Good News…Bad News.  The good news is that all of the vines here at Turtle Vines are pruned, tied to the fruiting wires and looking very good.  The bad news is that I have bud break already.  Why is this bad?  Well, normally bud break is not until later in the month when the chance of a hard frost is gone.  If most of the vineyard starts to bud, it will be a very stressful month of March as I don’t have frost protection.  The good news is that my growing season will be longer and it will help me later in the year for an early fruit set and then harvest.

Why did this happen?  It is a combination of two things.  First, I elected to prune early this year.  When you prune early then the canes left get all the plants energy and will bud early.  Also, we have had very little rain in 2013 and the sun has been out so the vines think it is spring.