A five plant vineyard

There is no such thing as a monoculture in our vineyard.

Oh yes, the dread event happened. I climbed down the non existent steps of the vineyard this afternoon with loppers, secateurs, long trousers and a thick shirt.

And I must confess this is the first time in two years that I have done so.  Oh my.  What a jungle.  From a distance it looks just like vines and brambles.

But once I hacked my way in I found much, much more.  Blackthorns everywhere – with incredibly spiky branches, broom reaching head height, chestnut seedlings, and our friend the bramble.

I thought I’d just try and clear one row in, the edge of the vineyard that has a nice stone terrace wall as a walkway, and experiment with one row in the middle.

Hah.  It took over an hour just to get to the perimeter of the area, and I tried my best to get up one row. But was thwarted half way.  Tendrils of vines, tendrils of brambles, everything else a dense mess.

What I need to do is try and come down with my strimmer and carefully work my way in. And bring dozens of spare strimmer bits as I suspct the blackthorn branches will slice more plastic blade than the other way round.

But oddly I wasn’t discouraged.  I just have to realise that this is a two day job at least. and I need to get started in the early morning before it gets hot, rather than after a relaxing market visit and an hour before lunch.