Not Too Worried Yet

Fluctuating warm/cold days in February and March are typical. Climate change has made the swings more extreme. Winegrowers react with both joy and panic. We know that there is nothing we can do about it. So just enjoy pruning in a tee-shirt. But warm nights can also provide sleepless nights as we worry about early bud break and consequences from a killer late season frost.

We easily measure and pay attention to air temperatures. Constantly and relentlessly the radio, the web, even in our vehicles we are reminded of possible near record temperatures. But it is soil temperatures that determine the vine’s timing in starting the season. The vines first let us know that they are waking from dormancy by bleeding. When a pruning cut is made, sap flows. The Europeans call this crying. Surely there must be a kinder term.

The best way to measure the progress of early spring is not with thermometers or soil probes, but by observation. Crocuses, daffodils, forsythia are all visual cues, but our favorite and most reliable are the peepers. Peepers are tiny mud frogs that peep when the mud warms enough. There are thousands of them along the ponds and wetlands. The first evening their chorus is heard gives us joy. It can also give us panic if we are behind in our pruning. Let the season begin.

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Linden Vineyards / Learn More / Latest at Linden | Journal: February 28, 2023