Hop on the 4 wheeler and ride along with me through the vineyard. Three-4 weeks after budbreak and we see some great progress in growth....for all things in the vineyard. This means, that after pruning and tying up, we have the beginnings of VSP (vertical shoot positioning) for 7000 vines. It also means, given the warm, wet weather the past week and a half that we have some really good growth on a bothersome plant named Vetch. It will tie itself around the flowering bunches and really strangle the soon to be fruit. a mowing of the row centers will really cut down on this problem, but, it grows really fast, so I needed to get out and pull out the problem areas. It is a time consuming process that burns about 400 calories per hour. Another thing that is commonly seen is the growth of the rootstock vine in addition to the actual grapevine I am growing (Chardonnay & Pinot Gris). You see, each of the Vitis Vinifera grape plants (Chardonnay, Pinot Gris) are grafted on to disease resistant rootstock (which is a completely different vine root) before it was planted. Some of the rootstock has thrown it's own vine out, as shown below. It is easy to identify because the leaves and shoots are completely different from the Chardonnay and PInot Gris. If you take a look at the pictures below, from left to right, you will see the plant engulfed in Vetch and the native rootstock vine. You will then see the progress and finally removal of all foreign plant materials.