Meanwhile, the Vineyard

Spent three days this week doing final pruning.

As happens, one day you're walking through the vineyard and suddenly you're seeing buds beginning to burst.

I did a rough prune six weeks ago, just taking out the canes I knew I wouldn't be using. Then I waited until bud swell/burst to do the final prune. When you do that, the cane sends a hormonal message to all the un-burst buds, telling them to hold off for a week or two. Thus, "double-pruning" is a way you can buy some time against the possibility of a late frost. It's more labor intensive, but I think necessary in this micro-climate.

Next week, beginning the spray program for powdery mildew (sulfer, mostly).

The vines and buds all look great, by the way. The Cab Franc plants on the slope are in particularly good shape. Twas a perfect winter; no drastic cold snaps, but stayed cool all the way til March. Now if we can avoid that late frost, we'll be off to the races.