I hadn't once thought about panicking this pruning-season, until yesterday that is. All day, nonstop rain had me near tears (well, sort of) because things out in the vineyard are progressing whether I am out there pruning or not. Since last week, the Syrah vines have decided to swell their little buds to almost breaking point, so frustrating. I had considered just putting waterproofs on and pruning in the rain, but the constant downpour was just too torrential. February had been so nice, I thought I had started to prune early enough to give myself plenty of time to prune all of Vinoland's grapevines. Wrong!
I had just over 3 hours (according to the weather forecast on my iPhone) to prune as much as I could this afternoon. (There was one, very heavy, five minute shower, but Vinodog 2 and I just sat in the back of the barn and waited for it to pass by.) Amazingly, I did fairly well: I pruned like a Vinogirl possessed. I just have one short, experimental row of cordon trained vines to go, but I am determined to also get all of the canes tied down before the end of the weekend. Rain, rain go away...
