Felines and the symbiotic relations of animals and plants on the Vineyard.



Grubs on the old farm truck



In lovely (semi rural) picturesque West Cape May we have a lot of resident animals both wild and domesticated.  Coyote, fox, beaver, racoon, opossum, millions of our avian friends( from warblers, plovers, hawks peregrin falcons bald eagles great horned owls , blue herons, egrets oh my this is for another post) rabbits and rodents. Really this post started as a train of thought on rodent control on the Vineyard. Earlier in 2010 I had 14 additional furry friends dropped at my farm. Now I have always been a big proponent of the feline but 14 seemed a tad excessive. The group (or pussy posse) consisted of the offspring of elvis (a tiny black cat the grandmother) her immediate offspring the enourmous quad of tuxedos boots, thor, grubs(short for grubbage -perrenial hungry) (who each owned the biggest fattest tails seen on a short haired cat)and their sister gretl the only female and mother of seven  smeagol and fleagol(two small shorthaired black identical) methophiles, growltiger, and valentine(three enourmous lion like main coone varietals,) and gristlebone and botxy two pure black silky main coon types. Addtionally Princess yumyum and fluffy.  Needless to say I thought oh my what to do? But surprisingly enough they each had their own highly social super friendly personality. But best of all not a rodent in site! We have always has issues with field mice, burrowing moles and shrews, rabbits nibbling the veggies and the occaisonal water rat getting too friendly with the chickens but no more. This winter not a rodent to be seen except the occaisonal corpse left as a gift at the door. Not a mouse dropping or gnarled on pantry item to be seen. Even the racoons and possums are staying out of the immediate house perimeters. These feline friends have earned their keep! Besides being gorgeous and delightful they are workers! The fact that many of the native carnivores have been removed from the land had left the rodent population run rampant but now it's nicely in check. Better for vines, fruit and vegetables. Oh an interesting genetic anomaly the four long haired kittens have the odd plus of  having furr that smells like a flowery perfume ( akin to light lilac)all the time. It's just a weird genetic curveball but something I've never encountered before. I would think it would be an interting trait to breed for. The short haired relatives do not share this trait. Either way though I will be keeping population control with the help of animal outreach I should think that we should a least maintain some of the unusal perfumed cat genetic stock. But hey, I am a gardener and a scientist so I always want to reproduce the best traits! So if you want to encounter a strange but true animal fact stop by at Willow Creek farm and take a peek (or a whiff) of a sweet scented  kitty!

The Vineyard in the Winter

One would think that like the bear in his cave we at Willow Creek Vineyard could take the winter  off enjoying the time to sleep and relax. But no, winter when the vines are in dormancy is the time for the all important task of pruning. The amount and choice of pruning directly effects the growth of the plant in the new growing season and the amount of grapes that are produced.
 A brief synopsis of winter pruning .
When master vineyard managers prune, they should remove the majority of wood produced the previous season – until about 90 percent is pruned off," said Wilde.
The time to prune grapevines is from January through the first of March, when the grapes are dormant.
There are two types of grape pruning—cane pruning and spur pruning. Mature plants should be pruned yearly to remove all growth except new one-year-old fruiting canes and renewal spurs.
Grapes are produced from buds that will grow into shoots on one-year old canes. The most fruitful canes will be those that were exposed to light during the growing season. These are thicker than a pencil in width and as close to the trunk as possible (when cane pruned) .
To cane prune, select two to four new fruiting canes per vine. Cut back each of these to leave about 15 buds per cane. For wine grapes, leave about 20 to 30 buds per plant. In table grapes, leave 50 to 80 buds per plant. Leave a one-or two-bud spur cane near the fruiting cane with one or two buds each. These "renewal spurs" will produce the fruiting canes for the following year and thus maintain fruiting close to the trunk. All other cane growth should be pruned off.
Most table grapes produce the highest yield of good quality fruit when cane-pruned.
To spur prune, prune along main canes to leave two- to three- bud spurs, each four to six inches apart. Leave no more than 20 to 80 buds per plant, depending on the type of grape. Remove all other one-year-old wood.
Needless to say this is a tremendous amount of work and the cut canes are piled 20 ft. high throughout the vineyard. The leftover canes are excellent for making baskets. They also are considered the best wood for barbequing.  .Pick up a bundle to enjoy the epicury delight of vine smoked grilling  For more information on attending onsite classes on growing and producing your own wines contact Willow/Creek Vineyard at Willowcreekwinery@gmail.com.    video link http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBMQtwIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DFBK2qDO-srE&ei=PzhdTZzhIsSugQf7g7GpDQ&usg=AFQjCNFy3MUjEItFFHuBz-5W26XHcePMXg