It is with aching fingers, and a grateful heart, that I post this update on Four Cedars Vineyard.
Because of Tony, Matt, Jerry, Mary, Dick, Anne, Tom B., Paula, John, Becky, Jason, Chris, Abby, Marc, Emily, Katie, Tom j. H., and Tom g. H., hubby and I can happily report that 440 grow tube-covered, bamboo-secured grapevines, 208 line posts, and 16 end posts can be viewed from the kitchen of our farmhouse. And they are a sight to behold!
Going into the weekend and coming off a cold and extremely wet spring, which led to post sinking falling behind schedule, I wasn't very optimistic we would progress this well, especially by the end of the day Saturday -- a sunny, warm and blustery day that saw only 100 vines get into the cold, hard ground. But Sunday, with many of our workers reassigned from post sinking to hole digging and planting, we made headway.
And Monday, with cool temperatures and a wonderfully overcast sky, we were able to finish planting all of the Marquettes, all of the Bluebells, all of the Somerset Seedless, plus get two and one half rows of Edelweiss into the ground. The roots for the latter varieties were thick and nicely spread, right out of the bundle, which made the whole process go so much easier.
I will post more photos from planting weekend later, but for now, here's a quick run through the weekend to help illustrate how one might build a vineyard, if one finds themselves like us -- in total leave of their senses.
These two bags hold 600 grapevines. Dollar value? A lot!
This is an Edelweiss vine. The roots are sensitive to sunlight. Both Saturday and Sunday were very bright days.
The young studly ones weilded shovels and dug holes by the row.
Water boy: On Saturday, we measured the 3-4 gallons of water needed per vine. By Sunday, we just dumped water out of the bucket.
When I drove the water/compost delivery wagon, I rolled over Jason's foot -- twice. When we put John behind the wheel, he was done pushing soil. He's invited to return to cut grass whenever he wants.
Only on Monday, with the overcast sky, were we able to lift the vines out of the safe haven that is a bucket of dirty water.
Some of us knelt while planting while the younger ones preferred the bend/stoop position. Either way, by the end of the day, we moved slowly. To be honest, by the end of three days of planting, I'm surprised we could move at all.
I heard one of the more macho planters say grow-tube placement was a sissy job. Thankfully, Jason is secure enough in his masculinity to proceed with this very important part of planting.
There are 40 plants per row, spaced 8 feet apart. Every hole stop gets a bucket of compost to mix with the soil and a bucket of water. From the house, the rows don't seem that long. Then, when you walk them ... carry a heavy bucket down them ... stoop down to plant all along them ...
This is a shot of our progress after day two. Tomorrow, I have roughly three rows of grow tubes to secure with zip-ties. Planting our last five rows of Edelweiss will likely have to wait until Memorial weekend.
To all of the wonderful people who helped us along the way -- THANK YOU!!!!
