April 2015 in the Vineyard
look at these Mommy!
Me and my helper, #wineryboy are keeping a close eye on the grapes as they develop this spring. We have received plenty of rain, so the vines are growing like crazy. The grapes are just tiny little balls, preparing to bloom. In another week or two, they will be tiny blossoms. Domesticated grapes self-pollinate, so if the bees are on vacation, no big deal. This is not true for wild mustang grapes which have a male and a female plant which have to be nearby for pollination to happen.
The biggest salvo that Mother Nature can throw at me right now is in the form of mildew. I refer constantly to the chart at winegrapes.tamu.edu to keep up-to-date with a good fungicide program. The next biggest threat is springtime hail. There is nothing we can do for that, so we hold our breath and gulp our wine when the skies get dark.
[pe2-image src=”http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t3CU_iG8yoM/VTMi1LzyAoI/AAAAAAAB7ps/wsAV7IhtDX8/s144-c-o/2015-04-18_22.20.38.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/102153593012294996679/20150422?authkey=Vp9eqZr2kn0#6139289014134506114″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”2015-04-18_22.20.38.jpg” ]