Vintage 2019: Pruning Time

It's that time to get back into the vineyard. Every year we do this and every year we think that we should begin earlier. Checking on my blog, it looks like we began pruning on March 24, in 2018, so we are not too early. We have to once again acclimate our bodies that went into winter dormancy (hibernation) to the physical activity of pruning. This year, we decided to take the cuttings out on a tarp.

Last year, it took us 4 days to take out the cuttings out from the vineyard row and by that time, the grass had grown through some of the cuttings that we had piled up. This year, we hope that by taking the cuttings out as we prune, we will be a little ahead of the curve.
The vines are also still dormant and not pushing their sap so my husband did some research and came up with a paste that could be applied to the pruning wound to prevent bacterial and fungal infections. This solution came from an arborist.