The Climate and Phenology of Grapes in the Lunar Calendar

The Sounds of Nature—The Climate and Phenology of Grapes in the Lunar Calendar

Wang Zengqi

Hunan Juvenile amp; Children Publishing House

January 2017

18.00 （CNY）

Wang Zengqi

Born on the 5th of March， 1920， in Gaoyou， Jiangsu Province， Wang Zengqi was a contemporary Chinese writer， essayist， playwright and a very famous figure of Beijing-style writing. Honored as “a lyrical humanitarian， China’s last pure scholar， and China’s last scholar-official”， he had obtained many achievements writing short novels and has also studied theater and folk art in depth.

The Sounds of Nature is a collection of prose on nature by literature master Wang Zengqi. The book includes classic works such as The Climate and Phenology of Grapes in the Lunar Calendar， Tales from the Orchard， and Life of Plants. Focusing on the small and seemingly insignificant， the author writes in a simple， plain but vivid and delightful language， inviting us to appreciate the beauty and loveliness of nature.

It snows heavily in January.

Capillary wormwood will start growing out of this black soil， making a sea of green. The grapes come out of the cellar.

The cellar is dug open shovel by shovel. The excavated soil is piled up on all sides. The grapevines show themselves， which are totally black. Buds can be seen at the end of some of those vines， with little white leaves about the size of a fingernail growing out of them. They cannot wait anymore.

Pull the grapevines out and lay them on the loose wet soil.

After just a short while， the little leaves will change color， with their edges turning red. After a while more， they will turn green.

March， it’s time for the grapevines to go on the grape trellis.

The first step is to prepare the materials. Set aside wooden support pillars， beams， and rods made of locust wood， willow， poplar， and birch according to their sizes. There should be support pillars of different thicknesses， ranging from the diameter of a large bowl， a rice bowl， and a teacup. A large grapevine requires eight， ten， or up to twelve support pillars， while a medium-sized one will need about four to six.

First， dig holes and set support pillars up. Then place beams across and secure everything tightly with thick metal wires before connecting smaller wooden rods in between the beams and securing those with the same metal wires.

Then， invite the grapevine up the trellis. It will take some energy to lift up the old grapevine that has been lying in the dirt for an entire winter. A large vine may require the strength of four to five men. “Up！ And up！” And the vine is off the ground！ Put it on the trellis and stretch it out to three sides， extending the stems and branches out like five fingers spread out or opening them like a folding fan. Then， secure the vines to the rods with mesh wires. The vines are now comfortably and refreshingly sprawled out on the trellis.

After the vines are up the trellis， it’s time to fertilize. Behind the roots of the vine， about 30 cm away from the main pillar， dig a trench in the shape of a crescent and pour in feces. The feces used to fertilize grapevines do not have to be diluted with water and can be dumped in just as they are. A large vine requires three to four buckets of feces while a small one will only need one.

April is watering time.

The excavated dirt from digging the cellar piled up on all sides will form a neat little pond. Fill it up with water. The grape orchard is now foggy， cooling， and calming.

Grapevines consume a shocking amount of water. They really are drinking water！

The biology of grapevines is different from that of other fruit trees， as it has many very thin vessel elements running through them. This was discovered a very long time ago back in ancient China. In the Illustrated Pharmacopoeia （Su， 1061）， it is written， “The grapevines are hollow throughout. Hoping for a good harvest， the farmer would soak its roots in water in the evening. By morning， the water has been absorbed by the fruit. This is why people often refer to the seedling of grapevines as the ‘hollow stem’.” Soaking a grapevine’s roots in water and re-watering the plant every morning is wrong. After the grapes on a vine are ripe， the vine cannot be watered anymore as it will lead to the grapes bursting. “Hollow throughout” is， however， a very accurate description. After watering， grapevines will suck up water until the soil is dry， like a baby sucking on a milk bottle. You can have a look for yourself after watering： make a small cut at one of the ends of the branches， and you will be able to see water trickling out.

So how does the grapevine have such strength to absorb so much water？

After fertilizing and watering， the vines will start to shoot branches and grow leaves. This will happen very quickly！ What seems to be just a few dried-out vines will turn into a green flowering beauty in just a few days.

May is the time for watering， fumigating， and pruning.

Grapevines drink an incredible amount of water each year that no other fruit trees can match. Just one dug-out “tree bowl” filled with a couple hundred liters of water will suffice for other fruit trees， but not for the grapevine， which drinks water a pond at a time.

Spray some Bordeaux mixture onto the vine. From waiting for the leaves to grow out to the fruits ripening， the mixture has to be sprayed on countless times. After spraying， the leaves will turn blue under the sun.

Grapevines shoot new branches totally blindly and without restraint！ In just a few days， you’ll have a new branch growing out. With all these new branches taking up nutrients， how will the vine bear fruit？ Thus， one will have to prune the vine once every few days. Pruning a grapevine is quite straightforward and can be done alone. Just take a pair of pruning shears and cut off the new branch that has grown out. After every pruning session， the ground will be full of new branches.

A grapevine’s tendrils served a purpose back when they grew in the wild， as they allowed the vine to cling and grow on trees and other structures. However， with it now securely wired to the trellis， these tendrils are useless. These tendrils also soak up a lot of nutrients， as the vine will send up all its nutrients to the ends of the branches where these tendrils are. Thus， cut them off whenever they grow out.

These tendrils also have a slightly sweet taste. They probably will not taste bad if pickled.

In mid to late May， the fruit trees are in bloom. The orchard is incredibly beautiful. Pear trees and apple trees blossom， so do the grapevines.

It is said that pear blossoms look like snow， but apple blossoms are more like it. Snow is thick， not clear. What does the pear blossom look like？ The petals of pear blossoms are made of the moon.

Some say that grapevines do not flower. What nonsense！ It is just that grape flowers are extremely small and are of a pale yellow and light green color， which renders them invisible if one does not enter the grape trellis. It also flowers for a very short period of time， as they get replaced by tiny grapes very soon.