June flew by which has created quite a gap in our blog posts... June was filled with spraying for weeds, vine planting, mowing row middles (between the rows), picking off any flower buds, building construction, fertilizing, installing trellis posts, planting replacement vines... mowing, spraying, spraying, spraying, installing bamboo canes, training shoots up, and how could I forget, fencing. We also have been trying to stay on top of our classes we are taking from Des Moines Area Community Collage as we work toward our Viticulture and Enology certification....
Let us bring you up to date... (this is a long one...)
Let us bring you up to date... (this is a long one...)
Test Vineyard Grows
We planted a few more varieties in the test vineyard (South knoll of vineyard). We ordered our vines from a nursery in New York and this time they looked great. Pencil thick canes, disease free, and full, healthy roots.
We planted 30 of each variety:
We planted 30 of each variety:
| Edelweiss |
| Sabrevois |
| St. Croix |
So happy and relieved to say they are all alive, leafed out, and growing, being compared to our initial planting having major issues with our La Crescent vines...
Our Brianna (pic. below), on the other hand, is looking great!
Our Brianna (pic. below), on the other hand, is looking great!
You can see the flower buds in this picture, which we sadly had pick off... Too early to fruit! Need to get those roots going first.
A tractor ride benefit for a local school, Inwood Christian, took a drive by the vineyard en route to Newton Hills while we were planting. Beautiful day for a tractor ride!
Memorial Day
We applied our first round of nitrogen (ammonium sulfate) around our little ones on June 3rd, and our second application should happen any time now. We spread the fertilizer by hand in a two foot radius around each vine, took a couple days.
Trellis Construction
As the vines begin to grow, we being to feel the pressure to have something for them to cling on to... And the post pounding begins again, this time for the trellis...
June 7th, 2010
June 9th, 2010
Have a feeling that this will be a project like the fence where we will do it when we can. It is getting harder and harder to find time as the building construction begins...
We have visitors... hopping and hoofed..
We aren't the only ones enjoying the lush new growth of the vines... What I first thought looked to be a nutrient deficiency on the Frontenac vines, I came to learn was actually damage from potato leaf hoppers. Mottled chlorotic leaves of which were first spotted on the Frontinac gradually started to be seen throughout the vineyard. While spraying for wretched weeds I noticed tiny insects hopping about a foot when taking a step... Identified as PLH, we were able to spray vines and row middles appropriately and the leave are looking solidly green once again...
It finally happened... The night before the last section of fence was to be installed, the deer found the sweet spot. They took a stroll through the vineyard chewing off the new growth as they pleased. About 30 vines were affected, and they should be able to recover...
June 7th, 2010
The last few posts of the fence have been pounded, the mesh stretched, and the high tinsile strung, now we just need to come up with a gate for the entrance...
Bamboofitication. Reach for the sky.
As was stated before, it would more than likely take all summer to get the trellising finished so we ordered our bamboo stakes and started training the shoots onto them. We had planned on getting 6' bamboo canes but for some reason we ended up receiving 4 footers.
A Santa Barbara morning...
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!
The Building
some of the team
Digging the footings and basement. I was pretty impressed with this process, and the gentlemen doing the digging.
Gravel delivered for our driveway!
Digging out a platform for our maintenance building on the North, and building up a driveway also on the North end.
Cornerstone Poured Foundations, Inc. brought in their crew...
Pouring the footings...
Bringing in the water.
The past week Will has been on PVC pipe detail. We had our water line trenched 6 feet deep---beginning on the North end of our land to the building---with an outlet also at the alleyway of the vineyard.
The Vineyard
It's looking great! The vines are grabbing hold of the bamboo canes, there isn't any new evidence of insect damage, and the weather has been amazing---an inch and a half of perfectly timed rain this past weekend. It is, however, a constant battle to keep up with the weeds... but bring it on.
Mowing the row middles.
July 12th, 2010
What's next?
Will and the boys are backfilling and pounding gravel around the foundation... I will be continuing to spray weeds, and train the vines up...
Stay tuned! ;o)
Stay tuned! ;o)
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