Vines, labs, weeds and picnics

... all came together on the same day.

The state's association of grape growers had their annual picnic yesterday at a winery about an hour away. Nice place.



Not huge, about 7 acres in cultivation, some of which are vines too young to bear fruit. But still, they harvested some 22,000 pounds of grapes last fall in half a dozen varieties, so a big enough business to have some good equipment.




Part of the day's activity was a demo of a power weeding attachment. It was pretty slick. And a darn sight easier than doing it by hand, which was my activity after getting home. The weeds had gotten pretty bad, so out came the claw and the bushel basket. Yuk. But it gave me a chance to assess how my babies are doing. Not too bad. :)



So the weeder dealer had a little tent set up where he was showing it off. And inside the vinting building there was another vendor set up who deals in plant nutrients and sprays. He was offering a testing service for both soil and leaf samples, and will offer you a customized nutrient blend to address whatever needs the testing turns up. Not a bad idea to do that once, so I picked up some sample bags and added that to my chore list at home. Since I was out weeding anyway, why not take some samples for the lab? So off they'll go Monday!



The other activity was a vineyard tour, just walking through it with the owner and hearing him discuss the growing characteristics of the various varieties,



check out his trellising system and technique,



and have an opportunity to ask questions of someone who actually knows what they're doing. Over lunch, I got a chance to ask some experts about critter damage, Japanese Beetles, pruning, mulching, and so forth. It really was informative for an relative ignoramus like me. Turns out I'm doing most things right, but do need to correct a couple others.



One kind of cool thing... as we walked through the vineyard, looking at one variety after another, one came into view that I recognized. Hey, it's my leaf pattern! That's MY vine! Sure enough, it was Marquette, and I got to see it at both the current age of my vines and one year older. I was just amazed that I knew it by sight and could pick it out, like a kid knows their dog or a parent knows their baby. That one's mine! :) Aww...



After a nice picnic lunch and some good conversation with a 20-something couple with 12 plants in their yard, and a 40-something couple with 300 in their field, it was off to the tasting room, where some of what we walked by in the vineyard was available to try. Yum. Of course a bottle or four went home.



Definitely worth the drive, and a lovely day. Even with the weeding.