April 13, 2018
When most people think about vineyards, they imagine the lush leaf-covered vines adorned with grape clusters a plenty. But what happens after harvest? For William Chris Vineyards, we have many projects underway to keep our vineyard in prime shape through the colder months.
Even after several months of LONG hours harvesting grapes, our vineyard team STILL hasn't slowed down.
The crew just finished cutting off the grow tubes on our nearly half acre of new vines. (See Left and Below).
We've also just finished plowing the vineyards and planting our cover crops for the season. This winter, we have planted Winter Wheat. The use of cover crops helps in preventing erosion, adding micro and macro-nutrients, nitrogen and other essential nutrients into the soil, as well as helping with pest control.
Another trick we use in the vineyard to keep it at its best is soil drenching. Soil drenching is when we use compost tea (a liquid made from water and compost that is chocked full of great nutrients for the vines) and literally drench the soil around the vines to replace the nutrients lost throughout the year and aslo to increas the micro-flora in the vineyard.
As you can tell, we never really stop. Even without the grapes, our vines still need a lot of tender loving care. Stay tuned for more updates on production and grape growing throught the year!