Tuesday, July 13, 2010

The grapes in mid-July

The bunches of grapes out in the vineyard are now starting to resemble bunches of grapes. We've had a lot of rain this month, and I'll bet the growers are hoping it stops soon. Otherwise, the grapes may get too much water. I'm not sure how it works, though. I know that too much rain closer to harvest time is bad; it can reduce the sugar content of the grape or even plump the fruit up so much that it splits.

A bunch of grapes, still green. Will they be red or white when ripe?

But the rains are good for everything else: the grass, the trees, the vegetable garden. Not to mention the water table. It's mid-July and we've already had seventy-seven millimeters of rain since the first. That's more than the monthly average for here. This July is the wettest July at our house in five years (I started keeping track in 2005).
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6 comments:

  1. Anonymous13 July, 2010 10:26

    My guess is the grapes will turn red!

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  2. Unknown13 July, 2010 13:51

    I bet these are Chenin Blanc white grapes prevalent in the Loire!!

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  3. Jean13 July, 2010 13:51

    Good rainfall and a heatwave make for good gardening, I suppose. It was regularly well over 30 degrees when we were in LGP most days last week, hitting 38 on the hottest day.

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  4. Starman13 July, 2010 19:39

    They look ready for picking .

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  5. wcs14 July, 2010 07:09

    scottsabode, noted. I'll keep an eye on them.

    dale, ah, competition! We shall see!

    jean, thankfully it's cooled down a bit after a series of storms with more expected today.

    starman, not for another few months!

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  6. Autolycus15 July, 2010 14:40

    You could send some more our way. We've had some in the last few days, but grass all over London is still looking terribly brown.

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