Maine vineyard

[OilnH2O]

That's a great pic, Rich! Does Bill have to guess a number between 1 and 50???

(Bill, take pictures for the rest of us when the UPS/FedEx truck delivers!)

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Wow, no kidding Dave! What a monster - it must have stayed in the same spot year after year. Thanks for posting, Rich. What I plan to use is my old cider press, scrubbed up and sanitized. It should work for my harvest numbers. When the time comes (what, a little less than a year away?) I'll try to let you know.

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Although the snow is still deep in the vineyard, it has really settled a lot over the past week with some warmer weather and rain. I mosied through the vineyard this afternoon, just happy to be there again and looking at the dormant vines, thinking about upcoming pruning, the second dormant spray, eventual bud break! Woo-hoo...growing time is closing in.

I need to buy some smelly soap in bulk soon - I know the deer are going to be hungry. Meanwhile, I still have winter time work to do, clearing a few more trees shading an area of the vineyard, cutting and splitting that, and making some more room for new fruit trees.

 

[grapeman]

Yes we need all the excitement we can get this time of year with not much going on in the vineyards. I also walked out in mine this morning since it was at the freezing level so it was nice. We still had a 1/2 inch coating of ice on the trellis wires and vines- making for an eerie sight. It makes the vines look larger than they are, but with a shimmering shine to them in the sun. Kind of pretty. I was took a few pictures but too much glare with the snow and ice. We had alos got 3 inches of snow, an inch of sleet and the 1/2 inch of ice from the storm on Friday. The sun is making gains with the weather and each day when the sun comes out it gets a bit warmer. January turned out to be dry here with only an inch and a half of moisure from rain and melted snow. We should be coming up on our snowy season soon. We should get about 3 feet of snow in the next month as the Jet Stream works it's yearly way back up north.


Let's countdown to spring!

 

[swillologist]

Forty-six Days.

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Since my last posting we have had snow just about every day so the level on the ground is up a lot. Before breakfast this morning I was lured out to the vineyard by the beauty of last nights extremely fluffy snow on the vines and trellises, and took the following shots.

Walking from the house:

Here's that new snow covering everything even half horizontal. Look at the bottom cordon wire. It is about three feet off the ground.There's a lot of snow to melt off before we hit mud season, about when pruning may begin.

The front row has Frontenac and Landot Noir. Appleman said something in his posting today about getting ready to begin pruning, but looking at this scene makes me wonder just how soon...

A closeup of one of the Frontenac:

The garden shed sitting dormant - probably a favorite hangout for some mice:

I was out just after sunrise, and there it is, the sun rising through the trees in the southeast. As the day progresses, we will see more clouds move in as another snow event starts this evening. It all may be pretty, but the snowblowing and shoveling is getting old by now...

A shot of the house I took on my way back to breakfast. The presence of winter is so strong right now that I catch myself thinking it will always be like this.

Now this is the way things should be! View of the house from a slightly different point, but in an entirely different season - high SUMMER last August!

Nothing to do but wait out this very old fashioned New England winter.

 

[grapeman]

Now that's white there Bill. I was saying that tongue in cheek in that post about pruning soon. Need to wai for 2 feet of snow to melt. It started snowing again a bit ago and now they say 8 inches again this afternoon and tomorrow. Your picture was whiter than mine. I think it has been 2 days since it snowed last. That's OK. January only had 1 inch+ a bitof liquid precipitation.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Beautiful vines!!!!

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Well, it was only a few days ago that I posted the photos above. We just had more snow overnight into this morning, producing greater depths on the ground, and now followed by freezing rain. Things were so bad this morning that both my wife and I took a snow day to stay off the roads, but I took out the camera for a few more shots before dragging the snow blower out yet again to clear the drive before the worst of the rain this afternoon.

The cordon wire is having trouble keeping itself from disappearing:

Our beehives are set on 12 inch concrete block bases. For the winter, they are reduced to just two stacked 10 inch deep hive bodies. Obviously the bottom entrances are submerged, with snow approaching the top vent holes. We have to monitor this situation. The snow helps insulate, but they shouldn't be covered.

Looking at the vineyard just now (and everything else outdoors), there is ice covering absolutely everything exposed. Branches hang low, the trellis wires look like glistening silver streaks through the air, and there is a subtle shimmer to everything, even in the gloom of the overcast afternoon. If the sun were out, it would be blinding. A siren is wailing in the distance, out here in the country. This is one of those trying times in a seemingly endless winter in the north. Only our memory of many past spring thaws assures us that there will be an end.

Let's see, what can I do indoors? There are the tax returns to start. But wait! There's an Amarone ready to bottle! I might as well do it this weekend... after cleaning up from another snow storm forecast for Friday.

 

[grapeman]

I can certainly sympatize with you Bill. You may have to shovelthe snow away from the hives a bit. The kids were home from school today-again- twice in one week now. They must be getting soft at the school. We only got about 7 inches today, but that's enough. Even with settling, the snow is about even with the 36 inch fruiting wire on the trellis. We didn't get the ice today, it stayed snow most of the time and a brief period of rain, but it was above freezing then. We are at about our normal 70 inches of snow right now for an average winter and still have a month and a half to go.


I don't ever get to take a snow day off, my office is only 100 feet away from my back door..................... Maybe I should move the building a bit farther away...........

 

[geocorn]

I would say 200 feet would get you the day off! But I think you are in the same predicament as I am. Days off = lost revenue.I need to talk to the boss about sick/vacation/snow days. Oh! I am the boss. Stayed home today to work on the web site and some other stuff. Will pay desperately for it tomorrow.


BTW, I love the snow pics. Don't get much here in Big D, but I do remember my days in Fairbanks, AK. It was cold, but the most beautiful place I have lived.

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

A long time between posts here, mainly because winter conditions just kept hanging in there - until about five days ago! Almost as if by magic, most of the snow has disappeared in that time, the ground has been revealed and contains no frost, due to the thick snow blanket, and daytime temps are in the 50s. I pruned the entire vineyard today and also all the table grapes. Next week I'll have to get the dormant spray done. My notes from last year tell me that after the first week of May, most of the vine varieties had begun but swell. Dormant spray within a week should leave enough of a time cushion.

We lost one hive of bees, but the stronger one going into fall is still with us and the bees were flying a bit today and were spotted in the new crocuses.

Sorry for not posting pictures of the vines. I didn't think of it in time - doh. I left long spurs which can be pruned shorter once I see what is happening. Now the fun begins!

 

[grapeman]

Good news! Your world is beginning to come to life! Pretty easy pruning the VSP isn't it!? Did you take any cuttings? I'm hoping I can finish up pruning this coming week. It is supposed to be warmer after tomorrow and should finish off the snow and get rid of the bit of frost in the ground so it will drain. I could prune now, but I hate leaving footprints 6 inches deep all over.

 

[AlFulchino]

Bill...thanks for sharing your info...i just read five random pages from your thread...so i may have missed it...what do you do to keep birds from the grapes?

 

[grapeman]

Bill have your vines settled down yet and got growing good for the season? I hope the damage you noted earlier is gone and that you have some fruit set for this year. If not, I feel guilty for having such a tremendous potential yield for the year. I stress potential because with all the rain this year, the disease can move in overnight. Let me know if you need some grapes- I think I will be having a few extra. Even the Concord and Niagara which didn't have any last year are loaded this year. Their grapes are like the ones you buy at the farm markets- nice and big.

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Oops - I haven't checked into my own thread in ages. Sorry Al, I left your question unanswered. I bought some vineside netting from SpecTrellis this year. I don't think I will need it very soon though. I don't have a very large crop, and what I do have is not yet showing signs of veraison. Too much rain. See my reply to Rich below. I know you are awfully soggy too. Hope you get a harvest anyway.
Bill

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Apologies to you too Rich. I haven't had much success this summer. This incredible weather is compounding the poor start. I will not be using a dormant spray again, needless to say. Can't really know if it was the lime sulfur itself or the fact that I mixed it with SO per Gregorio's method.

I had very little cluster development. At best I will be doing maybe a gallon of Foch and a liter of Frontenac to experiment with blending. The St. Pepin vines proved to be the most robust and put on a fair number of clusters, but there are only three mature vines of that variety. Again, I'll probably press out maybe a liter or two.

I have trained a lot of new growth up from the ground to replace a number of original vines. There is a lot of vegetative growth, helped along by all the rain. The JBs haven't been overpowering, nor have I seen the grasshoppers that others have mentioned. Sure would like to see some sun and heat though!!

Here's what we have for weather today - a replay of last Thursday...Lots of rain pinwheeling in from the Gulf of Maine and soaking the coast.

 

[AlFulchino]

Bill we are gettingthe same pinwheel efffect..as of the rain last night and today i am at 17 inches in thirty days...each week they predict a drier outlook and it never happens....what started out thirty days ago is as bad on the vineyard floor today as it was then...lots of yellowing going on...some leaf drop...overall i am at a loss to understand how they will harden off...i see some vines showing nutrient deficiency and i am powerless to do anything about it becase whatever granular or liquid fert i use is immediately diluted and we are getting late in the year to keep giving nitrogen.....aside from some phomopsis and leaf phyloxera they vines are reasonably clean but thats like saying the china and silverware are nice looking but there is no foot on the table.


also..let me know how your Spec Trellis Vineside netting works out...i found another company called Sutton Ag that has some netting at a good price


http://www.suttonag.com/BirdNet.html


I know someone who is trying it out this year and we may buy together next year..if i have a vineyard...make no mistake..it IS that bad here. I pumped off a lot of water yeaterday and a third of it came came back w last nights rain and run-off. And they say more rain later today


I may have to stop visiting wine sites just to keep myself from telling everyone how bad it is... so if i stop coming by everyone will know i am out of the vineyard businessEdited by: Al Fulchino

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Progress in the vineyard almost a month slow. Veraison started on Reliance about 5 days ago, on Frontenac gris about 4 days ago, on Foch today, still no color change on Frontenac or St. Croix. St. Pepin began looking translucent about a week ago and remains the most healthy of my varieties, but still way slow for the season. Will have to wait and see how things turn out, and whether autumn conditions are favorable. Very little sun and heat this summer.

 

[grapeman]

Good luck with all of them Bill. I also hope for a warm autumn. We are a bit better here and I hope it continues like it is. I tested all the varieties at Willsboro Friday before netting. A lot of variation between varieties, but in general several points ahead of last year. The highest reading I got was on Mn 1200 at 20 and Marquette(sister seedling) at 19. Most varieties are at about 15. The St Pepin are really getting their great flavor and should be ready in a few weeks along with other varieties.