We've got grapes on the mind.

Waaay back in this post, we revealed that we had been plotting a plan to plant a vineyard this spring.  Well, the grapes themselves kind of snuck up on us, so this past week has been crazy busy getting everything all together.  They say that some people work better under pressure.  We may not work better, but we certainly work faster!

Back a few months ago, we spoke about prepping the land to receive the grapes ::here::.  Dad busted out the disc again and reworked the soil two days before planting.  It basically looked like this when he was done::



Next up was hatching a plan.  ::This is one of my favorite shots::



Here's what the plan actually looked like all up close and personal::



We started with 150 vines of four different varieties, which totals 600 vines.  Each row is approximately 10 feet apart and a vine is approximately planted every six feet.  The rows are separated by variety and alternates between white and red to avoid variety confusion.  I know what you're thinking... this whole undertaking is confusing.  Yes, we agree, but stick with us... it gets better!

After our plan was set in stone in dirt we had to set the row posts::





Here's a shot of one side all placed.  These posts will evolve to become the end of our trellis systems, but that won't be for another two years or so.  For now, they worked as excellent guides to plant straightish rows.



We placed all of the posts the first day.  Whew, it was a lot of work!  Okay, I walked around for hours, took photos, and got a tan ::thank you gal babes::.  The hubs and the crew of guys we had helping, however, certainly shed their fair share of sweat, blood, and tears.  At the end of the day, we had 42 posts placed amidst a barren field.  Ah, the site of sweet post victory.

Here's the hubs and I at the end of the day.  Note the sweaty curly q.



Planting to come!!