May was an interesting month here in Sebastopol. Since I was under the weather early in the month….got a little behind. Just as I thought I was caught up and ready for the summer…..spring returns and we get a lot of rain….so back to being behind!!! We didn’t think it rained this much here. Up to 47” already this year….normally we got 12” in San Jose. Vines are looking good….soon I’ll cut them back to 30” so we can get good canes for next year’s first harvest. In case you don’t know…..the rebar is 3’ tall…..so most of the vines on the west end are 3.5 to 4’ tall. The biggest in the vineyard is 6’, I have to go cut that one very soon or it will be out of control.

By the way……I have noticed that the vines planted near the highway stakes are bigger. I think that is because of the extra heat that goes to the roots of those plants. (Highways stakes are the 6’ tall posts in the picture)

Anyway, here are my hourly totals for the month.

Totals for May – Doug….47.5 hours…..hired…..23 2/3 hours

I’ll do a little math Wednesday and figure out how many hours so far…..I’m sure not as many as established vineyards! Something to look forward to next year.