It Finally Happened!
Well it had to come! After all last season without a single frost we were definitely due for one, especially after the last few wet cold days here in Martinborough.
It was an early frost alert at 11:05pm that first woke Blair and I up, but was quickly ignored though, for it was a weather station in Wharekauhau Vineyard which at this stage does not need to be protected. So back to sleep we went for a few more hours till the next alert had us up and out the door at 2am sharp. The frost monitors alert Blair and I at 0.5o so we have a little bit of time to scope out the temperatures over all the vineyards and determine what needs to go on first when the temperature gets close to, and under 0o in some places.
So as of 02:30 the windmill and SIS machine at Om Santi were in full swing with the temperature there at 0o and ice forming on the irrigation tubing. From there it was a few hours wait until at 5am we put both the water on in Collins bottom Pinot block and then Cloustons overhead sprinklers to cover the Chardonnay and Pinot that is in full bud movement. The lowest temperature fell to around -1.5o at Wharekauhau and -1.0o at Clouston.
Not a bad night to start the frost season off, giving both Blair and I (whom are a little rusty after a full 24 odd months of not using the equipment) an easy introduction to how all operates again.
Mission accomplished…..
