A bit of defoliation

Flowering is over with, and the clusters now require more sun for the grape
skins to toughen sufficiently.

We remove one or two leaves from each shoot in the cluster zone, along with
the side shoots.
Mind you, we do this only on the side that catches the morning sunlight, so
the clusters gradually become accustomed to the sun without running the risk
of sunburn.

Right now we can see how close we came to having serious troubles with
frost; the first leaves often show damage from the late frost.

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Flowering, and care of the foliage canopy

Thanks to the lovely weather, flowering has moved along rather quickly and
the clusters have already begun to develop, shedding their flowerhoods.

The young shoots of the Blaufränkisch vines have already grown above the top
pair of wires and have to be trimmed, so that the wind cannot break them
off.

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Blossom time

Flowering is now in full swing, and we are glad of the warm and windy
weather, which propels the flowering onward and minimises instances of
fungal disease - powdery mildew or downy mildew.

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Mulching in between the vines

Tending to the area between vines is a tricky matter.

It is possible to keep these spaces open by mechanical means; however, on
hillside vineyards it generates the risk of downwash and the accumulation of
alluvial deposits when the rains fall.

Using an herbicide containing Glyphosate is something we do not even
consider.

So the remaining possibility is mulching, though it is extremely
time-consuming to do this by hand, with the 'Greenmaster' attached to the
tractor.

Moving at the speed of 4 kilometres per hour, the work can be done gently
and effectively.

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Greencover as fertiliser

We are now sowing greencover in the vineyards we just planted.

First, the soil is loosened with a disc harrow, then the mixed greenery -
buckwheat, clovers, forage peas and yellow mustard - is sown by machine,
after which the soil is tamped down with a heavy roller, making sure that it
closes well.

A bit of rain from time to time would also be nice.

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Opening the stitching wire springs

Driven briskly forward by the recent high temperatures, our vines are
sprouting at an extraordinary rate.

We are already opening the stitching wire springs, to enable the young
shoots to grow more easily into the wire trellising.

Then, when all the shoots have grown above the top pair of wires, the
springs will be closed once more
to give the shoots a better grip.

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Installing the support posts

We call them 'Bagstall', these supporting posts.
Here we are setting them out in the newly planted vineyards, one for every
five vines.
Each post has open eyelets on either side, through which the wires of the
trellising are threaded.

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