The rare sighting of the grape

close up grape Now if I were growing bracken instead of grapes, I’d have a success on my hands.

But alas, this is supposed to be a vineyard rather than an experimental research station for the most tenacious bracken in the Ardeche.

I went down a few days ago to show my cousins the little crop at the bottom of the farm.

And the sight of all that bracken, again, made my heart sink.  vineyard mid June

But even more worrying was the fact that we could only find two of the hundreds of grape vines actually flowering.

So that bodes ill for this crop.  Or should I say just secretly that it means I can call and end to this vineyard and plant an orchard instead.

Melissa had the great idea of keeping the fence posts in place and espaliering the fruit along the wires instead of pulling them all out. (And remember I only paid Manu just a month ago to fix all the posts and reattach the fallen wires.)

It would be the perfect height for the deer in the forest mind you.  So maybe I would just use the posts and wires and stakes for taller fruit trees.