Vineyard N4

 The strangest season did bring some troubles and the forecast is up to no , so the labor day weekend will be about the labor.

60+F degree drop is coming 2 days of snow after the weeks in 90 on 'cool' days to 100+ on most days heat.

From 100+ we drop to 26 ans is we get snow we are lucky if we do not that will be very very bad.

It will be exactly like this year when I cam to vineyard wiped out to the ground over the winter with 30% root stock loss... cover with mulch, then frost blanket then mulch again... try to bring all these wines down to give them another week to mature...

What would one do... I've seeing 6-7y old wines to restart from the root this year, I've seeing loss of Mars wine at 50+% I've seeing reliance wiped to 1/3... Humrod, st. Teresa and many others to the ground... All last year planted wines were to the ground killed and re-stared from the buds from the root.

It was a terrible year with no fruit in the orchard as the spring killed it all with 2 ice storms and we were just watching... Many have not a single apple or pear and only hand full of plums, then the hail came and shredded all the cucumber and tomato, which had to be replanted and will be killed by 2 days of snow.

What do you do in such year... Pull many green tomato to ripen on the wine, cover with mulch what can and needs to be saved and hope you get it saved maybe.

So the vineyard comes first this year...

One year was lost completely and so maybe another or it can come to the total loss... he goal here is to cover the root stock good enough so at least the root stock can be saved.

Last 2 years are not like any I've seeing

Vineyard N3

Grapes are slowly making it inside-patio-outside (for 3-4h a day, because high mountain spring sun can burn anything not used to it very quickly, and all my grapes are sound asleep right now, they know next week another snow is coming, so they do sit tight)...

Weeds are coming strong and need to be dialed with.
These are root stock from abroad, table grapes, they handle zones 3-4.

On the other side... almost all gladiolas are planted (regardless of foretasted snow, in composting beds they will be ok.... because snow will not be 3 days like last year, but only one and very short mostly rain and then some freeze-snow...
I planted all... except of these... pots... Clearly I planted some chickens there.

And they messed and tossed out my good compost.

So that to be re-filled and planted, and chicken wire goes over that. Gladiolas come through, but chickens do not scratch because they do not like chicken wire at all.

Like so.

 Wire needs to be added, chickens are in pens till I get to that, because they will be right back at it digging out gladiolas, and I do not like that.

The wire is green, better than rock (that heats way too much up here in mountains). So whoever has self-planting chickens... coated chicken wore does work... If you do not forget to put it over the winter like I did... and chickens will plant themselves there wasting your good compost...

Not exactly wasted, other plants benefit too... 

compost pile, wood chips on top.

 Still, more work, could have being prevented, oh well, can not catch everything.

Chickens were bad, and they planted themselves in new work in progress vineyard.

It's bordering compost pile and Largest variety will be feeding of that wide composting area.

 4 rows, 3 stand alone, 1 merged with composting bed.

 Cickens made some holes, ate some of my good earth worms (not happy, need those)

 

 2 different rows example, each one has 'chickenscaping'

 Water retention is good so, even after the chickenscaping.

60x60x60 cm holes where the stakes marking the grape holes are.... well were... placed...because chicken landscaped... are still to be done. The dirt was ok, but still a bit dry so these mounds are doing it's job softening the dirt, getting in there last 3 snows... Meaning it's about to be ready to do the dirt holes and put grape supports in the place (t-post tension wire, do not want to do treated wood for this.)
New Mars variety (pruned some more of mine, was sad to toss the wines, they made good cuttings...)

So these will be good for the autumn planting... or overwintering. It's ok variety for up here.
It's zone 5-8, it does not freeze in 5a-5b. Makes good grape jam and jelly. Makes good wine vinegar. Wine... yeah maybe, have to get to that.
Mars variety links
https://articles.extension.org/pages/67872/arkansas-table-grape-cultivars
https://homeguides.sfgate.com/care-mars-blue-grape-vines-55530.html
Mars cluster looks like so

If you do not have a green house

set up is very simple and I found it working better in several years in a row compared to 200$+ grow lights
shop light (full spectrum), have full spectrum led -even better.
cinder block (2-6) to vary height
pvc pipe and angle joins, plastic, packing tape

the construction looks like so:
light goes on timer on cinder blocks, as the plants grow raise the light. this prevents leggy seedlings.

 

tarp for mess prevention. the seedlings are on rubber mud shes trays. no mess, wood floors are just fine

Vineyard N2

Several useful things about cordon training

Storing wine cuttings... for example this guy (ps we did not do that, our were refrigerated for a month, and they had mold and fungi issues which I did have to deal with potacium permangonite)

We did it in water

I did 3-4 in one cup, 2cm of water, water did have potacium permangonite. My cutting rooting was close to 80% meaning high

They were soaked in potasium permangonate (weak water) and shocked in stronger solution. if there was mildew potasium permangonite dip was repeated to kill the bad stuff (green sand filter stuff works well and very inexpensive, store away from kids etc proper precautions are always taken)

similar to this, not exact.

I did not do it in the dirt because I did not have the good heated set up. And water worked. It is very important to to dip the tops at least into bee wax.

this helps in arid climate a lot. and we had these on heat mat too after the buds broke. they were transplanted into dirt in tubes when the root was only 2.5 cm long or 3.5... very carefully.

After that they were there for a month and heat mat was removed

and only after that month (no touching let it be, and some still are let be as is) they were put into gallon pots and rooting till late May 

soil prep is going on for that while grapes are in green house type setting (aka sun room, not heated and watched closely)

Useful things about vineyard

These are table grape varieties.

Wine and vinegar varieties did produce last year. Even if Reliance and Mars are considered here table varieties.. I mean they are sweet and edible :)... I think f these as wine and vinegar varieties... 

We not much into the wine so, for cooking, makes real nice marinades and French sauces.

Table grapes are here. And bringing cutting last time worked badly, lots of fungi damage on them and We tried to follow this way.

and failed...miserably, there was fungi and mold and no clauses...

So I put that method aside as no go in my case. And instead I forced these cuttings in water, and we did deal with fungi and developing molds with potacium permangonite solution. 

The problems I did see was buds did open too early

But compared to prev nethod I'd say we were very successful indeed

Now useful thing regarding vineyard (organic, I'm going to go metal and how fences too... or the wire... still thinking), my other grapes are t-posts and hog panels trellis

I'm running not with the sun , I'm running with the slope and water.
So I'm not running north south, cause that would be with the slope of the water, so I'm running the way so my grapes do catch the water. And I tested east-west already and that's how my Mars is
And my Humrod is North-South (on flatter area and it's only 3 of them, so not long)
My reliance is also west-east. And I do not have long rows by any means, I do 3-4-5.

I'll do more on the vineyard later. For example my Mars is not trained as cordons...

War with bugs and birds for the crops

Summer means fruit, it also means pests.
Aka bugs and bird, esp when birds turn and instead of eating bugs eat all your strawberry when they get under bird nets, all your currants and junberry.
Pests combined are not good. So the war was declared by using traps (oil for bugs, caught lots or black ants too which was sadly not intended... was going for earwigs and caught those too)
Berries were wrapped because red robins and grackles (aka flying rats) were getting in under the bird nets.
I'm seriously thinking of ultrasonic bird guards during currants ripening season.

I tested sluggo plus, not sure how effective it is still have lots of bugs and it was deployed several times as well, under the plates it seems to do better, and under cedar scrap wood.

Defenses:
oil trap with earwigs, old cups re-purposed. Ask for some chipped, cracked ets from your local folk, use them like so

Here is farmers almanac about earwigs

 This is the extent I have to go for juneberry...

 these buggers dive bomb

 2 got in under that wrap, ate a lot and one did not end up well the other escaped with the tail missing, wrapped that plant double... seriously, they get through bird nets
that's how currant is warped now.

 They are trying to switch on grapes... now sure what am I going to do next

Some flowers.

 And gardener fuel. Jun and kombucha, good batch and plenty to share

 Juveniles with the broody, she is doing well after the hawck attack last year, that's why her tail is not straight and one wing is damaged, but she is managing these 3 young roosters and 2 more young hens (hoping... not all 5 are roosters, have seeing that)

 Lavender is doing well, but pink one I can not establish at all...

 Now about buying overfed-over-fertilized to make them look good goji berry from nursery - never do that, ever.

 That's the fertilizer withdrawal... Another young goji is just fine.


I lost some juveniles to predator and that's very sad. 2 days later I had her sit and RO considered not broody... makes me wonder if they know that their chicks were killed and have to do it again... I did not expect her to do that almost right after the attack.

My roses are doing ok, I was so hoping Julia Child is not all dead, and it is not, not sure how will I nurse that one back so...

that's all for now.
Later I'll post some from my iris collection.

Spring flowers

Some spring photos March-April

 March

 March before, April after

 

 

March before, April after

 March

 April

 March first tulips

 April beginning after snow

Mid April aka yesterday 

 plums bloomed too early

  

Apples

 strawberry coming up, honeysuckle is all green

 currants are getting green... maybe too early as well... it is warm during the day and freezes at night