tonyhibbett
Landlord.
Seems the link works, as I've had 16 pageviews. Good fun this!
Abandoned vineyard update
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tonyhibbett
Landlord.
All this recent rain is welcome. 4 inches in 4 weeks, giving the roots a thorough soaking and taking the poultry manure down to them. There are now 31 plants showing signs of life, some very lively, others more dead than alive.
Google earth street view shows them all very healthy in summer 2008, while the aerial view, 2 years later, shows about 40% dead or missing, surrounded by parched grass and the shed missing. With no water supply and sustained drought conditions, the vines simply started to die of thirst, so the owner, whose shed was burned down, lost heart, I guess.
Meanwhile the council have appeared to have stopped mowing between the rows.
Google earth street view shows them all very healthy in summer 2008, while the aerial view, 2 years later, shows about 40% dead or missing, surrounded by parched grass and the shed missing. With no water supply and sustained drought conditions, the vines simply started to die of thirst, so the owner, whose shed was burned down, lost heart, I guess.
Meanwhile the council have appeared to have stopped mowing between the rows.
hi Tony, nice to read about your vinyard, living here in cyprus where there are many vinyards at the different levels on the island growing on very stoney chalk soil, its facinating to see your vines growing after a good feed and watering!
we currently had the wettest winter period for decades , all our dams and rezzies are overflowing now as the final icemelts from the mountains flow down, wish i could send you a few thousand gallons !!
good luck mate , will keep looking out for your progress
we currently had the wettest winter period for decades , all our dams and rezzies are overflowing now as the final icemelts from the mountains flow down, wish i could send you a few thousand gallons !!
good luck mate , will keep looking out for your progress
How's it going Tony?
I was thinking of you last week as the vine on the house I'm working on started sprouting. It's gone mad this week with loads of little buds appearing.
I'm amazed it's still alive tbh as it was hacked about so much when we took the project on. It must've been neglected for a few years along with the rest of the garden. For now it's been pulled away from the house & tied along the scafold! Not sure what we'll do when that comes down!
I was thinking of you last week as the vine on the house I'm working on started sprouting. It's gone mad this week with loads of little buds appearing.
I'm amazed it's still alive tbh as it was hacked about so much when we took the project on. It must've been neglected for a few years along with the rest of the garden. For now it's been pulled away from the house & tied along the scafold! Not sure what we'll do when that comes down!
critty
Regular.
Simply wow! You lucky SOB lol.
Looks like it could be quite the project for you.
Looks like it could be quite the project for you.
BarnsleyBrewer
Active Member
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Nice find :thumb: All we get around here are nettles & dog **** fertilizer. :whistle:
BB
BB
critty
Regular.
I have been through Wombwell on a train going to Elsecar. Yeah it's not the best place lol.
Kidding :grin:
Kidding :grin:
dennisking
Regular.
BarnsleyBrewer said:
Not quite sure how well nettles and dog **** fertilizer will ferment John, may need to add some sugar. :grin:
tazuk
Landlord.
wow good work m8 keep up the good work and keep us updated :clap: :thumb:
BarnsleyBrewer
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:lol: :lol:dennisking said:
tonyhibbett
Landlord.
As I have found, a lot of 'hacking', expert or otherwise, can produce dramatic results to neglected vines!
evanvine
Landlord.
Most vine roots crop best when only 4' of last years growth is laid down, can be split into 2' either side.
screamlead
Landlord.
We hack ours back to 2-4 buds of the latest years growth every winter here and mines like a triffid at the mo and the grapes are small pea sized. Gonna be a massive crop off two vines hopefully around 150ltr of juice this year.
Just sprayed all mine with anti fungal and bug spray too. :thumb:
Just sprayed all mine with anti fungal and bug spray too. :thumb:
evanvine
Landlord.
You got fruit set already SL, my flowers haven't opend yet!
tonyhibbett
Landlord.
At the vineyard things are looking great. The council seemed to have given up mowing between the rows, but when I requested they do so, they not only did that, but went to a lot of trouble to cut down all the weeds between the vines as well!
All the remaining 28 vines are looking very healthy and leafy and 20 have grape buds, many just a few but some have loads, including one magnificent specimen which spans 10 metres, almost an entire row on its own!
All very gratifying. 4 inches of rain in as many weeks washed the poultry manure down to the roots, followed by 2 weeks of hot weather certainly helped.
All the remaining 28 vines are looking very healthy and leafy and 20 have grape buds, many just a few but some have loads, including one magnificent specimen which spans 10 metres, almost an entire row on its own!
All very gratifying. 4 inches of rain in as many weeks washed the poultry manure down to the roots, followed by 2 weeks of hot weather certainly helped.
Crastney
Landlord.
I hope you have a plan in place for the harvest, as I wouldn't want you to find you're stuck with all the council red tape and can't take any grapes yourself, and they all end up in some councilors fruit bowl!
screamlead
Landlord.
I have jim yep two biggest vines both set with grapes now, I also have four red cuttings now 2 years old ond one has set with grapes too prob only get 6-8 bunches off that one. Need to spilt them this year as all 4 in a big pot but one failed so three i can plant on. :
tonyhibbett
Landlord.
Congratulations on cuttings. All mine failed. However, one branch had touched the ground and set root, like brambles do. I cut it, dug it up and put it in a pot. I t seemed dead, but has now produced a shoot. So I will follow this technique this year. I have 60 vacant slots to fill!
Sounds like you might have some wine to make Tony. :thumb:
The vine on our scafold is 10 or 12m long. I;m getting worried what we'll do with it when it comes down in a couple of weeks. I know the scafolders wont be that carefull.
It's sprouting all over the place & has 100's of grape buds. I think I need to learn how to tend & them.
The vine on our scafold is 10 or 12m long. I;m getting worried what we'll do with it when it comes down in a couple of weeks. I know the scafolders wont be that carefull.
It's sprouting all over the place & has 100's of grape buds. I think I need to learn how to tend & them.
tonyhibbett
Landlord.
Unfortunately, new growth is very delicate at this stage, but if you point out to the builders the value of grapes at, say £1 per bunch, it may concentrate their minds!
It may be the case that the variety may not be a wine grape, such as black hamburg.
It may be the case that the variety may not be a wine grape, such as black hamburg.
