Vintage 2021: June Update

May is the time for budbreak and June is the time for the buds to grow and grow they have been! The rain in June is falling in the evening leaving a great day of work in the day for us. We have never seen our shoots grow so quickly. We were working in the Barbera from June 7 - June 10 shoot thinning, shoot tucking, shoot positioning and cleaning the graft union.
Here is what that looks like:

The red line on the "after photo" indicates that we have trained the Barbera to a single guyot. The red circle shows the difference after cleaning the graft union. In order to keep the two vines from entwining into each other we use a product called Agfast to keep the growing shoots separate and upright.

While I was working in the Barbera and cleaning the overgrown graft union, I saw two eyes looking back at me:

At first, I thought that the grape cane had "eyes" then I recognized the big-eyed click beetle, Alaus oculatus! I didn't know this, but the larvae of the big-eyed click beetle is predatory to other beetle larvae feeding in decaying wood.
More (so much more!) shoot thinning, shoot tucking, graft union cleaning and Agfasting to do!
References:
1. University of Florida, Featured Creatures, Alaus oculatus.