In the vineyard - September
22 September 2007
Any pruning not absolutely, definitely finished in August, has to be actually finished by now, because September heralds budburst. First leaf begins to appear in the Chardonnay about 14—20 th and a week later in the Pinot. The steady Eastward march of close-spaced low and high pressure systems for the next few weeks can produce winds that blow dogs off chains, so getting a preventative Sulphur, or Seaweed spray onto the fresh shoots usually means a pre-sparrows start to the day, before the breeze kicks in.
The risk of a Spring frost (we’re a little gun-shy after last year’s 1-in-50-years event) sees us pouring over weather maps every morning, tracking the approaching high pressure systems and attempting to surmise the optimum window to apply a seaweed spray to the emerging new growth.
Fermented bull kelp (seaweed), full of trace elements, high in potassium and low in nitrogen can assist new plant tissue to withstand the ravages of a frost event, by lowering the freezing point of tissue cells.
But it has to be applied to growing tissue 30-36 hrs before a frost event.
So my desk is covered in weather maps, ouija boards and web sites, as I try to second-guess Jack Frost.
Hopefully it won’t happen and it’s the best we can do until our overhead, water-mist, frost-protection system is built and installed.
Frost-risk aside, spring is the most wonderful time in the vineyard, it’s a spectacular display of rippling green shoots, Magritte skies, warm days, daffodils and new-born ducklings.
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