Trellising continues with the end-post diagonal supports, the first wires and the intermediate posts. We are using 8" wooden end-posts for aesthetic reasons and green powder-coated galvanised steel intermediate posts for durability.
Sunday, 17 October 2010
Trellis cont.
Trellising continues with the end-post diagonal supports, the first wires and the intermediate posts. We are using 8" wooden end-posts for aesthetic reasons and green powder-coated galvanised steel intermediate posts for durability.
Thursday, 30 September 2010
Trellissing
In the last week of September we have started installing the trellissing. We will be using the Scott Henry system which divides the canopy with half the shoots trained upwards and the other half trained to grow downwards. This allows greater fruit exposure for ripening and a less dense canopy reduces the risk of disease.
Thursday, 16 September 2010
Canes & Rabbit Guards
We hired a mulch laying machine and laid about 8km of weed fabric over the vines. We then had to cut a hole in the fabric over each vine and then fit a bamboo cane and rabbit guard - backbreaking work for 5500 vines!
Planting problems
Unfortunately the torrential rain the night before planting meant that the ground was rather waterlogged and the trench made by the planting machine did not close properly around the roots of many of the vines. So we had to heel many of them in firmly and for the rest we used the 5-ton Manitou to press the soil down around the roots. We also used the Manitou with a 1000-litre tank to water them in.
Monday, 19 July 2010
Planting!
2nd May 2010
Ernst Weis and his team from Germany machine-planted all 5500 vines in 5 and a 1/2 hours!
(The videos are not speeded-up, by the way!)
Final preparation before planting
April 2010
The blocks were power-harrowed and fertiliser was also applied about two weeks before planting.
Oh Deer!
Ploughing
March 2010
After application of fertilisers, the blocks were ploughed - still very wet so ploughing could only be done by going downhill!
Screening & Drainage Trench
March 2010
Poulton Hill occupies quite an exposed position so 800 Italian alder were planted to form windreaks around the blocks. To assist with drainage a ditch was dug along the southern edge of the vineyard area which was also mole-ploughed to help draining into the ditch.
Preparing the ground
February 2010
The blocks were sprayed with weedkiller prior to ploughing. We used a quad bike as the soil is heavy clay and was too waterlogged for heavy machinery.
Marking out
Through the winter the vineyard area was marked out with pegs into blocks for the different grape varieties.
The Go-Ahead
Summer 2009After a site evaluation by Simon Day of Vine & Wine, Max Thomas gave the go-ahead to plant a 7-acre vineyard on a gentle south-south-east facing slope at Poulton Hill Farm near Cirencester in Gloucestershire.
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