About the year
Unlike earlier years, the winter was extremely cold and dry. The minus-zero temperatures throughout January reduced the likeliness of the formation of later illnesses.
The great cold speedily burst into spring as the shoots appeared. The average daytime temperatures at the end of March were higher than is usual at this time.
Similarly to 2016, development was explosive. In April the early warmth was followed by several waves of cool, causing growth to slow down and the phrenological phases to return to normal.
At the beginning of May nearly 50mm of rain fell in three days. Sadly, as a result of the sudden rise in temperature the rain arrived with hail. Luckily this caused damage to only a small area of the crop. The heat of May remained with us throughout the summer, the august heat reaching 39°C for days on end.
The relatively dry and hot weather kept the sicknesses at bay, and so pest control was essentially pre-emptive, and there was comparatively little spraying to do. All in all, we were able to harvest lovely ripe bunches.
The unexpected September weather brought a sudden end to the good early harvest. As opposed to earlier years there ws higher rainfall and over several days. No week went by without some rain. The temprerature also suddenly dropped, but thanks to timely protection no infections formed.
However, the forced wait occasioned by the weather proved a good tactic, for October had a veritable Indian summer in store for us, and so the later varieties could ripen in safety.
Summing up, we can say that this year we were able to harvest healthy basic ingredients of superb quality.
