Catching up
For those interested, here is a list of my gear that I have found works well for me. This is, of course, an affiliate link and your enjoyment of these may vary:
Well, it has been a pretty busy growing year. Our daughter was born in April and it's been a positive and busy life-changing event. In Summary:
a) I did not take a lot of pictures. Therefore, I did not document the explosive growth and large bunches (19 of them) that I had this year.
b) I did not do my regular "manual" pest control, resulting in an infestation of the skeletonizing grape worm, which is the purple and yellow (go Lakers) worm that starts as a marching line of small caterpillars and grows into large ones, ultimately becoming a purple and black moth, as seen in the lower pictures. I have heard that an organic pesticide called BT will work, but have yet to find a way to get it in CA. The top row was completely infested and eaten by October.
c) The harvest was early. In mid-July, due to the extreme heat waves, I had to pick all the grape clusters off the vines, since the grapes were ripe and the birds had found them and were eating them.
Ultimately, it was a great growing year. I need to prune this January and do a better job at training the vines so they grow along the wires. The top row (Vine 25), due to the looser soil, was the obvious winner in vine growth, as well as mature grape clusters.
Pictures from April:
The budding clusters
Friend of the vines
They came along nicely
