Sad news in the vineyard

[deborahjross]

Some critters got into the vineyard, destroyed half the crop and damaged some of the vines. Undoubtedly, they were drawn by the smell of the almost-ripe fruit, which is already delicious to human taste. The vines will probably recover, with help, but I'm not sure what Dave will decide about wine making this year. He was really up for it.

If all else fails, we can harvest the grapes as is and make spectacular grape jam, but I don't think that will entirely replace the joy of making his own wine.

Comments

Vineyard

[davetrow.livejournal.com]

I went through the vineyard this afternoon, tightening up the netting, and I estimate we still might get 100-150 pounds of grapes, which would translate to 10-15 gallons of must, or 5-10 gallons of wine. Maybe less. So I'm going to try it anyway, and next year, I won't skimp on the netting. I'll probably have to start trapping, as well: Martha says she has real problems with raccoons and opossums.

Re: Vineyard

[manawolf.livejournal.com]

I'm glad it sounds like you can still get some out of it! Homemade alcohol sounds like tons of fun!

(Sarah)

Re: Vineyard

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

You can make wine out of almost anything plant-like. Grapes, berries, apples, rhubarb, garlic . . . whether you WANT to make wine out of some of those is another matter

[otana.livejournal.com]

Oh poor Dave, that's really bad news. Is it something that can be prevented if he wants to try again?

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

See Dave's post, above. Shows you what happens when you listen to your husband the first time

Trying again

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, I'll definitely try again. I put the vineyard in four years ago and have sunk several thousand dollars into it, so I'm not about to give up. If it requires crittercide, then so be it. Part of the problem may be my compost heaps, about 100 feet away, which have become a feast for beasts. I'm going to be building bins, and will install covers to keep animals out, which may reduce their attraction to this neighborhood.

Anyway, even if I lose this year's crop, I can pick up frozen must (crushed and destemmed red-wine grapes ready for fermentation) in Richmond, about 1-1/2 hours away, and practice on them.