Lots of leisure time and little work this weekend. My Mom & Dad came up Saturday for the day to see the vineyard and visit. Saturday was their 56th Wedding Anniversary! So we celebrated with wine, good conversation and gourmet pizza, enjoying the beautiful weather on the screen porch. We had some of my wine and also some hard apple cider and apple wine that they bought from Mercier’s Orchard in Blue Ridge on the way up. The apple wine was forgettable, but the apple cider was pretty good.
Elaine bought some roses I wanted for the row ends in the vineyard as a Father’s Day gift for me. We will plant Knock Out roses on the Norton and Chardonel rows and Lavender on the Chambourcin row. I didn’t get a chance to plant them this weekend, so we’ll do that next time. The roses act like the canary in the coal mine demonstrating insect and fungus problems first.
The replacement Norton I got from DoubleA has exploded. It has been in the ground only 1 week and has buds galore on it. There are 4 other Nortons that have grown beyond the grow tube and have been tied to the first wire. That’s exciting. All the other vines are growing and appear fairly healthy but the Nortons have them all beat.
