The start of the 2015 vintage in the Portable Vineyard

The start of the 2015 vintage in the Portable Vineyard

Ah there we go- budding time

Spring budding!

Looks like budding started mid August this year- Pinot was opening in the third week of August, below. Hmm.

The potted Shiraz, a few, started budding by first week of September.

The older six on the fence have not budded as yet though.

All the mobile vines moved 4 Sep, two lines- 48 pots of established and 9 babies of Shiraz.

Eleven of the Pinot.

Organising the irrigation now- small sprays to each pot. Still need a few more plumbing bits and pieces, and if I go away for a week or two, got an automatic irrigating thingamajig too.

Pinot

Shiraz

And- to recycle stuff- the still was fed a bunch of off old reds this last week to produce about 10l of spirit for port or sherry making. A few expensive Rockford Basket Press bottles that were Not Drinkable [2000, 2001!] and some other home mades that were also Not Drinkable - all emptied into the trusty spirit maker...

One of the old bottles that was actually okay and finished- on my own- over two nights- below. My friend Harry was also searching/making room in his cellar too- looks like another batch next week for the still.

Other wines that were tried lately- 

A Wine Society CabSav2000- into the still.
All of last year's wine made- into the still- 30 liters! Not good. Will try to make a fortified wine from what is left of the garage foxy grape wine this year [20l]- it does not taste too bad, but some syrup and spirit may perk it up heaps.
So- This years production- all but 20 of the 40l- INTO THE STILL, Bummer dudes- hopefully the brandy/rum at the end will be appreciated. No. It will be!
anyway

A 2013 Rockford Alicante- YUMMY!

A Rockford Pasket Press Shiraz- 2002- Yummy!

Well, that's all for the The start of the 2015 vintage in the Portable Vineyard during the start of the 2014 Spring Downunder.

August '14 and the vines are budding

August '14 and the vines are budding

Hmm, the vines in the backyard are budding, as of the 11th  of August.

interesting

Spring buds 2013

Spring buds 2013

Pinot- 24-Aug-13

Reading of a local winery's Spring Buds 2013, I thought I better check my collection of "Ragedy Annes" out in their pots, to see whether I had some spring buds.

Yep!
As of the 20th August, the Pinot and the Shiraz potted vines have wee little spring buds movements! Some have leaves out and all!

Not as well budded as the winery over the hills and vales to the northwest, but definitely erupting. Even the "bay" vinrs had slight Spring buds

Comparing Spring buds with last year- seem to be earlier by a week... I wrote in the first week of September- first week of the Southern Hemisphere's Spring- that the Portable Vineyard vines had budded. No! And- The vines budded by 20th August in 2011 too.

Maybe Global Warming aint happening...

Flowers forming

Flowering time in TPV

I am a little confused about this. I thought there would be quite a few more branchlets forming before any flowers would arrive, because there may be less fruit from what I can see!
Maybe I am being a little pessimistic, as it is only the first week of October, and we have had plenty of rain as well as watering and feeding and spraying them...

Speaking of, there are a few degraded leaves, even a few yellowish ones today, so I will have to get the mildew sprays out so to avoid last years cockup!

Garage grapes

Shiraz

Pinot Noir

Shiraz

Shiraz

Last years cuttings Shiraz

Last years cuttings Shiraz

Last years cuttings Pinot Noir

Another Save

Just walking around the yard
Another reborn vine

My good friend Travis was down to stay a few days last week. He has been in on a few vintages, and has a little interest in the Portable Vineyard. 

He also loves the cat, and she loves him, specially when the brush comes out!

I showed him around the PV, and to my surprise, I found another vine regenerating! Two in a fortnight.

The vineyard is expanding incrementally as the adopted vines stir into life finally, and there are a few to go yet [fingers crossed]. There looks like some fungus growing on the little ones, and some on a really vigorous adoptee- which also looks suspiciously like a chardonnay bush after all!

Pictures this week:

 Shiraz/Syrah

Pinot Noir

new Vines not making it

Failed, the new Vines not making it.

No swelling buds- last opportunity?
Are the transplanted vines are mostly either dead or severly in hibernation?
A spur cut shows some green matter, but the buds are dry, or eaten?

A fail. Hate that. A friend gives me some freebies, and I have let most die off.. Apart from three, or two at least.
Bad management?
Too optimistic that nature can do it all?
Pruning too harsh?

Probably.

The rest of the Portable Vineyard

Currently the rest of the vines are doing so well, leafing up and the flowers are starting to emerge, and I will have to spray those with some honey and sugar solution to encourage the bees away from the other flowers in the garden.

lost my newbies

Sad, but true, lack of immediate care...
As of 25 September 11.

When harry offered me some more vines, I sort of jumped at the chance, some mature vines, Yeah!

But the thing was where were the things to go?

There is no real room for the things in the garden. More pots had to be got.

However, budget wise, good pots as explained before, are a little bit too costly to just charge to the old CC!



In this case, hanging off and just leaving the newly bare rooted vines in the open was a bad thing. The time between the uprooting and the potting was about two to four weeks, my recall now is somewhat a bit hazy- WOTEVAH- it was too long. The potting was done with fresh sandy river soil, potting mixture and a bunch of fertiliser.

To no avail.

The expected bud swelling, so eagerly anticipated did not eventuate, inevitably a lost cause overall.

There appear to be only two active budding, and nearly leafing, survivors of the mildly chilly winter, some shiraz.

Which is nice. Other wise there would be just two chardonnay, and the last time I tried to grow those- nada.

The rest of the newbies, 12 shiraz and 14 chardonnay, are either hibernating for another year or...

Or kindling...

Early Spring Progress

Leafing and budding
Not so good for the adoptees

garage grape vine- gateway arch- budding

Pinot

The bud burst on the Pinot Noir portavines are well advanced this week, very pleasing.

The cuttings from last year, 'class of 2010', two good and two not so- yet, out of about ten, and five were potted.















The 2011 cuttings are swelling, fingers crossed, a leaf on one!

Shiraz

Shiraz portavines- progressing well.

Class of 2010 cuttings survivors is not to bad, three maybe five are swelling up, the rest- nil...









The 2011 shiraz cuttings: one example

 

Lessons Learnt
Cuttings
The idea of putting the cuttings in the established vine pots is not such a good one after all, the propagation effort seems to be a bit dismal for the time and effort. Will stick with the mass planting in a pot or tray as pictured above.

Once there is an established growth spurt, will probably transfer to separate pots over the summer months.

Adoptees

It really is a shame that I put off planting the new vines I adopted from Harry. leaving them bare rooted for too long may have been very detrimental to the potential survival, as only a couple of the Shiraz plants seem to have any swelling buds, and the chardonnay plants- None. So far...

pinot bursts

Keeping track of the Pinot Noir bud bursts
Amazed by the energy

Only a week ago or so, nada in the year old cutings. Just hope. Two pots are okay so far.

The older vines- Voila!

Springing it

Dunno what this tree is
A poplar?

Middle of August and the big tree out front is dropping flower cases all over the lawn. The the first year we were here, I got really peed off at the cases- sticky on the inside and stuck to everyone's feet or shoes, and would let go on the carpet..

Wait until the flower jumps out. In the meantime, there are clicks and pings on the roof while the tree unloads, day and night.

The propagation ia coming along just fine, a few buds are swelling on the cutting and the first year cuttings.
the garden is going off too. You may see how slack I am as it starting to look like I am a hoarder- I AM NOT, but you never know... October is also around the corner and there is gunna be a bunch of Hard Rubbish on my strip!