Coming to Fruition

Following our grape harvest in the autumn, we finally have an end product.  After volunteering for almost 3 years at the vineyard it is nice to see hard work and dedication coming to fruition.  I hope our vines will continue to thrive and provide our community with a plentiful selection of wine over the coming years.

Wine from the vineyard, veg from the market garden, meat and eggs from the farm and fruit from the orchard.  What more could one want?

Pig Watch

On route to the vineyard I stopped to observe the resident pigs for a short while.  Blissfully unaware of what fate has in store for them, they make the most of their days the best they know how.  I could have watched them for ages but had to get on with the work I had set out to do.

I trudged along the rows between the vines turning over clumps of grass and weeding around the vine itself.  It was an arduous task as the clods of earth were heavy but there were a lot of volunteers so the job moved along quickly.  My feet were sinking in the mud and bothersome midges kept flying up towards my face.  My wellington boots were heavily laden with mud and I felt like a spaceman walking in slow motion.

Alongside the hedgerows there were some huge parasol mushrooms.  One volunteer took them home to cook and to try to grow some more by planting in his garden.  Sloe berries peppered the foliage with their deep jewel like colour - I must remember to collect some one day and turn into the sloe gin that I have acquired a taste for.

The next day I awoke to find a huge dome shaped lump on my leg with a bright red patch in the middle.  I think a gnat was the culprit but have no idea how it penetrated a thick pair of jeans worn under a dress!  A few people had mentioned that they were getting bitten at the vineyard and I guess that gnats were drawn to the bog like conditions.  Hazard's like this are all part of working in the great outdoors!  A small price to pay when there are so many riches to be gained from doing so.

Grape Harvest

Yesterday was the very first harvest of grapes at the vineyard.  Enough yellow green Ortega grapes to make around 200 bottles of wine and one crate of rogue black grapes that were inadvertently planted in the wrong place.  I've not been to the vineyard for a couple of months so it was a nice surprise to find bunches of grapes among the vines.

I have been in a strange mood recently.  I don't know if having a cold for so many weeks has made me over sensitive but I have been getting far too emotional about things that shouldn't really matter.  In the real World I do not have a confidante and life can be a lonely struggle when you are misunderstood and have nobody to talk things over with.. Hopefully this is just a passing phase and I will be able to look at things more objectively over the coming days/weeks. 

Next week I will be attending a course on an introduction to business for women.  Maybe this will be the catalyst I need to stop pussyfooting around and actually focus on starting a business.  One way or another, I seriously need to start to generate an income rather than relying on fresh air and my husbands generosity to keep me going.

Footnote: volunteering may be a virtuous act but it does not provide food for the table (unless you pilfer a few grapes)!

Lessons

With the Internet down there was no good reason to stay within the confines of home, so I ventured off to the vineyard for the first time in weeks.  I had stopped going because I had developed a cold that wouldn't shift, aching bones and a general apathy to being outside in freezing cold temperatures.

On my approach to the vineyard I walk past a wooded area that is part of the Forty Hall Estate.  Just me and the trees, some squirrels and the cackling of the Corvidae family of birds.  I could have quite happily stayed a while in such tranquil surroundings but there was work to be done.

Up at the vineyard, a north easterly wind blew straight through me and challenged my senses as I tried to coax unyielding vines to bend.  Desperately wanting to work quickly, bending the vines is not a job to be done in haste.  Between thumb and forefinger the vine has to be warmed and manipulated downwards onto the wire, twisted along and then tied down.  If you try to hurry the vine snaps and you have lost this years grape harvest from that plant.  It was a lesson in patience and endurance.

Talking of patience and endurance, just recently I am beginning to feel a little persecuted by the Universe.  Contentment is fleeting but drudge and toil seem always present. I don't remember the last time I had a good old fashioned belly laugh!  Patience and endurance,  you have shown to be hard task masters and you have now outstayed your welcome.  Please be gone.

Advancement

This is my walk up to the vineyard through the farm.  Wellington boots are an essential part of the kit.  I am going to be here a lot more often over the coming month as we have 3 weeks of intensive pruning. 

I have been very busy over the last week and there seems to be a flurry of activity and opportunity being presented to me.  This is a chance for me to evolve (my word for 2013) and have new experiences. 

Naturally shy, I will put that behind me as I show a group of enthusiastic women how to make fabric flower brooches.  By return, I will learn to make willow herb baskets to be sold at one of our fund raising events up at the farm.

Forgive me if I don't post or comment on your blogs as frequently as I normally do.  It is time for me to seize the moment and stop ignoring the signs for advancement.

Hoar Frost

I am reliably informed that the frost up at the vineyard yesterday was a hoar frost.  A hoar frost is frozen dew that has formed on vegetation (or objects) that have been chilled below freezing.  Although spiky to look at, the frost was in fact very soft!

My 'slow walk' to Christmas is gradually gaining pace but I am determined not to panic about what I may or may not have done.  I am off to have a cup of coffee, ponder over some shortbread ideas I have in mind to make and take a deep breath.  All is good.

Gloves

The vineyard where I volunteer is a community vineyard.  The vineyard project caters for people of all abilities and all walks of life.  Occasionally we have people from the corporate sector who come for ‘team building’ exercises but more often than not we have various groups with learning difficulties that come up to help out with various tasks.

Recently up at the vineyard I lost my gardening gloves.  I approached one of the team to ask if she would keep a look out for them.  She had a team of men with her that all had varying degrees of disabilities and she asked them to let her know if they found Simone’s  gloves whilst walking up and down the rows of vines.  A short, dark, stocky man was most distraught to think that I had lost something and had to be reassured by my colleague that it was fine and not something to get upset about.

Glove less, I continued tending to the vines, tying the stems to the stakes and discarding leaves below the first wire.  I soon forgot about the gloves as I methodically worked my way up and down the rows.

In the distance I could hear someone shouting my name ‘Simone, Simone!’  As I looked up a large, shadowy figure came running towards me.  This huge man had a beaming smile as he approached with his arms outstretched and handed me my gloves.  As I thanked him, I could sense his pride and joy at finding the ‘treasure’.

As he returned to join the group with a spring in his step, I wiped a tear from my eye before putting the gloves back on and returning to work.

Thank You

Thank you to all my blogging friends for your kind and supportive comments on my last post.  They really helped to lift me up and put life into perspective again.  When I am feeling down I tend to retreat into myself and from experience, that isn't a good thing to do.  As I had neglected my volunteering duties at the vineyard for a few weeks, I decided that today was the day to reconnect with the land and the like-minded souls who tend the vines.  I spent a useful 3 hours tying the vines to stakes, pruning and generally maintaining each vine.  It felt good.  It felt good to have purpose again. 

A Day in the Life of a Volunteer

This grand and recently renovated mansion stands in the grounds of the vineyard where I do my voluntary work.  I think it is due to open up to visitors in time for the forthcoming Olympic games.

Yesterday I woke early, got showered and dressed, had breakfast, fed hens and Gizmo, made a packed lunch (well, cut off a chunk of cheese, gathered some Ryvita biscuits, a banana and a bottle of water), picked up the badges and brooches to donate for the fund raising at the lambing weekend and set off on my long walk to the vineyard.

As I approached the vineyard I noticed early morning risers jogging around the grounds of the mansion.  It was a beautiful day despite terrible weather being forecast!  I walked up to Warren field past the pigs and chickens and spent a couple of hours pruning the vines and weeding around them along with about 7 other enthusiastic volunteers, with a short intermission for a tea break.  We then collected up stray guards (used to protect the base of the vines from being eaten by rabbits and muntjacs) and any metal rods that were laying around so that the tractor doesn't go over them.  We had a productive morning's work and my aching body was testimony to the physical work I had done.

Back at the cottage, which is our meeting point, we stopped to eat lunch.  I showed a few of the volunteers the things I had  made for the fund raising and was encouraged by their positive comments.  The morning's work at the vineyard completed for the day, I was now to embark on something else for the afternoon.

At 2.00pm I joined five other women for a willow weaving session.  Now, this wasn't a relaxing willow weaving session as I had done once previously.  This was a willow weaving session to make items to sell for the upcoming lambing event at the weekend!  I said I didn't feel confident enough to make items to sell but was told that there would be people there to guide me.  After two hours of intense concentration I produced a five foot tall pea support!  I wasn't entirely happy at working under pressure and once I had made the support I didn't give it a second glance and I packed up to go home leaving the others to continue to produce more things to sell!

Tired and cold, I started off on the long walk home contemplating what I was going to do for dinner that evening.

I am looking forward to my session at the vineyard next week but I don't care if I see willow any time soon!

Mothers Pride

I was volunteering up at the vineyard today.  At the attached farm, I was lucky to be able to see the lambs that were born last night. Two different breeds of sheep each had twins.  This picture is very yellow as it was taken in the darkness of the barn with just a shaft of light shining through.  The little lamb above seemed a bit quiet and still for my liking but its Mum gave it a little nudge with her head and it was soon on its feet and moving around.  I was pleased that they have not been affected with the disease that has been making the headlines recently.

Spotted at the Vineyard

...................... Some rapidly growing chicks, Mother hen and two chicks, and a strutting rooster!

Around the Vineyard Today

..........................I spotted a smiling sheep!

I Heard it Through the Grapevine

Congratulations to all of you that correctly guessed that my voluntary work is at a vineyard!  Within farmland, it is in a wonderful setting where I could see anything from alpacas to shire horses, chickens to sheep and pigs  to goslings.  The wildlife is abundant and I hope to have many photo opportunities over the coming weeks.

I am very excited by this community project.  Apparently there hasn't been a vineyard here since medieval times.  The vineyard will provide organically grown grapes including Bacchus and Pinot Noir to provide wine to consumers across London.  As the wine will be organic we cannot treat the area with chemicals therefore we have to use a lot of hard graft weeding by hand.  Unfortunately we will not see the fruits of our labour for another couple of years as the project is in its infancy.

This naughty saddle back piglet escaped out of his enclosure today and was running up and down between the rows of vines!  Yes we have entertainment here too!