Pruning - The End in Sight!

The picture above is the view which greets us every morning as we pull up to Tyler and Jessica's vineyard to help them prune. The rows are 1/4 mile long, which unlike ours, have no center turn road dividing the distance.

But, as you finish a row and look back at it - what a feeling of accomplishment!

Then - - - you start the next one!

You may think that it is a daunting task to prune their 25 acre vineyard after just completing our 20 acres - and, you would be right!

But, with only 2 1/2 acres left, we should finish today - YAHOO!!!!

How, you might ask, were you able to finish pruning 25 acres in 2 weeks? After all, it took us about 3 weeks to prune our 20 acres. There are several reasons:

1. Their vineyard is younger, therefore, the vines are easier to cut and there is less growth to pull out of the wires.

2. The weather has been much warmer - 70F to high 80F as opposed to 34F - 70F.

3. We have 2 extra volunteers who have been great helpers:

• Joe, my brother-in-law from Tennessee will have been here for 2 weeks. He knows though that just because pruning is finished we do not get to take it easy. In fact, there is a list of things to do next! I am sure he will be ready to get home and rest after all this!

• Mary, my sister-in-law from Alabama who dropped Joe off and worked with us for 3 1/2 days. She then continued her travels to Colorado.

Needless to say, everyone is excited about the prospect of having the pruning completed for another year. Next comes planting the new vines, tightening wires, working in the garden ...