Of the fields.

I was very surprised today to see a small stand of large hop clover (Trifolium campestre) still growing in Vinoland.  A native of Europe, this cool-season clover should be just about at an end for 2012. With it's distinctive hop flower-like blooms already beginning to turn brown as they go to seed, the days on which an industrious ladybird can clamber over this clover's cheery-looking flowers are well and truly numbered.  Never mind, this beneficial legume will hopefully be back next year to continue to work it's nitrogen-fixing magic on Vinoland's soil.

To mow, or not to mow.

In some parts of the vineyard, that have not yet faced the wrath of Vinomaker on his tractor, the cover crop persists. The crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum) looks particularly cheery and spring-like caught lolling about in the glow of the late afternoon sun. It may seem a bit early, but I have already been giving some thought as to the cover crop I would like to sow this autumn.

As much as I like crimson clover it has a major drawback: it's flowers rise above the foliage and therefore it has to be left uncut, until relatively late in the spring, to facilitate reseeding. Delaying the first mowing in Vinoland for that long is not really feasible (think frost protection) and would have been nigh on impossible this year. The early winter rains, and plentiful sunshine in January, meant that it was necessary that the vineyard be mowed slightly earlier this year than is the norm. Whilst a cover crop of subterranean clover would be ideal as it tolerates close spring mowing, I'm leaning towards white clover (larger biomass than crimson), or soft chess (cv 'Blando' brome) depending on the availability (and price per lb) of these particular seeds.

As with most decisions in life, more research needs to be done - suggestions welcome.

Workers of the world, unite!

Happy May Day to this industrious little bumblebee (Bombus californicus). Although not needed in the vineyard as grapevines are self-pollinating, (their flowers include both stamen and carpel), there are plenty of other trees, shrubs, and flowers for this worker bee to busy herself with.
Vinomaker is out in the vineyard sulphuring the vines and I am in the middle of studying for an exam on Monday, so the only malingerers around Vinoland today are, as per usual, the Vinodogs.

Crimson and clover.

Vinoland's cover crop is looking quite fetching right now, or at least the bit that Vinomaker hasn't already mowed yet is. Alongside the common vetch and the field peas, the crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum) is blooming like crazy. Vinodog 2 had trotted over and joined me in the clover as I took some photographs, so we both lay back in the warm Napa sun, contemplated life and...well it didn't stay like that for long as V2 ran up the hill after a squirrel ending our pensive, albeit short, respite.
This particular legume makes for a lovely cover crop; it doesn't have a particularly high biomass (compared to some of the cereal grasses often used for cover crop), but it does fix atmospheric nitrogen...and it just looks so pretty.