A little snow has fallen here last night (about 5-7 cm) at Granville Beach, Annapolis County in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley. At 4 degrees Celsius above zero the snow was almost all gone by noon.
The "North Mountain" ( a local name, is actually a hill that rises about 400-600 feet above sea level) makes a nice back drop for this photo.
The vineyard was
established in the spring of 2011, on Mother's Day to be exact (May8). All the
posts were previously installed, the holes were dug, all that was
left was to plant the vines. My family generously agreed to come down (from Halifax,
NS) and help plant the grape vines, and with 7 of us ( 3 sisters,1 brother 2
brother-in-laws and me) it didn't take long to plant 350 vines, 3 hours
actually. (50 Pinot Noir 828's are coming this spring)
The best time to do
this is when you first plant the vineyard by using an appropriate trellising
system to suit your site,rootstock,plant spacing... (well… it sure works in theory and even on paper)
rather than trying to figure out how to manage excessive growth after you've
planted, which are usually 'band-aid' solutions.
The vines are Chardonnay clones 548 and 95 both on 3309 and SO4 rootstocks and
Because I like a challenge:
Pinot Noir 115 on SO4
and coming this spring
Pinot 828 on 3309 and Riparia Glorie
It will be interesting to see what happens. The vineyard where I work (just up the road) has been growing Chardonnay and Riesling successfully for 10 years now, here in this area, they grow very well and winter over nicely too.
Here's a few pics of my vineyard.
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| same view as the 2 above pics looking north |
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| photo taken summer 2011 |
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| same view as above taken March 5/12 |
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| 6 rows of metal posts and 6 rows of wooden posts rows are 10 feet apart |
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| Chardonnay 548 on SO4 rootstock taken Nov 2011 plant is identified as 8D1 (row8,post D, plant #1) this way I can track each plants progress |
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| Pinot Noir 115 on SO4 rootstock plant 11B2 photo taken Nov2011 |
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| vines were mounded up with sifted compost late Nov 2011 |
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| view overlooking the Annapolis River in the distance |
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| view from the highway looking back at the house |
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| old apple orchard, site of a future expansion |
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| old orchard site about 4.5 acres plantable area |
This looks good, easy to read. Also a nice record of how your vineyard is doing and also the particulars like when you started, a bit about the location, what vines you are growing, and how you expect your vineyard to do. Lots of photos helps with seeing how it is all turning out.
ReplyDeleteNina
Thanks, I'm going to try to keep a record of the progress and at the same time keep it interesting and informative without sounding too clinical and boring.
ReplyDelete