The weeks seem to be flying past this year (or is it something to do with age?!).
January, which always seemed to drag in Blighty, was gone before I knew it and then we hit February which I always knew was going to be busy.
'Tis the month for pruning and we are now on day 11 of doing the grape vines. I say "we" but, apart from some initial training and help from my guru Jose on the first day, it has been me working his way up the hill. The vines are getting a very hard prune which swill act as a 'kill or cure' treatment. There are some big patches of dead vines but all is not lost as the dead stumps make fantastic firewood. Come harvest time, I should get a good idea of what is productive vineyard and then I can weigh up whether to replant the bad areas next February.
10 acres done; only another 14 to go (and silk have to finish pruning the black figs).
However, the weather is fantastic at the moment and it is a joy to be working outside. The nights are cold but almost every day is warm with blue skies.
With the current workload plus day-to-day chores, it's difficult to keep the blog updated but
I'll do what I can. There's an entry in the pipeline for the wild boar 'matanza' which will come with a health warning for vegetarians!
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