Beginning of Hedging Duties

It seems very early to us but we are begining hedging duties starting with the fastest growing variety, the Cabernet Franc. Here is a photo of the Cabernet Franc getting a haircut.

We want to hedge the vines as soon as they are beyond the reach of our spray nozzles because we learned from last year's lack of prompt attention that the young leaves of the growing vines are the first to get infected with mildews that get transmitted to the rest of the new shoots. The tradeoff here is that once the apical or growing end is cut off the shoots will transfer their growth to the summer laterals. We are already beginning to cut summer laterals that are as thick as the growing shoots in the Barbera.