What started as an audacious, alcohol soaked thought of starting a vineyard has become a reality as ground was broken on Saturday, March 29, 2008. With the help of a tractor, an augering tool and two parents, 76 holes were drilled into the earth.
Before:
The Virginia clay made augering a fairly difficult task. It wasn't until we discovered that augering was at least a two person job that it started to move a little more expeditiously.
A good shot of the auger attachment with John for a size comparison.
76 holes took the entire morning to drill. We decided it was best to set the posts first and then plant the vines after the posts were firmly in the ground.
A good shot of a typical plant.
And finally the after shot. Here all of the posts and vines are in the ground and the vines have been watered. We decided not to trim the roots. The holes were just large enough for most of the root systems to fit comfortably. Some vines, however, had larger roots that fit more snugly in the holes and our hope is that this will not negatively affect the health of the plant. We hope that grape vines are as resilient as they seem.
The grow tubes were not in yet and so the baby vines have to brave the conditions for three days until Tuesday when the grow tubes are expected.
Overall Saturday was a success. Aside from a few splinters and a little anxiety about the future of our plants, we are happy about getting this far without breaking the bank or our backs.
2 comments:
It should be noted that John is only 3 feet tall. So our Auger had extra work to do.
Good point.
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