What a crazy few days we had here 1.5 weeks ago. We essentially did everything you should NOT do when preparing your vineyard. Somehow we got it done. We were out late at night and early in the morning, but we got it done. The vines are in the ground and we can officially say we have a vineyard now.
Still lots more to do but here is a collection of photos and a few videos of what's happened so far.
Unpacking 100 vines.
Breaking first ground!!! VERY hard ground.
VERY hard.
Tried using a pretty beefy tiller, which wasn't going anywhere fast in our dirt. Even with some very skilled assistance.
Tried jury-rigging some antique farm equipment to help us till but that didn't help much either. We started losing our light so we decided to forget the tilling for the time being.
Measured twice (possibly 3x), and then marked where the holes would be dug.
My vineyard angel. This poor guy had to jump on the auger for every, single, hole. We found that not any one slice of ground is alike. We're looking at clay, decomposed limestone, limestone, sandstone and a sandy loam mix.
We dug till all hours of the morning, but finally finished.
Beautiful. Rainy day 1 of planting.
Planting helpers on planting day 2.
This folks, is not cement, it is decomposed limestone. It's a beast to work in but we'll have very happy vines.
On our last vine!
Done planting. It is SO gorgeous!
After adding the rebar stakes, we started laying the drip line irrigation.
We are SO excited. We went ahead and purchased 100 (2ish year old) Brilliant variety grapevines from east Texas earlier this week.
They arrived this morning so we took the day to clean up the planting field a bit more.
EJ took out some big, old, half-dead mesquite trees as well as some young ones.
It was a beautiful, 78 degree, January day in the Texas Hill Country today! Perfect for getting outside and doing a little measuring in the field where we are planning to plant 100+ vines this spring!!! Wheeeeee!!!! Step one - complete. Will keep updating as we progress along.
We got our keys on the first of October and it has been an adventure ever since.
The previous tenant left us with some 'items'... Some good (like the chickens). Some bad (a dead sheep - right by the rock house, flea infested carpets and barn cats, an especially disgusting mouse-poopy-roachy kitchen etc). Some things we've fixed. The sheep is long gone, the fleas are no longer plaguing our little family, our kitchen is clean and the friendliest of the 2.5 cats has been medicated.
Here we are a few weeks later and we're still cleaning, and it's a work in progress...but we have our furniture moved in and it feels like home now. :-) We are witnessing some amazing sunsets and exploring the property more each day.
Hoping to plant a few grapevines this coming spring (2016). Our adventure begins!
It is official. We have found our property. After 2.5 years of searching and waiting and disappointment and hoping and praying and almost losing hope, we can finally say that we have found our place. Our slice of Texas Hill Country heaven. 55 acres of land near Enchanted Rock with old barns, big live oaks, and history galore. It will be hard work but I can see our future there. I can see our vineyard. It was worth the wait. More details to come, but for right now we are counting the days till we move in... :-)
When we decided to start our own business 5 years ago, we looked at many different options for names. We wanted it to be meaningful, memorable and a tad bit quirky like us.
Lucy, 8 weeks old. Adoption day.
We decided on the word 'plottador' because that's what we call our dog, Lucy. A mix of mainly chocolate lab + plott hound, thus the name 'plottador' was created. She was adopted from a shelter when she was just 8 weeks old and has since been an irreplaceable family member. She has grown up with our 4 girls and has been almost like a nanny to them, enduring years of pulling on her ears, poking her in the face and using her as a stepping stool - all without any complaints. She's cleaned up many a food mess, and dealt with pregnancy induced hormonal mood-swings and toddler temper tantrums and she has licked our tears and comforted us with her warm body and she has moved around the country with us, never questioning our decisions.
Lucy, 8yrs old after swimming in the Pedernales River.
Now, she's an old lady. An 8 year old lazy, loveable mutt with grey hair creeping slowly up her muzzle. So, to say 'thanks' for always being there for us, Plottador Vineyards is for you Lu! We love you.
