The grapes are dormant. There is work to be done.
This morning, at 7 a.m., the crew arrives to start the winter prune of the grape vines.
They will remove 90 percent of the vines, cutting everything above the cane wire 31 inches off the ground.
I will be there at the start, but I won't work alongside them for very long. They don’t want me “helping.” Pruning is their job. My job is to pay them when the job is done.
A lot has happened in the past six weeks as the plants went dormant.
October 25: We had a light frost but the leaves were still alive and growing:
By October 28 we had hard frosts:
Leaves were falling off trees. A male China pheasant visited on November 12.
On November 14 a heron hunted in the field next to the irrigation ditch.
By November 16, we had a succession of cold days, and it stayed cold. The electronic thermometer at the edge of the vineyard reported a low of 28.2. High of 32.3. Average temperature of 29.8 for the day.
On November 28 by midday, the ice crystals had finally begun to melt from the previous night's frost.
By November 30, nearly all the dead leaves had fallen from the vines.
A herd of elk enters and leaves the farm as they move around the riparian area along the Rogue River. This photo was taken from my farm house. They are about 400 yards away.
I was able to get about 250 yards from them when they spooked and stampeded off.
I am awed by the herd, but wish they would go elsewhere. They are picturesque, but they compact the soil, eat crops, run through fences, and make it harder to get the land in shape to plant alfalfa this April.
Winter is a slow season on a farm, but things never really shut down.
Lovely! Thank you.
In the winter of 2007-2008, the nice folks at Abacela Winery let me have cuttings from their winter pruning. Earl and Hilda's own vines had been planted only a dozen years earlier. My mini-vineyard now has thick, ancient-looking trunks, though they are not yet adolescents.
Our vineyard is fenced off with fences high enough to keep the elk herd out, but turkeys often invade. I've wondered--but never tested--what Tempranillo/Merlot/Cab/etc-fed turkey would taste like. The turkeys and other birds always left us far more grapes than we ever needed. And we have some grapevines along the fence; the elk and deer keep their side neatly trimmed.
https://www.abacela.com/The-Abacela-Story
Disagree that your job, dear Peter, as you write is to "pay them". Your job is to treat them well and fairly including paying them and supporting their wellbeing.