Bustin’ out

Our vineyard manager came over the other day to check out our vines.  As you can see, the buds are bursting out all over – taking advantage of the stored carbohydrates in the wood.

In some cases, unwanted buds are popping out, so in the next few days, we will remove the unwanted shoots and force all the energy to be concentrated in the shoots that will be the “fruiting shoots.”  We’ll also knock off the suckers at the base of the trunk.

As the unwanted shoots are trimmed back, we’ll try to create a “wagon wheel” shape to the vine.  We want shoots to rotate around the trunk at varying heights, so that were you to look down on it from above, it would look like a hub of sorts, with spokes sprouting out symmetrically.

(I tried many times to get cool and artsy shots looking down on a vine, but mostly I got shots of my feet.  I’ll have to try again in a few months when the plants are trimmed up and the canes are grown out.  And, of course, I’ll need to bring a footstool so as to avoid displaying my feet, which diminishes artsy look of the shots.)

We are a bit cautious again this year about encouraging lots of spring growth because of the risk of getting a late spring frost, like we did last year.

So, that’s the latest on our petite sirah vines.  Meanwhile, here are a few shots of other happenings around the farm.  These lavender buds will grow into gorgeous blooms in about a month or so.  June seems to be the height of their beauty.  I’ve never harvested and dried our lavender, but I hope to this year, and I plan to send a little bouquet with every on-line order we fulfill for our wine.

Oh, I wish you could lean in and sniff the incredible perfume of these Myer lemon blossoms.

Our lemon trees are blooming like crazy and the scent is overwhelmingly lovely.  I have to start getting out some lemon recipes.

A few of our breathtakingly beautiful bearded irises have bloomed, and they are heaven.  The little bug on this bloom thinks so too.

Here’s another beauty.  Can you see what a brilliant orange the stamen is?  (I think that’s the stamen anyway.)

Finally, here is “Little Sister,” out and about for one of the first times since her four chicks hatched.  This is a very typical stance for a new Mom – she’s almost on her tippy toes she is so alert and protective of her babies.

That’s all for now!

 

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Henhouse updates

Welcome to new (and existing) subscribers to the Trueheart Petite Sirah blog!  You’ll be reading about our adventures growing petite sirah grapes, honeybees, chickens, lemons, olives and kids, grandkids and nieces and nephews – as well as making a delicious, elegant wine, on our two acres of heaven in Sonoma.  Please join the conversation and let me know what you think!

Now – meet “Little Sister” (named as such because she was the lone hen among her many rooster siblings), and her four little chicks. This is the first new family of 2012, and regardless of how many little chickens we’ve seen hatch, we get a total thrill every time.

Some people just buy eggs and put them under a heat lamp until they hatch when they want baby chicks.  A baby chick does not require its Mom to live, like mammals do. The mother hen doesn’t feed or sustain her chicks, but the moment after they hatch, she starts clucking a new and special cluck to call them to her.  She picks up the food she wants them to eat and clucks, leads them to water and clucks, goes into the nest and clucks, scratches in the dirt where bugs might be and clucks, hides from dangers and clucks.  The chicks follow her pretty closely for the most part.  Little Sister’s chicks are about a week old in these photos, and too adorable for words.

What did I tell you?  Cute, huh?

For the first several weeks, we cannot tell if a chick is going to grow up to lay eggs (a hen) or fight and seek “romance” (a rooster) every day of its life.  I guess there is a way to figure it out, but we don’t know how to do it, so we wait, and guess, and make up crazy theories that always prove wrong. One of my early theories was that if the chick had a black spot on its head, it was going to be a rooster and the spot was the beginning of his comb.  Then, I realized that all the chicks have spots.

None of our chickens like being picked up or held.  They will tolerate it, but not very happily. I’ve read that if you hatch the eggs without a mommy hen, the chicks are more likely to bond with you and will therefore be a little less afraid when you pick them up and hold them, but we love watching the mommies raise the little tykes.  The mommy hens are very fierce protectors and will “attack” you by pecking and biting, and flying up a bit on you when they think you are threatening their chicks.  “Little Sister” is fairly tame and relatively relaxed around us, but she did try to whack me several times when I picked her little one up for his close up.

This little fella is only one day old.  I wish you could see a better size comparison with the photo above, because this little guy is about 1/5 the size of the one week old chick in the previous shot.

This little one’s Mom is Daphne, and she’s a wonderful hen.  We only let her sit on two eggs, and this one’s sibling didn’t make it, so it’s an only-chick.  Sometimes I think the mother hens are better if they have lots of chicks – they are surrounded by so much peeping chaos, it’s impossible for her to get distracted by her own needs or desires, so they focus more closely on their chicks.  Could be another of my cockamamie theories – I have lots.

This is another reason we love letting our hens sit and hatch their own eggs – this view of Little Sister and her chick right here.

And right here – you do see the little head peeking out, don’t you?  OK, that’s the round up of the chickens for the night.  Next up – an update on the petite sirah vines!

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Springtime is bursting out everywhere

There is so much happening on our little “farm” during this time of year.  Our vines are popping out new buds, and spring has sprung.  It’s exciting to see the vines jump back into life again.

The orange pops of color you see in the blurry background of the photo?  Those are California poppies – the state flower, and we are big fans. The brilliant delicate petals open up in the morning, and close at night, or sometimes just because it is a foggy day.

I grew up believing the common story that it is illegal to cut poppies because they are the state flower.  Even though I have since learned that isn’t true, we still don’t cut them down.  Today we weed-whacked our property along the road, and as you can see, we trim all the weeds, and leave the poppies standing.

This approach to weed-whacking sort of makes the poppies stand out even more.

Our wisteria is in full bloom.  Tonight, there were tons of bumble bees feasting on the wisteria pollen.  There were so many of them that you could hear a constant, dull hum, and a few bees even bumped into me in their drunken rush to get to more pollen.  I wanted to get photos, but it was more difficult than I expected.  I took lots of photos like this one – blooms, no bees.  (I wish you could smell the perfume of these blossoms!)

Finally – I captured one!  Can you see him?

Happy bee.

Next stop – the chicken coop.  I wanted to take a picture of the new mommy, “Little Sister,” the hen on your right.  She hatched four babies a little over a week ago.  They are SO adorable peeking out from underneath their Mom.  It’s really amazing how much heat the hens throw off – the babies are incredibly warm.

I took the shot, and looked at my camera’s view finder to review it, and noticed a little head peeking out from under “Daphne,” the hen on your left.  I was so excited to see her newly hatched chicks.  After investigation, I realized that the lone chick under Daphne was actually one of Little Sister’s, and Daphne’s still have yet to hatch.  I put the little stray back under Little Sister, and said goodnight to everybody.

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