We rough pruned our nine-acre Marquette vineyard about two weeks ago. This was done mechanically. While all of the canes that extend outside of the “box” that the pruner is designed to work within are cut, many of them just hang on the vines. They have to be manually removed or they will shade and crowd the remaining vine as it starts to grow out next June. So, some of the efficiency we gain by mechanically rough pruning is lost when we have to go back and manually remove what was cut but which did not drop to the ground.
Some of our equipment needs some maintenance and since that work can be done indoors, we are doing it now when it is cold outdoors. We will stop most outdoor work for the winter on Friday, December 22.
