Judith Mountain Vineyard

Well, certainly lack of water this season. I guess this proves that we could dryland farm our vines, but I’d be afraid the stress it would cause on the vines would entail more poignant acids, so will employ a new watering trick to be installed this autumn… look for more info on that soon. Deep in the soil we go. Though we like the mint, yarrow, and lupine to grow at the surface as long as it did this year, the drip system along the ground just isn’t encouraging the roots is the right places. Our clay-rich soils, though slow to dry out, are slow to wet as well. Sets production back a year. And dripping moisture in the top ten inches (actual differs among genders) is watering other surface veg. Otherwise, the vines are healthy and are just beginning to change for the season. A good sign of hardening off, considering last year at about this time we had our first freeze. No grow tubes this year, either, so we’ll have more on that affect come next spring.

The barn is coming along well, we’re actually considering moving into it this winter so we can have a bit more space than the cabin… but living with livestock?

Some quick shoots. Some may make it to their wirey reach, many of the vines may actually be slowing down on their growth, internode lengths are decreasing. Running out of water all of a sudden, looks to be a leak in our cistern. Both the garden and vineyard are suffereing. No water = no growth. There’s a hot spell on it’s way.

Wierd spring. The vines have begun their summer’s work. We have about 5% winterkill, it looks like the vines lowest on all the rows were hit the hardest, and so were the Prairie Star. We’re thinking that leaving the grow tubes on as long as we did last summer delayed their hardening off, the Frontenac [which had them removed first] are looking the strongest. Oh- and kudos Marquette! Their vigor and life are first out of the box this year.

Building a barn for the animals down near the site of future vineyard growth- check out the gallery- when it finally gets loaded.

Ok… well…. still waiting? Hello, vines? Buds are swelling though we’ve had an unusually cold spring. In April we prunned the vines, hoping to delay their bud break, and perhaps we pruned later than we should have. Either way, though, we still are having the occasional freeze and in fact snow on the ground this morning. Must remain patient.

The Mensa fox must have been run off by a coyote, same deaths different style. Gotta move the birds. Tumbleweed and Banjo are doing quite well, loving the fat life of no work and all play. Riding them is akin to sitting on dad’s motorcyle when you’re about nine years old, and the motorcyle is the only one trained.

The snows come and go quickly at this time of year. Though, so do our chickens. Just ask our resident red fox (aka. Mensa)- if you can catch him- we can’t. After the sad death last autumn of our oldest hand-me-down goat, Burns, the younger pygmy Smithers went on a few-month tour of our family’s farm to find some company. We’ve long awaited his return, this time he’s bringing two horses with him- Tumbleweed and Banjo. Also hand-me-downs, Tumbleweed is a trusty and monolithic 16 hands. The younger and only slightly smaller sorrel, Banjo, is also solid- even on bareback. So, welcome the new additions. Perhaps some turkeys are soon to follow.

The vines are still standing relatively tall given they’re yet young, crooked little twigs. Some of the winds are at their fiercest in the winter-spring shoulder and we watch these vines withstand it all. Some of the tips have broken off due to damage from an early frost (September 9!), but many of them seem to have made it through the perilous first year…. only a few weeks away now from watching them push buds! Their first winter comes to an end soon, then we’ll brag about growing vines in central Montana. Or not.

Deep snow, somewhere around two feet and rising but hard to measure what with the wind redistributing it so. This week has been the coldest this winter, we’re nearing -40 F with the wind chill, -30 F without. Staying inside, reading books and feeding the hungry fireplace. Keep drinking tea to help stay warm but trying to monitor how many cups consumed because of the inevitable after too many cups of tea… one must venture into the howl. Compost toilets, of course. Maybe we’ll invest in a furry seat cover.