What's a Farmer To Do?

I have a few more weeks left before I go back into the vineyard to start the winter pruning. Tim does the wine-making, Kathryn does the marketing. So, what am I supposed to write in the blog when I have no farming to report? Nothing. I'll just post pictures from the past couple of months. The first is Tim pitching the grapes into the crusher/destemmer. The second is of the juice collecting in the tray after being squeezed by the press. I love watching the running juice and listening to it splashing into the tray. It seems like magic to me even though I know there was lots of work that went on before this. After all, it is the end result of my grape farming.
Oops! I guess I did find something to write about!

Race Against Time

August is the time of year when the realities of farming challenge the Spring optimism. Now when I walk the rows of vines I can see the stresses on the vines; bird damage, wind damage, hail damage, and this damage. Something is stripping the lower grapes off my beautiful Syrah clusters! When I started out yesterday morning I wondered if it was raven or coyote damage. I've watched the ravens hopping up and down tearing at the clusters. They are quite comical to watch. However, I saw much more damage than a whole flock of ravens could have caused the further I walked along. Then I ran into, or rather, almost stepped on the evidence of what was eating the grapes. You'll have to read my next blog to see. I have to warn you, though, it is not for the faint of heart.

Temprano!

Tempranillo derives its name from the Spanish word temprano which means early. Early in terms of ripening and as it turns out fairly early in terms of beginning to turn purple. The viticultural term for this phase in a wine grape's cycle is veraison. This is when the birds and pests begin to get very interested in the fruit. Prior to now grapes are just too sour and bitter. But the beginning of turning color marks the beginning of the softening of the grape skin and the beginning of accumulation of sugar. This week was the first hint of the Tempranillo turning color. The Syrah will be close behind and before we know it harvest will be upon us.

More Vineyard Romance!

It has been raining for the last couple of weeks. We will be posting pictures of the rain and how happy the grape vines are! There has been no hail to date so I am also happy. Today I wanted to show a side of vineyard life that is not much talked about. The vines do not stop needing attention. They continue to call for me when I would rather stay inside. I get wet out there! Since I am not exactly a tall person, even when the rains have stopped the vines continue to drip water as I work. And the soil, oh boy, the soil! It has a clay component that gets both slippery and sticky when wet. As I try to keep a sure footing the clay clings to my boot. It both adds a couple of inches to my height and weighs me down! Romance? You decide.

Tumbleweeds

This is not a doctored photo! This is the problem with Russian Thistle. It THRIVES in the arid Sonoita Grasslands! Each and every single plant carries 250,000 seeds. And, you know why it is called Tumbleweed. Those suckers can rock and roll for miles. In the fall they spill their seed all along their merry tumble. Hence, my tumbleweed fence. I guess I have a fallback crop plant if I ever need one. The only problem will be finding a market for it. Any ideas?