Julian’s April Vineyard Report

We’ve been doing a lot of stuff to get ready for the frost. When the new buds are out the frost can kill them, and then we won’t have grapes. I went around with Dad and made sure that there’s enough fuel in the vineyard heaters. They are tall and look like someone took an airplane engine and put it on a huge pole and stuck it in a vineyard. They are really, really loud like an airplane too! He had to charge up the batteries on the big wind machines because we haven’t used them since last year. He greased up the parts and turned them on to make sure they worked.

The other day we hung up the thermometers in their little houses all around the vineyard. The last three nights it got so cold that Dad, Grandma and I had to get up in the dark and walk around the vineyard until the sun came up to see how cold it would get in different places. I had to wear my big boots, warmest jacket, hat and mittens. It’s called “frost watch”. It got down to freezing and Dad turned on the wind machines and lit a lot of heaters, until the sun could warm up the vineyard. Afterwards we had hot chocolate. The next day I was really grumpy at school, so I didn’t get to go the other nights. I went to sleep early and didn’t even hear the big fans go on.

As soon as the ground isn’t so muddy we’ll use the tractor to pull the tilling disk between the rows. Dad said Grandfather used to pull them with a horse before he got the tractor. We’ll turn under the yellow mustard and the weeds, so they won’t drink up the water that vines will need. This is good because we might not have a lot of water in the summer. But I like that there is still a lot of really high grass around the house, so I can hide and make tunnels.

When it stops raining so much we’ll sprinkle some nitrogen around each vine. It is like giving vitamins to the vines. The buds are safe for now, except that the deer think the new buds are deer candy!

Rivervine Press
P.O. Box 585
Geyserville, CA 95441-0585
Phone: (707) 857-3704 Fax: (707) 857 3772
www.grapesgrowsweet.com