Vineyard Work in the Fall

I was talking with the morning group that goes to the Y to exercise and mentioned how the vineyard did this year. Due to a certain amount of naivety, we were caught off guard when summer came and July was hot and humid and promoted weed and mildew growth but not vine growth. We quickly followed up with a soft spray regime recommended by Fritz Westover, our vineyard consultant, to beat down the mildews. That's when I learned that one gallon of water weighs 8.35 pounds. My husband bought us a portable sprayer that straps on to our backs and can carry approximately 4 gallons of liquid and is relatively on the light side at 11.5 pounds. So, a completely full back sprayer would weigh approximately 45 pounds! I was going to write a blog about it and call it "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Birchmeier" or "The Unbelievable Heaviness of Water" but I held back. When I mentioned this to the morning Y-goers, one person said, "making wine is not all that romantic is it?" I couldn't think of a response at that moment, but upon some reflection, I'd have to say although there may not be romance in the vineyard, there is certainly a lot of passion.
This fall finds us taking soil samples and determining what we need for soil remediation. We're still working the vineyard alleys to remove the crab grass that grew in order to spread our cover crop seeds. Fortunately for us, Nature has bestowed this fall with a glorious Indian summer.