will be in Wednesday for us to spray the tilled earth.
It is past the traditional time to prune, though pruning takes place throughout the season, so we have to get that done too. This is the 2nd year for serious pruning, with each year moving forward requiring a game plan in regards to what you want to achieve. For our French varietals, this year we are setting up the vines to establish cordons, those are the 2 arms that go out to the left and right from the trunk which are located about 36" off the ground. From these the canes will be developed. For our Nortons, an American grape, we are using a Geneva Double Curtain trellising method, so we are training these using a double-trunk method, which requires these trunks to reach all the way up to the top wire that is 6' off the ground before we start allowing canes to develop. Just getting more upward growth is the goal for this year for the Nortons.
So, this week is dedicated to Block 1, with its tilling, its various spraying, and pruning. It is time intensive, but the weather is good, and in some ways it is soothing and medicinal if you can allow your brain to wander and chill out as you go through the mechanical motions of pruning and tieing.
Well, forget the time to day dream. I have a major problem I am trying to resolve, and even the pruning won't allow me escape it. Jerry has been sick lately, let's just say I think it is self-inflicted, and with that he has become a complete loss at being reliable, and available, during the most important time of the year. He has showed up to work one day, and hasn't called in on any of the others. For all practical purposes he has only worked a couple days over the past month, which is why we are so far behind on Block 1. Therefore I am doing all the previously described work myself. I don't mind doing it but we would be putting posts in already had we shared in the Block 1 effort. I've given up on him.....I've given him way too many Uncle Charlie speeches, called his cellphone so many times that I think I have personally filled his voice message center, and given him way too much slack (or benefits of doubt) where it is now affecting the work that needs to be done. I have put a want ad in the local paper and we'll see if I get any qualified candidates to help on the vineyard. Putting in the posts on schedule has suffered regardless, and as a result I have already pushed back planting the new vines until May 1st.
On a lighter note, I have been asked to speak about setting up a vineyard at an upcoming Virginia Tech Growers Meeting being held in the county in early May. They seem to think that I will have a captive audience even after they learn I've never really farmed before and I'm a Yankee. You figure. It is the desire of the local ag agent to have other vineyards in the county that could help replace, or at least supplement, the traditional crops grown in the area. Setting up a vineyard is a tough nut to crack for farmers used to a century of growing corn, cotton, soybeans, and peanuts. This is not throw down the seed and forget about it farming; this is farming that requires constant attention.
Next up......hopefully posts.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
RACE AGAINST THE CLOCK
The soy was finally harvested from the fields just before Christmas. Combining all the holiday chores with 3 to 4 inches of snow and the worst cold spell in years, real work wasn't started until just after Christmas and extending several days beyond New Years.
Jerry was on the tractor all this time, tilling Block 2 three or four times to get the top 8 inches of soil loosened up. It was so cold at times I wondered if he was frozen to the steering wheel and whether or not the tractor may have been put in some kind of automatic mode to just go in circles, since I didn't see any movement from him for hours at a time.
The field had been utilizing the "no till' method for the last few years. The school of thought is that if you pin seed instead of using disc harrows or tillers, then there would be less erosion and use less labor hours to bring the field to harvest. This may be all true (though I fail to see how it is truly reflected in the bottom line when it seems that you have to put on more weed-killers before and during the growing season to combat their undesturbed growth), but one of the net effects is that the ground is super hard. Hence the tilling of the top soil.
There is so much work to be done. Looking ahead in order to look backward, planting of our grapes is to be around mid-April. Just prior to this we need to put down ground cover seed and give it 5 or 6 weeks to root itself before we start trampling on it. So all this means that all the field prep work needs to be completed by February 28th......a quick 2 months from now.
Poles go in next after Jerry drag screens the fields following tilling. With over 700 poles to pound in you're talking easily 1 1/2 to 2 weeks of work and hoping that the ground isn't frozen solid and there is no severe weather to contend with. Once they are in there is the drilling of the bottom wire holes, running the bottom wire and attaching the drip line, trenching for the branch line of the irrigation system and tieing it in, installing all the drippers.
If all goes well we'll start the pole work before January is over in order to give Jerry as much time as possible to do all the other requirements.
It is not a time to reflect......work needs to be done and the new grapes are the children that need our attention.
Jerry was on the tractor all this time, tilling Block 2 three or four times to get the top 8 inches of soil loosened up. It was so cold at times I wondered if he was frozen to the steering wheel and whether or not the tractor may have been put in some kind of automatic mode to just go in circles, since I didn't see any movement from him for hours at a time.
The field had been utilizing the "no till' method for the last few years. The school of thought is that if you pin seed instead of using disc harrows or tillers, then there would be less erosion and use less labor hours to bring the field to harvest. This may be all true (though I fail to see how it is truly reflected in the bottom line when it seems that you have to put on more weed-killers before and during the growing season to combat their undesturbed growth), but one of the net effects is that the ground is super hard. Hence the tilling of the top soil.
There is so much work to be done. Looking ahead in order to look backward, planting of our grapes is to be around mid-April. Just prior to this we need to put down ground cover seed and give it 5 or 6 weeks to root itself before we start trampling on it. So all this means that all the field prep work needs to be completed by February 28th......a quick 2 months from now.
Poles go in next after Jerry drag screens the fields following tilling. With over 700 poles to pound in you're talking easily 1 1/2 to 2 weeks of work and hoping that the ground isn't frozen solid and there is no severe weather to contend with. Once they are in there is the drilling of the bottom wire holes, running the bottom wire and attaching the drip line, trenching for the branch line of the irrigation system and tieing it in, installing all the drippers.
If all goes well we'll start the pole work before January is over in order to give Jerry as much time as possible to do all the other requirements.
It is not a time to reflect......work needs to be done and the new grapes are the children that need our attention.
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