Tackling neglected vines with only You tube to guide us!

So we bought the farm......and with it a few already insitu problems. Apart from the lack of sheep-proof fencing, the lack of pig-proof fencing, the lack of Coffee-the cow-proof fencing, the lack of dog-proof fencing and the complete lack of a poultry house and run (and with nearly 200 birds waiting to fill the stomachs of the nearest hungry fox)............the most pressing problem was the neglected vineyard. Along with the beautiful cottage, the stunning river views, the gorgeous undulating hillsides, the thick stands of tall white gums and the close proximity to the city, and the aforementioned problems, came 6,500 vines- right at the front of the property where every passer-by could see and comment on their progress or lack there of. Embarrassing. The shame of being mocked by our fellow landowners would compel us to at least have a go at tending the vines.

Being complete amateurs in viticulture, we were most reluctant to take on the task of rejuvenating our newly acquired vines. They were in desperate need of some help as they had not been pruned or reticulated for a couple of years.  We left them as long as we could, hoping that they would magically sort themselves out. This did not happen. So with great trepidation we watched every available You Tube video on grape vine care and set out into the vineyard armed with very little knowledge and about the same amount of hope. We decided that we had left it too late to prune the vines (secretly sighing with relief that we did not have to bungle our way through that task). That would just have to wait until next year- we were so disappointed! (teehee). We decided to just train this year's growth over the wires (seemed easy), fix the broken reticulation (we could probably manage that without too many difficulties) and let nature take its course (hey, not even our problem from that point forward). We planned to be on top of it all next year, reading, studying, buying new shears and other paraphernalia which would somehow assist us with our struggles, then promptly forgot about the vines and started planning our next holiday to Europe (yeeehah!).


Below: The neglected vineyard in need of some tender loving care, and quite possibly expert attention. Unfortunately what it was about to get was some amateur quick fix therapy and a little more neglect! One day we will replace the missing vines......

We spent the next few days on our hands and knees replacing drip heads and hose lines and contemplating removing the vines and setting up horse agistment in their place.

Hard at work replacing blocked and broken drip sprinkler heads and split pipes.