GER102: Pruning the Vidal

We ended up at the vineyard this weekend, instead of my parents, as i have come down sick again. second weekend in a row, but it cant be helped. i slept all day yesterday and while i felt ok enough to go down to the farm today, we got there pretty late—around 1:30-noon. ger has scheduled the lot 11 pruning to be finished within 3 weekends, so its important to be at the vineyard. with the 2 acres to be planted in april, its important to use every weekend we may.

ger gave me a second lesson in pruning the 2 year old vidal in lot 11. up until this time, i had thought that the thicker canes were the ones to establish along the cordon wire, but that's not exactly so. some of the thicker canes had more than a hand's width between bud breaks. in those instances, ger had me look at a less thick cane that shot off from the thicker cane. if the buds were spaced tighter than the thicker cane, i was to clip off (oh boy) the thicker cane and train the thinner cane along the cordon. ger said that this would give us more fruit in less space with room to grow along the cordon for next year.

my head was too thick today to really feel like i would be making good decisions, so i made the best decision of the day. i told ger i would get the vines prepped for his final decision and training to the cordon wire. this meant i would choose which canes would stay and which canes could be snipped. if i couldn't decide between a thicker cane or a thinner cane, i would leave both and strip down the rest of the canes. it most likely wasn't the most time efficient way to work the pruning, but i felt better when i didn't have to struggle bending the vines to the wire—thats a bit nerve-wrecking when i'm feeling on top of my game.

uncle pete came over to check in and help us finish the last row. they had just returned from the west coast. he said they watched bottle shock on the plane—man, i wish that movie would show up on fios on-demand, but i don't think its gonna happen.

in the end we finished two rows, with a third of a row somewhat stripped. we'll work tomorrow, as well. i think we have 9 more rows to go. ger is in the wine room, racking the 08 and the boy1&2 have just finished roasting marshmellows. i planned on making bread pudding and working on kayleigh's sailor valentine, but i'm thinking maybe its just time for bed.

Way Back Machine, Late December

A pan blur image standing inside the old tobacco barn. Son of Sony camera performs!

Connie's post:
New camera, new year and new adventures at the farm. and so its april already, four months without so much a passing glance at the blog. be assured, gentle reader, the farm and the people who belong to it have kept stepping to the rhythms of the season with their faces set resolutely to their upcoming goals. so sit back, enjoy the music from the vineyard, and catch up on the progress my husband and his family has made.

let's go in chronological order. according to the way back machine, in december we set up the two year vines with row posts and wire for them to scramble upon this spring. ger's brother pete came from the west coast to get'er done and the two brothers had many adventures in the set up, some of which ger prefers i just don't get into. i will say that the farm runs on a shoestring and sometimes the improvisation necessary to accomplish a task often becomes the task itself. the rest is a rich tapestry of comedy and chaos. so, gentle reader, you may ask, "how does one go about setting up end row posts and then subsequently wire them?"

1. row posts start off with two pressure treated pine posts. The pine posts are brought into the farm. locust posts are cut from the farm's hardwood growth. Here, gerald and pete cut the locust post to size.

2. the improv spinning jenny dispenses the wire that provides tension to the end pine posts, which helps keeps the wiring taut and the middle posts upright under the vine's seasonal growth.


3. gerald tacks the wire to the posts.
4. pete and gerald install the locust post cross bar (more strength and stability for the line)

5. as pete steadies the locust post, gerald starts winching the wire tight with help from boy2.


6. peter and gerald finish winching the wire tight.
7. viola! a nice set of end posts!