SPRING has arrived but the temperature has been pretty variable.
The vines are kicking along and as we near flowering some consistent warm weather would be great to aid a good fruit set.
Scale have been a problem in the past few years in the vines and there is only a small window to try to clobber them when they are small, just after they hatch.
We cannot spray with effective chemicals after flowering because of strict minimum residue limits.
Because of the downturn in requirement for most of the red varieties I am changing two patches of reds over to white varieties.
It is a lot of extra work but having too many patches that won’t be harvested is also not great.
I’m experimenting with machine pruning to remove fruit and will probably try some chemical removal of bunches at flowering so the undesired patches use less water and fertilizer.
This sort of action has not been required for the last 40 years or so before this downturn in the industry and with significant vineyard removals required to get the industry back into balance, government support should be looked at to speed up the recovery for Australian-owned vineyards in the country.
Unless there is a focus to better recognise the issues primary producers are facing because of rising costs, the result will be less of us around who can produce cost-efficient products.
The 35mm of rain a couple of weeks back was handy for a few of the snails to quickly slide to attend the local show.
They apparently helped with the flower judging, giving big smiles to the judges, looking between some rose petals while munching on fairy floss.
They even climbed up on one of the fast rides and stayed there all day.
More than a week later, they still feel dizzy and are trying to come home, but keep going in small circles.
There is a large flock of young crows that are learning the tricky art of flying.
It’s great to watch them as they slowly adapt the various skills taught to them by their elders, weaving around obstacles and trying to land on a branches.
The pesky buggers are also easier to shoot at that age, which is handy.
