Bell Vineyard

[DBell]

Just peeled back the plastic and check on the cuttings and many had roots! I will wait about a week till things dry out around here before I put them in a nusery.

 

[Randoneur]

I'm leaving mine in the ground until May 1st. I did look at them last week and they were not ready to pull up yet.

 

[DBell]

Went to a local vineyard and had a great time Saturday. They had Earth Day festivities - met some awesome people and saw some old freinds.


Got home and dug up the cuttings and planted in a nursery garden- mulched with straw to keep the weeds down.


The mother vineyard is growing quickly and the rain still is falling too often (has anyone seen Noah or the ark?). The rain is keeping me out of the vineyard

I know I'm slacking on the pictures - one day...


However, Got asuprise to share soon...

 

[DBell]

Pics from April 17th.

 

[DBell]

For the suprise:

Olde English Babydoll Sheep. - Stay back Running Wolf!

 

[ibglowin]

A beautiful sight to see!

The buds, not the mutton!

 

[DBell]

They are but the bud snatcher came and got them all!

 

[ibglowin]

I hope that was intentional!

 

[DBell]

Unfortunately it was, second leaf.

 

[Runningwolf]

For the suprise:

Olde English Babydoll Sheep. - Stay back Running Wolf!

Not to worry, I play nice.

 

[DBell]

That is awesome!

 

[grapeman]

Goll dang Dan, where the heck do you come up with the all occasion pictures?


It sure is nice to see some growth from a month ago. Mine are just about at budbreak. Some day!

 

[ibglowin]

Mine have not recovered from the freezes of 2 weeks ago........

How long will it take to rebud normally?

 

[Randoneur]

It will take a while if the ground temp dropped. Not to worry - they arehardier than you think.
I've got a row of vines that I pulled up two years ago and they are still trying to grow. I mowed them down last week when I cut the grass.

 

[Randoneur]

Daniel - they must be filling out well now.
I pulled up my cuttings this week, nice roots on them - it worked really well for me. My grafting hasn't been so successful.

 

[DBell]

Me too. It's a great and easyway to do cuttings. Many of my cuttings are thin, so not sure if I should let them grow or not.I guess since I have them in the ground already I will let them grow. Then maybe try and get a new shoot from the ground next year.


I can't beleive nobody has asked about the sheep yet. I plan on letting them mow under the vines likea fewvineyardsout west do.

 

[grapeman]

Just remember that the sheep will be eating whatever you spray the vineyard with. In the west they don't need a lot of fungicides like we do in the east. Keep the number of sprays down and observe extended reentry times and they might not ingest too much of them. Keep reporting on how well they do.

 

[DBell]

Good call. I have other pasture that will not be planted with vines and just need to be mowed down.So Iwill rotate the sheep accordingly (6 feilds, onlytwo feilds will be partially planted in grapes). Hopefully, with keeping them out of the vineyards much of the time and keeping with reentry times they will not exposed much at all.


The sheep seem to be a great fit at our family farm. My reasoning:
- They will help keep the feilds mowed down andbe able to go into the vineyard and not destroy it. Hopefully keeping me from having to spray herbicides;
-We wanted toget the kids involved with something they will love and can handle.These sheep are small,docileand super cute(imagine smiling teddy bears walking around).Our kids will be partial owners of the sheep and thus share in thework, costs, and profits. Our goal is to teach them about responsibility, ownership,commitment, and farming. Let's face it, kids just want to be entertainedwhile doing nothing-tv, etc.. We are fighting back.
- Lastly, I just like them - they make me smile.

 

[grapeman]

It sounds like a great idea all around.

 

[DBell]

Thanks, it'llbe interesting at least.