Red Currants!

It takes FOREVER to pick a currant bush. The berries are so tiny. Only huckleberries are worse. It must be done in several efforts, or else you just might go crazy ;) . I can do it for maybe 30 minutes, but then I have to quit, and come back later. Currant bushes, in this cool, wet, late Spring, are loaded this year: I've picked 3 pints from the one bush and there are still more berries out there. These I freeze, then add later to the Epona Rose wine (where, admittedly, they make only a tiny statement LOL - we're talking about maybe 1 lb of currants and hundreds of pounds of grapes). Currants are acidic and delightful.

Spring!

The Jupiter seedless grape is budding in the vineyard. From a dead-looking stick unfurls a gorgeous pink-tinged leaf, reminding us of so many good things: The opportunity for growth, not just in grapes, but in us. A reminder that we are still alive. The promise of renewed life. Advice that there will (nearly) always be a brighter day after a troubling one. The humble grape can tell us all this, if we only take a moment to pause, look, and see.

The rebirth of Spring!

Lest we forget what is the miracle of the rebirth of Springtime, I attach a photo of my New York Muscat vine budding out, in Portland OR in 2013. From within the dead-looking stick, the juices of life flow to meet the sun. Through these tiny leaves will erupt many feet of shoot growth, and clusters of fruit! Little wonder there is a grape variety (not the one in this pic) called "Phoenix"! 

Let's all take a moment to dwell on how lucky we are to be a part of this rebirth, and let's think on how we can rebirth ourselves, and what we can do to help preserve a healthy Spring for all (humans,and flora and fauna).

P.S. - Notice how the bud erupts above that darker ridge running perpendicular to the cane? If you are rooting a grape vine cutting and you aren't sure which end is the "leaf" end and which is the "root" end (and it absolutely does matter, critically), you can figure it out easily just by knowing the leafbud is above that crossing ridge in the cane. Stated another way, from that crossing ridgeline, the leaf's bud is on the "leaf end" of that ridge, so the roots will emerge from the other end of your cutting.