Day One Hundred and Seventy Two - Weeding Vines

Dear all,

The after-effects of Earl mean we are suddenly in the heart of fall but that doesn't mean we leave the gardens to seed. Today I set out on a mission to clear the foliage that has been proving rather dominate in our young-and-ever-defiant vineyard. Our youngling vines keep on hanging in there despite numerous obstacles including -30 degree winters, a constant attack from invasive weeds and neglect from all of us at the inn constantly being drawn in a hundred other directions.

We house 40 vines of the Baco Noir variety and 40 Seyval Blanc, both known to survive the harsh Canadian winters and all in their second year. They are not the 'biggest' second year vines I have ever seen but they are hanging in there and I have total faith that they will make it through the winter.

I arrived at the vineyard in 'Rambo' style equipped with my gasoline fueled weed whacker and ready for action. The weeds were thick, but I was on a mission and got to work straight away. The weed whacker is a strange beast; too much use and it causes slight body numbness due to the vibrations of the engine, vibrations that don't often leave until the following day. As with many items of garden machinery, it also needs requires constant attention and is prone to malfunction; annoying when in full-weed-whacking steam ahead.

I managed to get two half rows done before the weed whacker decided to stop but being a holiday Sunday, I gave it the afternoon off and went back to cleaning rust off the water pipes in the basement.

And in other news:

1. Gandalf and his harem enjoying the drop in temperature.