This week we began 'suckering' the vines which, to an outsider may not be as familiar a term as 'pruning' or 'harvest', but which is nevertheless another important activity in the growth cycle of the vine. In short, once you've had 'budbreak' and the shoots have grown to about 10-20cm, you can start to think about 'suckering', i.e. removing the shoots you don't want, e.g. those that are growing from the wrong position - like the stem or belly of the vine - or those where there are too many shoots competing for the same position. Precisely when you choose to do your suckering can vary depending on the variety of the grape, the age of the vine and - of course - the weather.
Basically, it's quite a fun part of the year as you get another opportunity to 'play around' a little bit with your vines and kid yourself that you actually have some influence on the behaviour of your vines (ha ha - I think they're more like children who are constantly thinking up new ways of outwitting their parents!). Like pruning, suckering not only influences the quantity of grapes you can get at harvest time but also the canopy, and therefore quality of the grape. Suckering also an important way of keeping a vine healthy. Without suckering, the leaves of the vine can get very dense and this not only reduces the sunlight available but also the free movement of air. In one of our chenin blocks, poor suckering in previous years has been directly responsible for moisture getting trapped and rot setting into the grapes. A thick canopy can also hinder effective application of sprays for things like downey mildew and powdery mildew. By thinning out the shoots, the remaining shoots get better coverage by the various sprays needed to protect the health of the vine. We had our first spray of the season already, when the shoots were still fairly small. But, from here on in, we need to give the vine a little helping hand in order to direct its energy to where it's needed most.
In a similar vein, Rosie the racehorse is slowly settling in. She gave us a few scares - unseating two riders! - and escaping from the paddock a few times too. But we've learnt our lessons and hope she's learnt hers ; ) Like the vines, she needs a little helping hand sometimes to know where best to direct her energy... of which she has oodles!
Here's a photo of her in action (...slower than she's used to, of course) with brave little Sammy on board:
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