3-D rendering of the vineyard. November 2009.

As if I had not been posting infrequently enough, I wanted to take a moment to say that until the end of August I will be pretty preoccupied with things at home and work. If possible, I will try to say something of value, when appropriate.

Until then, I wanted to give some general updates about my vineyard.

I have been keeping a pretty diligent video chronicle of transpirings at my vineyard and it is available to view here. There is something gratifying about growing things. It’s not without surprises, frustrations, disappointments and fears. (more…)

Bupkis

In August, it will be a year since I started my home vineyard project in Los Angeles. I had always wanted to make my own wine and grow the grapes for it, if possible. Besides being a hobby, the vineyard and subsequent winemaking are intended to be a learning experience for me and my readers.

The past 11 months have not been as full of revelations and new things learned as I had expected. While that might sound arrogant, in one way or another I already knew or had read or heard about the things I have seen and experienced in the past year.

Now, with my Aglianico in its second leaf and growing vigorously and the Montepulciano planted and growing, I can reflect on these lessons and share them with you: (more…)

Illegitimi: Germino!!!

Growing a plant from seeds is equivalent to Assisted Fertility: it takes a lot of time and resources and is often not going to work.

Much of the success (of IVF and germination of seeds) depends on the quality of the eggs/seeds. It’s now been a week since I prepped and planted my grape seeds. I’ve been keeping the tray in a warm place and watched the soil moisture. (more…)

Two buds.

The hands of time are the thieves of our lives. Time slips away so quickly when you need the most of it and then, almost as if obstinate, seems to almost stand still when you wish it would just move. Somewhere in this stop-and-go, we are always running a deficit.

Yet, in unexplained paroxysms, we find ways to create time. Whether it’s finding a few minutes to plant poppy seeds with your seven year-old, or to get an unplanned blog post in before getting on with the jarring grind of daily work. (more…)

Getting to the root of the matter.

Three weeks ago, I finally removed a failing vine and replaced it with one of the back-up vines. Last week, I wrote about my attempts to determine if the stunted canopy growth of the failed vine was from scion or rootstock. What I didn’t talk about, not in much detail anyway, was what I found below ground.

Not only was the root system of the failed vine undeveloped, but there was a robust root (reminiscent of that on the healthy replacement vine) running through the spot where the failed vine stood.

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Leaves from pulled vine (L) and replacement vine (R).

Two weeks ago, I removed a failing vine and replaced it with one of the back-up vines I kept in planters just for this purpose. It was a great opportunity to spend some time with my seven year-old daughter.

We selected a robust looking backup vine, gently removed it from its planter and placed it in a bucket of water and made our way uphill.

Before we did anything, we collected a few leaves from the expired plant and a few from its neighbors. I wanted to compare the leaves later to see if Jeff Miller’s hypothesis, was correct. (more…)

Kenny the vine

I have to admit that the idea of naming plants is pretty silly (but so is naming animals to someone who grew up with animals filling a utilitarian, rather than a social role).

Some time ago, after the vines I had planted put out shoots, I photographed them all to document their progress. Looking over the collection of photos with me, Irene jokingly asked if I had names for all of them. In a moment of subsequent lighthearted fun, we came up with names for the vines -the more archaic and biblical, the better. (more…)