Ironing the Vines

With all the rains, our cover crop of vetch has done quite well, to the extent that it's growing OVER some of the new growth. So this weekend I'm aiming to finish pulling cover crop from under the vines. While doing that, it makes sense to prep the soil (Iron and micro-nutrients) and also inspect and test irrigation.

Here's what one vine looks like after a winter of lots of water.

From there, I hand-pull only the area under each row. Then I'm left with a steep hillside.

I then level out the hillside directly under the drip line for each vine, add iron (this year am using Ironite, which includes many of the micronutrients the vines need), mix in some compost, and give them a good soaking.

80% budbreak

Got a good dose of sunshine the past day or two, and sure enough those shoots are starting to emerge (into abundant leaves on the base rows). About 80% of the vines have emerged to show us they are still alive.

A wave of new growth

Now we're seeing some buds, this as high as row 6. With the days getting longer, and LOTS of water from our above-normal rainfall, I'm pretty sure we'll see some very fast growth soon.

A shoot!

I stand corrected: I found this lone shoot on row 2.

Still (mostly) dormant

We just returned from our tour of the southwest, enjoying springtime in Southern California and Arizona.

Here in Northern California, however, the vines still look dormant. Only signs of bud swell on the lower rows. Odd, but not completely unusual given the amount of rain / lack of sunshine and relatively cold temperatures.

Cover crop is doing well - the vetch is now growing all the way down to the base of the vineyard, which should provide a great long-term boost to the soil.