Hot week!

It has been a hot dry week and the pinot vines have suffered some damage. Some of the bunches started to show berry dehydration at mid week. (Some of the berries started to look like raisins) I gave the plants 4 hours of drip irrigation on Thursday and 4 hours again on Friday to combat the dehydration. This week's high temp. and low humidity were:

• Sunday 94 23%


• Monday 91 19%


• Tuesday 93 15%


• Wednesday 105 7%


• Thursday 105 9%


• Friday 102 12%


• Saturday (current) 90 25%

Late Summer Update

The rootstock we planted late in the spring is growing nicely. Most of the vines have made it out of the grow tubes. About 5% haven't made it because the "......... GOPHERS" have been snacking on the roots. I have spent a good part of the last two weeks trying to trap the buggers with some success (4 caught). There are still gophers out there that have gotten trap-wise. Often the traps are sprung but no gopher. For those keeping score the total is now 34 since I started trapping.

Our puppy Kona is growing even faster than the rootstock. We picked him up in the spring from Mountain View Labradoodles in Sisters, OR at eight weeks old. At his vet visit a few days later he weighed a little over 8 lbs and slept in the cat's bed. He will be 6 months old next Monday and at yesterdays vet visit he tipped the scales at 31.5 lbs.

Yesterday's vet visit was expensive. Kona and I were on our morning walk, which now stretches to almost an hour. He was heeling nicely when I heard a YELP! He picked up his right front paw and refused to walk any more. I checked the pads and could not see anything. Luckily we were behind the house on the county walking trail, so I picked him up and carried him to the foot of the vineyard. He was heavy so I put him down, and he ran up to the house. At home I checked him out and again could not find anything wrong, but he was sensitive to touch at the wrist area. I checked on him about an hour later and he was shaking and the wrist had swollen up to twice its size. So off we went to the vet. $280 later we discovered he was stung by a bee and was having an allergic reaction. A shot of benydrl did the trick. The x-rays and anesthesia (he would not let anyone touch his wrist) ran up the bill.

The Pinot vineyard in the front yard is looking great! Harvest is about a month off. The bird netting went on two weeks ago. It keeps the birds and deer off the vines.

Harry Walker will take the grapes this year. He was hit by the frost this spring and my fruit will replace some of what was lost. His wine is very good! Check out his website at http://www.walkerstation.com/ . If motivated you can order a bottle or two of a currently release to hold you over until the 2008 vintage is available. The 2008 vintage will not be available until the spring of 2010.

The 2007 Pinot Noir I harvested last September is still in the barrel. I will bottle it on August 31st and it will age in the bottle for at least 6 months. I will take pictures and add that post to the blog in late September.