Holly's Notes and Condition

Summertime Babies and First Grape Harvest

Last week we noticed that there is a nest of baby sparrows under the eves of our back deck railing - lots of little baby bird chirping and Mom and Dad sparrow keeping close.
I have also seen several little tiny baby lizards in the yard, They are so tiny that they can slip right under the very narrow space of where the window panes attach along our back fence. They are the length of my little finger and half as thick - teeny tiny lizards basking in the sunshine, especially around my grapevines.
Speaking of my grapevines: I started doing daily taste testing of my Thompson seedless (white) grapes - just going out to the vines, picking one or two and cleaning them off and popping them into my mouth. Some of the upper branch bunches are ready to harvest.
Unlike my fruit trees, my grapes did great this year. I have several bunches this year off my grapevines - sweet and juicy.
I used the techniques that I learned in the 'How to Grow Grapes' seminar that I attended at Laguna Hills Nursery at the end of January of this year - including the idea of trellising the vines at different heights to allow for a spreading out of the crop ripening. Professional vineyards have their crops all at the same height, to allow for picking all at one time. With my vineyard, I have (9) grape vines now - I want them to ripen at different times, so I have the vines laced up and down, in and out. This technique seems to have worked well this year. (Thanks, Gary, owner and master gardener of Laguna Hills Nursery in Lake Forest.)

posted by Holly @ 12:10 PM