Urban vineyard: Record harvest

This summer was a weird but prosperous time for the urban vineyard. We had a record harvest of 25 pounds (above), which will make 8-11 bottles, according to a range of estimates culled from the Internet.

First we got a lot of rain, then we got a little black rot:

I have never been a dedicated sprayer, so I blame myself for that. The arrival of the fungus came at the same general time when I thin the vines. I'm a reluctant thinner, and I usually wait much later than the recommended point in the season for doing so. This year, I confined my thinning to the diseased and destroyed clusters and hoped that the rot would not wipe out the whole crop.

Weirdly, black rot subsided, and the vines prospered:

In addition to the mercy of black rot, I see several reasons for the bounty:

1) Three of the five laggard vines began to yield in modest quantity this year, whereas they could not be counted to produce much of anything in past years.

2) During the weeks when we covered the vines with garden cover (known as the Shroud of St. Vincent, below), the weather was free of storms that could blow down the shroud. Because it remained intact, we had essentially no loss to birds. 

3) This year's thinning was less than in the past. Is thinning really necessary? For St. Vincent vines? See my subsequent post if you're interested. If not, click elsewhere. Cheers!