Young Oak Vineyards: Volume 54: Valentine's Day Edition

Hi everyone!

I hope you get to enjoy this beautiful day with the ones you love. It was a wonderful misty morning here in California, which quickly turned sunny & warm (our condolences to you folks on the Eastern US seaboard and our son in Helsinki!). Well, we were really surprised to look out our window this morning and see a couple of little goats nursing under Ellie!

Yes, the prolific matriarch of our goat herd, Ellie Mae, had two babies this Valentine's Day morning, one male all white and the other a cute black & white female! So, I spent the morning cleaning out the goat barn and putting down fresh straw to fix up the place where these little guys can nurse and sleep.

I'm thinking the male could be named "Rudy" (after Rudolph Valentino and because of the day) and the black & white female, well, ... I'm open to suggestions. If you want to come by and visit our new little goats, please drop by as I will be home all week (Yeah! - Winter Break, a.k.a. Ski Week!)!

Happy Valentine's Day,
John

Young Oak Vineyards: Volume 53 - Now That The Super Bowl Is Over....?

Hi all:

Haven't the goats done a great job in keeping the weeds down this year. I have to reward them with some alfalfa (also, they are starting to nibble on the grapevines as there are fewer weeds to eat!) As you can see the leaves are all down on the vines and they are ready for their winter pruning.

And now that the "Super Bowl" is over ... (Wasn't that a great game, by the way! Great if you were rooting for New Orleans!). Well, now that the "Super Bowl" is over, we are really going to spend a good deal of time on the vines this third year. They now all have well established trunks and we will focusing on pruning, staking, adjusting the trellis system and tying the lateral cordons shoots to the trellis wires. Also, we have to replace about 30 vines that were lost to gophers or watering difficulties or neglected or just plain died! Also, we have to start composting the cuttings! And now I can't blame not getting anything done on football. All I can say is thank goodness for basketball!

Yours reluctantly from down in the vineyard,

John