A lot is going on in this picture!
The almost ripe Triomphe d'Alsace is hanging heavily from the canopy of thinned leaves. I have had to string a steel wire from wall to wall with a support wire connected to the arbour, as the whole construction threatened to crash down on our heads.
As the 'vineyard' is positioned in a "pit between houses", I have had to consider how to optimise the available sunshine. The arbour is one way, lifting the grapes 2m up, closer to heaven, sun and fresh air. Thinning the leaves is another approach - I may have been too early out this year, but it is both a way of delimiting the otherwise rampant wild growth and a necessity for improved air circulation. Late July for thourough thinning is probably optimal.
Then there are the pigeon attacks.
They can rip the lot to shreds in 15 min. flat!
And then they leave the results on our cars afterwards, as large splats of a severely acid composition.
A thin net, spanned over the patio is a first line of defense (invisible in the photo). The Triomphe d'Alsace on the front wall of the house is easier to deal with; a net, gently draped down from the top is very effective.
For a while I was afraid it would catch butterflies or birds with the intelligence to attack from floor level. But butterflies are smart - they easily find an escape route in the small un-netted areas. I have even seen a "large cabbage white" (kaalsommerfugl) sit on the net and squeeze itself through the small 2 by 2 cm masks! Incredible.
Pigeons? No worry. They are stupid.
And in any case the second line of defense can be seen on guard on the table.
Now for the wasps - my biggest fear, as they don't just go away when you tell them (as do the pigeons).
My secret weapon, the green bottle hanging from one of the branches, is loaded with a lethal mix of Tesco's the best 'Bonne Maman' jam, thinned with water.
Boy, does it work!
I think the lion's share of a still unidentified wasps nest in the neighbourhood now has moved to the bottom of the bottle.
When inspecting the bunches, it is clear that a few wasps have managed to chew the skin and suck the juice out of one or two grapes - but clearly: these attacks on my property have been thoroughly revenged and largely prevented. I may even have to empty the bottle, making it ready for the even fiercer late August attacks, when wasps traditionally go berserk on half fermented fruit juices in the neighbourhood (Apples, Pears, Plums, even figues).
It is particularly interesting to observe that the two other trap-bottles on the vine, filled with a mix of honey and maple syrup, only attract ants and flies, no wasps. Ants? Yes, our ant-plague has been all but eliminated throgh a wrongly designed wasp-trap. But I guess that's normal: you choose the weapon best suited for your prey; grouse hunting with a Colt-45 doesn't work either, or what? So now we know.
Finally, the merrily waving arm of horizontal leaves, bottom left in the photo, is a Triomphe d'Alsace being groomed for 'fountain pruning' - but this will be documented on its own later on.
2-3 weeks max. to go before harvest.
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