Thirsty

Growing things takes water.  Grapevines in antiquity were usually dry farmed, watered by the rains.  Apparently, it wasn't until around the 1960s that growers started irrigating vines in order to amp up their production.  In many regions of France, irrigation of vines has been illegal, but some parts have recently allowed some irrigation.
I'm hoping to collect a little rainwater to water the vines for about a month in the spring after they are initially planted.  After that, I'm planning on generally leaving them to the mercy of the weather and the soil.

Getting ready to collect some rainwater.  In order to do this, I bought some water barrels off craigslist.  I'm thinking about making some gutters for the cabin, to collect the water over the winter/spring, and then to make a solar/battery powered pump to help automatically water if there is a dry spell in the springtime.

Soil Testing

My soil samples are now in the capable hands of Western Labs.

Complete Soil Test
pH, texture, soluble salts (ECe), Cation Exchange Capacity (true), percent lime, percent organic matter, nitrates, ammonium, phosphorus (alkaline soils – sodium bicarbonate extract, acid soils – Bray extract), potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, zinc, iron, manganese, copper, sulfates and boron

Hopefully the results will be good news, or the vineyard project could soon be winding down.

Shady Acres

It may seem counter-intuitive, but a good vineyard needs shade.  Not for the grapevines, but for the people.  I went down by the Boise river the other day and fought the squirrels for some nice acorns.  I have a bunch of acorns for some beautiful Oak trees (Mostly English Oak and a few Swamp White Oak).  I also picked up some Planetree seeds.  The squirrels weren't very interested in the Planetree seeds, however.

I had also bought some seeds of the Oregon Maple (Big Leaf Maple) for another project, and am going to plant some of those also.

Island Tour

Rotopathing

We took the rototiller down to the island this weekend.  I wanted to get some soil samples, to have them professionally analyzed.  We were able to get some soil samples, after a little trial and error with how to collect them into our ziplock baggies.

We tested out the rototiller by tilling a path between the cabin and the proposed location of the vineyard.  Needless to say, it worked great and helped make a path through the weeds.

Rotoboating

Rototiller

One of the necessary aspects of planting a vineyard is choosing a location and preparing the soil.  In order to do this, I will be going down to the island to survey possible sites, and then to take some soil samples to find out about the soil.
After choosing the location, and taking the soil samples, I will be able to start preparing the vineyard for planting the root-stalks next spring.  This entails tilling the soil, so that it will be able to breath, and soak up more water.  This allows the roots from the vines to grow quicker and better.

Depending on the soil consistency, I also might need to add something to balance out the soil pH levels.  I can add these components when rototilling the ground to prepare it for planting.
In order to breakup the ground, I purchased a used rototiller off of craigslist.  It's not too big, which is good and bad.  Good because it will be easier to transport it across the river, and bad because it will take longer to till the ground.  It's a front tine craftsman rototiller.