Tying Vines to Trellis (July 08)
We've finished attaching the vines to the trellis "fruiting" wire with these trellis clips.
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Building the Shed (Jul - Oct 08)
We're building the 15m x 6m tractor shed and chemical store. The concrete floor is down and now we're putting up the walls with concrete/thermalite blocks.
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Tying Vines to Canes (June 08)
All the vines had to be tied to the bamboo cane so as they grow upright (as Simon's parents are doing here).
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Trellising (Apr-June 2008)
It took us 2 months to install 5400 trellising posts (0.9m in the ground). That was a job! |
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Replanting Rows (Apr 2008)
Some rows came off at an angle to their base rows, which would ultimately strain the trellising wiring. We therefore replanted these rows straight. It is possible to see the path of these originally skewed 25 end rows of 32 vines each on the photo.
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Spraying (Periodically)
Fungicides (e.g. Sulphur, Copper) are sprayed during the growing season to fight off diseases like downy and powdery mildew using the LIPCO 2-row recycling sprayer.
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Trellising (Mar-Apr 2008)
Here we are unloading the 5000 intermediate posts and 360 end posts, which we are currently banging in.
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Replanting Vines (Mar 2008)
The installation of the deer fence reduced tractor turning space at the bottom of the field. To compensate, we have been removing 3 to 4 vines at the end of each row at this part of the field and replanting them in some spare space. |
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Tidying Vineyard (Feb 2008)
Andrew Rodgers from Upperton Vineyard lent a hand removing some rogue tree stumps in his digger. He may be tipping up, but at least he is wearing his high visibility jacket! |
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Winter Pruning (Dec 07-Mar 08)
We started to prune all the vines back to 2 buds in December. In the nice weather we had, we finished on the 5th March.
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Deer Fence (December 2007)
The deer fence was installed to stop deer eating the vines.
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Deer Damage (All 2007)
Deer can wander through the vineyard, sometimes chewing growing vines as they protrude out of the vine guard. As such, we planned to install a deer fence in the winter.
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Fungal Attacks (Sept 2007)
Vines, being clones and lacking evolutionary disease resistance, are susceptible to fungal attacks.
Our vines were not sprayed with fungicide (e.g. Sulphur and Copper) last year, but will be from 2008 onwards to prevent premature leaf fall.
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Weeding (June - Aug 2007)
With all the rain and warmth, the weeds grow fast, competing with the vines reducing their growth. We weed across the vineyard by cultivation to turn over the weeds in the rows and spraying contact weedkiller between the vines where we can't cultivate.
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Bud Rubbing (May 2007)
Many shoots may sprout off the new vines. However, we want the vine's energy funneled into one central shoot. Each vine then needs to be inspected and excess buds and shoots removed.
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