Jack Frost

So Walla Walla is known to get rather foggy and overcast in the winter, and this winter is no exception. We still have green grass in the yard, and our days have been in the high 30’s/low 40’s, but we haven’t been seeing the sun much over the last month. And on a few occasions, we’ve actually had just the right combination of temperature and moisture to make fantastic ice crystals on…well…everything. It makes the cloudy gray days easier to take.

The grape arbor you see in the picture above had not been pruned in years, so I removed about 80 lbs of old vines from it about a month ago (on a sunny day). Grapes produce fruit on second year vines, so hopefully I left a few for a crop this summer. It was hard to know what was second year and what was 3rd, 4th, 5th etc. According to a tag found while pruning the variety is white concord. It’s going to take a couple of years of pruning to get it totally rehabed (grapes will also root from the vines, given contact with the ground and enough water (and since the former owner had the sprinklers going for 15 minutes EVERY DAY, root they did). So we have a few dead original vines and quite a few volunteer new plants in the wrong places. I’m personally thinking that some zinfandel vines need to go in instead!

Miles Away Farm Blog © 2012, where we’re wishing everyone a happy new year and the weather you wish for. For me, I’ll be wishing for some sunshine.