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

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.