n VINEYARD NEWS with INGRID BATES I'm on a mission to keep mildew at bay

SO far this growing season the weather has worked in our favour at every turn … … we had a cold start which delayed bud burst and helped the newly emergent vines avoid late spring frosts. After that we had a hot dry spell which meant the vines developed huge flowers which opened to achieve nearly 100% fruit set. Fruit set is where every little flower turns into a grape rather than withering away.

Once set, the tiny grapes have enjoyed a period of wet weather which has allowed them to swell quickly. The vines have also been able to have a nice drink and catch up on growth after their demanding flowering period has ended. The recent wet weather has been particularly good for our baby vines whose roots haven’t developed yet and sometimes struggle in dry weather on our hard clay soil.

Once the grapes are formed it’s just a matter of making sure nothing eats them or that they don’t suffer from mildew. Avoiding mildew becomes my mission over the next few months. I do this by stripping out leaves around the developing grapes to make sure the airflow is good. The only creatures that eat the grapes are wasps, birds and badgers. Happily the risk period for this is short because they only want to eat the grapes when they are ripe and we pick them quickly once they get become tasty. hello@dunleavyvineyards.co.uk www.dunleavyvineyards.co.uk

On the wildlife front, the young the swallows have fledged. We know this because their numbers over the vineyard have suddenly doubled as they swoop around and call to each other overhead. We see different winners and losers every year in terms of sudden increases in numbers of certain plants or wildlife. This year the winners seem to be gatekeeper butterflies, Onthophagus dung beetles and red soldier beetles –hundreds of them!

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