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It appears to be the same construction as the one I used the last two years. It did the job as a crusher, but a word of caution about the need to be particularly diligent at cleanup time with regard to the inside of the cylinder. I discovered to my chagrin, when getting it out two weeks later...

If you have a fireplace, a couple of them work well tossed in with whatever other kindling you use to get that winter morning fire started.

Thanks for all the thoughts. I found each one of them helpful. Just heard from our extension guy that he too thinks it's likely 2,4-D damage rather than eutypa. I had not thought of that, but it reminded me that a few weeks ago I was struck how the hayfield in the farm next-door was unusually...

This week while trying to catch up on shoot positioning and tying, I came upon the sudden appearance of this blight-ish appearance in around six of my 50 Cab Franc vines – lower leaves on shoots are fine, but leaves above first catch wire are spindly, yellowish, and cupping. Another 3 or 4 CF...

Could be those ^%$#& deer (let's hope not). What triggered my conclusion was the description about "usually the upper part is still partly attached," which rang the cane girdler bell.

Likewise here in Maryland, they were active last year on my 3 years old cane prune/SVP vines. The damage was not at a volume that was alarming, just a PIA for the occasional shoot they would saw. Invariably the sawn shoot would throw out a lateral below the cut, and after some regrowth I would...

Spraying in first year is important to get them off to a good start, at least in our east coast climates. I DM'd you with a paper from U Md extension I found helpful when I was starting out.

I grow vinifera as well: Barbera, Cab Franc, and Petit Verdot, about 140 vines total. I use Mancozeb plus Stylet Oil for the first 2 or 3 sprays, then switch to Mancozeb plus sulfer. After 5 sprays with Mancozeb I switch to Captan plus sulfer (to avoid resistance).

Everyone's climate situation is different, as is time/labor availability. But for what its worth... While I've always sprayed regularly, I only began experiencing some noticeable success in keeping the nasty mildew brothers in check by becoming obsessive with keeping good airflow -- which...

Your Cab Franc looks just about a week ahead of mine, here to the north in Carroll County Maryland. We appear to have dodged one last night (especially my more-tender Barbera), getting down to 33 overnight. Continual wind probably helped as well.

Apologies for veering off topic, but "Azores" is a word of my youth -- bringing to mind hearing about fond memories held by my dad. As long as he was alive he would always smile when talking about the six weeks or so he spent in the Azores in late summer 1945 (prior to VE-day he'd been a B-17...

Congrats. With my first harvest last fall, I've got my own first bottling in a few months (rosé, from Barbera) and I confess I'm already crazy nervous about it. Good to see your success. You've got a slick set-up, and the finished product looks terrific.

Not sure if I'm following forum protocol by reviving this... But given an ornery lower back and the slope my rows are on, I'm attracted to the descriptions by Sage and swv, immediately above. That is, I'd like to walk about using a long hose attached to an electric pump sprayer on the cart of a...

This year I’m facing my first bottling (Barbera/rosé and red/CabFranc + PetitVerdot). This thread has been extraordinary. I really appreciate everyone’s contributions on their experiences, which has given me a lot of things to think about as I plan out my methods.

Like other threads on this forum, this one has delivered a lot of worthwhile and good-humored wisdom especially by the ‘regulars’ whom I’ve come to appreciate reading these past years. I’m 66 and retired now 10 years, after 30 years in a government job that in its final years consisted of too...

Headstone Cutter Name comes from the profession of the gentleman who built our rattletrap farmhouse in 1880s and plied his trade into 1930s (the foundation of a nearby house has some of his goofs). Our house and 140 vines are next to a small hilltop cemetery (first graves 1812) -- where Old...

My turn... Noobie old guy here in rural Maryland, having spent the last five years planning, planting, and learning before this fall’s first harvest & wine-making. So far so good. I spent a lot of effort just trying to get my head around the process of racking and configuring a feasible setup...

Five years ago I concluded that my entering a seventh decade of life brought enough maturation to take on a backyard vineyard here in rural Maryland, where my saintly wife and I fled from DC after retirement. Planted 140 or so vines of Barbera, Cab Franc, and Petit Verdot. This year was first...

Best thing to do is to look up any local vineyards in your area and see if you can ask about any soil changes they may have done before planting. A few of the other guys here might know a bit more about soil than I do though. Along the lines of the excellent advice above: Perhaps you've done...