Mainly at the top of the vineyard so far. Surprisingly, after the cool spring, it’s pretty much the same date as usual. So it’s frost-scare time. We had a touch several nights last week, about half a degree at vine height  at the bottom of the slope. These vines in the picture are higher up and look fine. At the bottom they’re still at the woolly bud stage so it’s too soon to tell for sure. Fingers crossed we’ll get through with no more bud-nipping frost. The 10 day forecast predicts 1C here on 3rd May with a north wind - bit close for comfort.....

We’ve managed to delay the Madeleine Angevine budburst, as usual, by late pruning, which is in full swing. We’re cutting off all the swelling buds and little leaves in a mad rush this week. The reason is that Madeleine’s a bit early for our site now and also in the lowest, frostiest part of the field so the later it buds the better, within reason. Iain is pre-pruning with the electric hedgetrimmer and I’m following up with the Electrocoup battery pruners, which I’m getting used to now. Brilliant for cutting out old spurs. The top block of Madeleine’ll be done tomorrow and Iain’s on to the bigger, lower block now.

Just finished mowing the Kernling. It was an easier job than usual after Asti, the old pony’s free-range-grazing. We mow the grass between the rows once now to tidy up all the bits of vine prunings and check the growth of perennial weeds. It won’t be cut again till after midsummer, so the annual plants and the small animals and insects can breed in peace.

Along the vines we spray a narrow strip once a year with glyphosate so they don’t get too much weed competition - done last week. Later when the weeds grow back in July we control again with a round of strimming. This year as an experiment. in the bottom parcel of Kernling we haven’t sprayed. We’ll see how we get on just with mulching and strimming. Managing without herbicide is better for biodiversiy but takes more time. But I hope that instead of tall sow thistle and willow herb that grow rampantly after the grass is killed, we’ll start to get lower-growing grasses that won’t take so much strimming, so it wont really be all that much more work. We’ll see.