Vintage Notes: April 2017

True to adage, April showers are occurring even as I write this. I think this rain is a departure from the previous years that we've been keeping tabs on the weather. Here is what I could find on the Internet regarding the weather in our area. I have circled the rain days in red. The average rainfall in our area occurs in the 31 days centered around April 3rd.

We are getting ready to plant 1500 more vines this year, so this is welcome rain, but it is happening right when we are getting ready to auger the plant holes. Yesterday, our friends came to help us with all kinds of pre-planting tasks. At the end of the work day husband also got his tractor running and weeded the rows that we will be planting in. While he was doing that, I took a few photos of our Auxerrois and Chenin Blanc buds, still in the wooly bud stage. Some of the Chenin Blanc buds are slightly beyond the wooly bud stage and beginning to transition into the green tip (or in the case of Chenin Blanc, pink tip) stage.