Spring is a busy time in the vineyard. The plants break bud and grow, weeds flourish and the soil is cultivated. It’s become our tradition to have folks gather over Memorial Day Weekend to help with vineyard projects, enjoy good food and wine, and sit around the campfire sharing music.
This Memorial Day Weekend a wonderful group of folks gathered ready to dig in! And they did. We planted grapevines replacing those that had been lost to the 4 years of drought; we added two new rows of olive trees, creating a small orchard within the vineyard; and we weeded.
We also had two special projects: repairing of a solar water heater for the hot tub (essential to view starry nights!) And the creation of a sustainable trail on the hillside overlooking the vineyard.
Please enjoy the photos below of the weekend, the people and the stories. Thanks to all of you who participated. You have touched Condor’s Hope and helped to make it what it is.
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- Ted’s cairn symbolizes the weekend. All of these rocks came from one hole!
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- This young zinfandel grape plant replaced the rocks in the hole.
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- Planting new plants involves making baskets to keep gophers away from the roots.
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- Digging the hole and removing rocks!
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- And planting the plant. (Here a young olive tree.)
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- Until a row is complete, creating our olive orchard.
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- Then taking a break to admire our work.
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- Steve demonstrates how our ‘dust mulch’ holds the water in the soil for plants to use during the dry summer.
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- One team removed weeds from the vineyard which keeps the dust much functioning.
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- A special project was repairing a solar water heater
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- To be put in place to heat the water for the hot tub!
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- We, of course took time to relax. (Cora in the shade of a grapevine.)
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- With wine tasting in the vineyard
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- Including a pre-release taste of our Pedro Ximénez unique white wine.
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- Robbie pours wine after a day of planting and weeding.
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- Steve describes the wine as he pours.
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- We all joined in food prep. Here Kelsey selects grape leaves for making dolmas.
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- And we each roll dolmas which we enjoyed all weekend.
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- In the cool evenings we played music around the campfire with Becky (on fiddle) and Todd (on guitar)
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- and Seth on guitar
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- and Jack on didgeridoo.
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- We take hikes up the hillside north of the vineyard.
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- Here with the whole group.
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- including Cora.
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- Wine club members Jack & Sarah decided to take on a project of creating a sustainable trail.
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- They started by laying out the trail during the Memorial Work Weekend.
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- And then were joined by Rita, Brandon and Steve one hot July weekend
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- to work on the trail.
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- They made it to the top!
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- Thanks Jack for the idea, plan and seeing it through! We call it the July Trail.
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- We now have a sustainable trail that conserves the hillside and is easy to walk.
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- Here are some
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- July Trail
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- views.
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- Then early Sunday morning on that July weekend,
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- Jack bicycled 85 miles home to Bakersfield, sustainably.
