Size
It is during the cold period when outdoor work is often invigorating. This activity is essential to obtain a quality harvest. It consists in cutting the branches (stems), so as to form the vines, and in choosing the “carriers”. These “carriers” are intended to accommodate the grapes. By applying the “Cordon de Royat” method, we prune leaving 6 carriers per vine, with 2 buds each. For my part, I cut manually using an electric pruner.
Debudding
It eliminates non-fruiting shoots from the vine and thus promotes the development of the parts that we want to keep from the vine. This operation promotes the ventilation of the bunches and tends to improve the spread of treatments, and thus better nourish the grapes. This disbudding is done manually in May / June.
Grassing
This technique is an alternative to tillage, and prevents soil erosion. This allows better lift of the tractor.
It consists in leaving the grass, while limiting the growth by grinding.
I practice it in all my plots, one row out of four, but also one row out of two, in the more vigorous plots. Which allows me to limit its vigor. This step is done mechanically using a grinder, in three passes during the year.