2020 West Coast Weather and Farming Thread

Just got in from my New Year’s Eve celebration, was poking around the Board, and realized we needed a new thread for the new year. Happy New Year to all the farmers, and to all the people who read and comment here.

Happy New Year and keep those updates coming!

Bump for bookmark.

We are having a string of warm days and cool nights. There is still plenty of moisture in the ground from all that rain we had.

The cover crops are responding to the pattern of rain and then warm sun. I’ll get a photo tomorrow - everything is just bright green.

I have not seen any pruning going on - not even any first cuts that some farmers do. I’ll wait at least a month - maybe two.

Ok. First post of 2020. I did go back and look at some of the past 3-4 years threads…pretty interesting.

Now have 6 ladies prepruning and 12 men pruning. Gals started today. They will remove last year’s cane and prep the vine for the final steps. My 2700 vine 3 acre Gruner Veltliner block is done. I did over half and then enlisted two of my best guys to finish. Probably going to have 10 tons this year. Will have about 5-6 tons to sell.

On the sales front, going to have to polish up my charm offensive. I have about 40 tons of Chardonnay and the same amount of Pinot to sell (TELL YOUR FRIENDS). Not going to be easy in the current situation.

Here’s a thanks that follow this thread. If you ever find yourself in Philo and want to see the ranch ill do my best to show you.

Updates?

Cold mornings! And it rains at night very often, although the afternoons are quite pleasant. There are plenty of puddles and standing water in some of the low vineyards. The ground remains very wet (I saw a tractor stuck out in a vineyard in my travels the other day).

Plenty of vineyards are accomplishing their first cuts, and a few have done the true, finished pruning. Other than that, not a lot is going on.
The first narcissus have bloomed - as a former Bostonian, this early flowering catches me by surprise.

So overall winter rainfall is normal? High? Low?

We’re down a few inches in Berkeley

we got a little over an inch of those back today

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Well I’ve been goofing off for a couple of weeks. Visited the job sight briefly today to bring payroll and warm vibes to my people. I kind of think they hated the tan I was sporting and likely a couple of extra pounds too.

We are a bit ahead on labor for this date so I’m sending some folks to go help others for a month or so.

Will inspect my ponds and other important matters tomorrow.

Zihuatenejo, eh? Did you do any offshore fishing while you where there?

Wish I could Ed, but the big water and I don’t get along. Seems I’m just a redneck destined to roam the hills and bag an occasional deer, pig or elk!

It is raining steadily and has been all morning here UpValley. I don’t keep track of rainfall totals, but here in Calistoga I am betting we have better than average inches so far this season.

The National Weather Service’s interactive Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service website shows Calistoga at between 75% and 90% of normal precipitation for the water-year-to-date (from October 1st) as of today.

Although there’s been numerous rainy days this fall and early winter we are behind. Ukiah normal by January 20 is 19 inches. Last year by now it was 17. This year is 9 inches. Streams really have yet to sustain much flow after storms. We need lots more.

Happy to see a few of my ponds full today. Streams starting to flow somewhat. A few more weather events and we’ll see more runoff now that we’ve had near 10 inches.

Pruned some 4 year old Chard vines with fat canes and realized that my grip got out of shape holding beer bottles for two weeks.

Will get some pics up tomorrow.

Spent the morning in my jammies doing office work. Got my 48 W-2’s done and delivered/mailed. Visited both of my crews today. Luckily nobody commented on my tan from two weeks in the sun while they stood in the fog of Anderson Valley working. Help my Two wrench turners with a bad bearing on a mower. Still have LOTS of acres to prune. Not feeling so comfortable with our hand work.

Not a lot to report other than more crews are out - some still making first cuts and some actually doing the final cuts.

It rains or drizzles almost every day, including a light rain overnight. Going to check in on my vintages in barrel (2018 and 2019) this coming week, which is my norm for January.