Showing posts with label vineyard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vineyard. Show all posts

Saturday 1 July 2023

Shed progression

 


We met with Dmytro, a Ukrainian woodworker, who is going to erect our shelving, loft, and stairs. Alex gave him a basic outline plan, and Dmytro is going to draw up a detailed plan via CAD for review prior to build-out. He's tied up on another job for about 2 weeks so that works out well. 

We then went to McHales in Castlebar this morning to view containers that they refit for special purposes. Alex's idea was that we need a clean room for the winery and a container could fit the bill. I was skeptical but, by the time we were done, I was sold. 

So, we're going to put in a 20-foot container, with insulation so we can maintain fermentation through winter, electrics fitted for lighting and equipment, and water for cleanliness. It will have the typical container doors for equipment access and a people door for safe access. The container will sit in one corner of the shed and will have storage on top as it is load-bearing. Here's what it will look like:




It will cost in excess of €5000 but that's less than it would cost to build a room for the purpose. Now we have to order the equipment, de-stemmer/crusher, press, fermentation vats, bottler and corker. It's all coming together. 

Alex has started moving stuff into the shed, beekeeping stuff first. The RTV and mower look tiny in there whereas they looked huge in the polytunnel. He is laying down pallets so nothing sits on the floor. 

The concrete has low spots where water can collect so we have to be careful.  Apparently, the water mixer broke on the cement truck as it was delivering our cement, so one load was drier than it should have been and settled differently than the rest. Bummer. I thought this one build would turn out perfect. 

The shed doors are really nice. I am very pleased with the shed overall. I know this is Alex's casbah, but I can admire it. It still needs electricity and the water hookup. People doors are to be intalled this week. That's the last task for the builder. 

We started building the wooden fence along the perimeter where the land drops off into a steep decline. Some of the posts were misaligned so we stopped halfway, but it's looking nice and will at least stop someone from dropping into the abyss. 

The polytunnel is now all mine. The shed is his. I suppose we'll have to arrange visits. Sometime soon, we will have a party to christen it. 






Giner came back starving, 






 

Tuesday 6 June 2023

Hot and dry

Our new favourite photo


It's been really hot and dry for weeks now. Even with watering every day, some plants are dying. We haven't watered in the vineyard and so far they are okay. The vines have not flowered yet so I am hopeful they can hang on until the weekend when a break in the heatwave is promised. 

The day before yesterday, we had Pim's on 'the beach' by the pond and watched the bees scooping water ferociously and flying off to the hives. It was too hot without shade and we were in the bees' flight path, so we gave up and went to sit on the porch. Yesterday it was so hot that we decided to have our drinks in the vineyard in the evening shade of the orchard. It was quite cool. I am so grateful that we have shade from the trees, the porch, umbrellas, and now the shed. 

Who in their right mind would have expected Mediterranean conditions in Ireland. It is the 6th of June and the stats show no rain (0 mm) and 17.8 average temperature. That's hotter than we've gotten in July. Everyone is walking around town in their holiday clothes. I've been wearing espadrilles for the first time ever in Ireland. I suppose I'd better learn to enjoy it. 

Oh, and by the way, Australia has now followed NOAA and issued an El Niño alert. They say there's a 70% chance of an El Niño developing before the end of the year. NOAA says more like 90% likelihood. As Australia's criteria are more rigorous than America's, it's a high probability alert. Get ready for accelerating climate change. 


Our little bistro in the vineyard...a bit slopey. 

Everything is growing like crazy

Solaris has a ton of buds

This little guy was almost invisible munching on strawberries


0 mm rain and 17.8 average temps for the 1st week of June

 
Full moon rising

Alex took out some willows and opened the view up

Stunning view from the top

Nice place to rest and contemplate jobs

My red bench at the top of the vineyard

Vanessa grapes feeling the heat 

Strawberries are burning in the polytunnel

Fruit trees holding on in the polytunnel

At least I can get out on the water

Friday 19 May 2023

New plan and schedule

 


The lads finished the shed structure and the retaining walls of the shed today. They are going to remove the frame and prepare the floor area tomorrow. They've already taken the roller machine. The new plan is to pour cement for the floor in ten days rather than the 28 they said before. Then we won't be able to drive on it for a month, but that brings us to the end of July which gives us time to prepare for harvest. Finishing up in August would not have given us much time to order and prepare equipment, and shift all our stuff from the garage to the shed. I feel a little relieved. 

I'd say the digger will go tomorrow, and most of the cement frames are almost ready to go, loaded on a trailer. 

They said the cement floor laying would be ideal for a rainy day. So on Sunday night, the 28th of May, we will perform a rain dance so they come Monday morning on the 29th. On the 30th we get fibre broadband installed here, so let's hope they finish on the Monday, 

They will come to install the drain and backfill behind the wall at a later date. As long as it's done before the heavy rains of late summer, I'll be happy. Otherwise, I'll be worrying about the hill tumbling down. 










Wednesday 17 May 2023

Not quite almost there

 


This might look like it's almost finished, but we just learned that it's probably going to be another two months before we can use it. Yeah, this week, they'll finish the roof and remaining small panels, plus they'll pour the last section of the wall -- the retaining wall for the hillside. Then we have to wait a month for the cement walls to cure. If you try to pour the concrete floor or fill in the back behind the shed, the concrete will collapse. 

What a bummer. So it will be built but not usable. It will be a month before we pour the floor and then a month for it to set before we can put any weight on it. So bummed. I wanted everything moved out of the house and garage now. 














Thursday 17 November 2022

Winter drama

Sun setting over Daria's Vineyard

Winter has arrived in the west with all the drama that later sunrises and earlier sunsets create. Today was a spectacular day, after the morning fog, crisp, dry for the most part, and still -- very still. The kind of still that recreates the landscape upside down in reflections on the water. I just love watching upside-down sheep romping along liquid green fields. 

In Ireland, winter arrives officially on the 1st of November by the Gaelic or Celtic calendar. Winter or Geimhreadh starts the day after Halloween (referred to in Ireland as Samhain). The Gaelic calendar also protends that February 1st is actually the start of spring.

Today's sunrise at about 8 AM



                                                            Starts                         Ends
                            
Meteorological Winter in Ireland    1st of December        31st of February
Astronomical Winter in Ireland       21st of December      20th of March
Traditional Gaelic Seasons              1st November          31st of January


The wispy clouds did their magic at both sunrise and sunset, turning hot pink in salutations to the sun. The occasional drip of showers created rainbows all day long without actually interfering with outdoor life. It made for solemn reflections about life for the planet's now 8 billion people, a landmark reached yesterday.

There is still a lot of activity in the garden. The bees were buzzing mid-day as the air warmed up. One rose bloomed in the vineyard in anticipation. Lots of wildflowers are still showing off. Yet storm clouds on the horizon foretell what's to come. 

The short days (sunset at about 4:30 PM now) make working in the garden a challenge. But every good hour is put to maximum good use. Yesterday, we made a new flower bed for the agapanthus we brought over from Ross House and cleaned up parts of the flower gardens. But the messages from biodiversity groups pleading to leave the leaves on the ground to provide shelter for bumblebees and other insects convinced me to stop short of sweeping them all up. It's all in the interest of pollinators, those they pollinate, and those that eat them. I can surely put some work off if it's going to save the world.