Birds wiped out my Malbec crop.
Skip this post if you come for the politics, not the agriculture."Monday morning (bah da, bah da-day da)
It was all l hoped it would be
But Monday morning, Monday morning couldn’t guarantee
That Monday evenin’ you would still be here with me. . . .John Phillips, "Monday, Monday" sung by the Mamas and the Papas, 1966
Malbecs normally ripen behind Pinot Noirs. The sweetness report I had two weeks ago indicated that the Pinot Noirs were ready to harvest and that we might wait a week for the Malbecs.
We picked the Pinot Noirs on October 6. There was no bird loss at all. My Malbecs looked fine on Sunday. We were waiting for a break in the rain and an available picking crew. It turns out that that wait was a fatal mistake.
Yesterday this. Sometimes picked clean:
Sometimes half-picked:
The bees were going crazy with the free sugar on the grapes the birds hadn't gotten to yet:
The grapes that are left aren't worth picking.
This third year in the vineyard was intended to be a grow-healthy-vines year not a marketable-harvest year. This harvest was going to be a bonus. I chalk this up as a valuable lesson. In the future possibly I have a window of a few days after picking the Pinot Noirs when the Malbecs are ripe and pickable, but before the birds discover the vineyard. I probably could have picked the Malbecs on Saturday had a crew been available. Or maybe, by chance, the birds would have discovered the Malbecs a week earlier and the real solution is stringing up nets to protect the Malbecs and Cabernet Sauvignons. It will take work and money, but I can do that.
We will live and learn. And try to have a happy heart.
The first popular song that came into my teenage consciousness back in 1962 was a rock instrumental by the Surfaris. It began with a three seconds of laughter and then a drum solo. It was my first glimpse into teen culture and music as a member of that generation. The title is "Wipe Out." If you are lucky enough to have been young in 1962, you will remember it. In surfing, if you are wiped out, you laugh about it and get back onto the board and try again.
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