We did it. We finished the pruning of the vineyard and all the tying that is involved. Absolutely amazing. We figured it took about 6 weeks for all the pruning and then a few more days to tie all the branches to the wires. It looks like a professionally done vineyard and it was basically done by my kids! I wrote this before, but what a testimony to the power of family! I can't even say for sure what motivated the kids to do it, as I think they were very overwhelmed at first by what was ahead of them.
When we asked them what kept them going, they answered that every time they saw another row done, it got them closer to the end. Once they saw the end it sight, it became a bit of a battle of them against the vineyard and Spring. They were determined to win! What was really neat was going down there on Mother's Day to show the grandparents what the kids had accomplished and to our delight we were greeted with buds on the vines, fully bloomed. We had made it just in time! It was a sweet feeling of success.
Now, what to do with the grapes that are coming.... we don't even have a buyer yet! But the plan is to find a buyer and then it'll be another small income for us which helps to keep the farm status. At one point, during the whole pruning process, I really thought there was nooooo way that we would be able to do what we were about to embark on. I have to shout out a huge thank you to the family that came to show us how to do the pruning as well. I really think if they hadn't come, there was no way we could have done it.
That's a neat story in itself! This family lives near us and we Bible Quiz with them. I knew they lived on a property surrounded by vineyards, but I didn't realize the husband of my friend knew anything about grapes. Turns out his family pruned grapes when he was younger and he was actually quite the expert. One day I just casually mentioned the fact that we were going to attempt to take on our little vineyard this year even though we had no idea what we were doing. My friend quickly said, "Oh! We could show you what to do! My husband would love to!" I actually thought she was exaggerating at the time. This friend was so determined to help us that she pursued it even when we started to get too busy to do it and were starting to think it wouldn't happen.
The next thing you know, they show up and literally spent a whole day and then part of another day in our field showing my husband and the older children what to do. That's right, time out of their busy schedule to help us. That had to be the greatest example of true friendship. We were so blessed! If they hadn't shown us what to do, plant after plant, we would not have been able to accomplish what we did. Thank you, friends!!!!!
I'm pretty sure we didn't prune to a professional standard by any means, but if nothing else, it showed our children the power of determination and the discipline of making every minute count in the day as they had to get up early in the day to fit in the extra work as well as at the end of the day when they didn't feel like going back out. It gave them the satisfaction of a job well done. It showed them the power of friendship as they know we only did this because a family sacrificed their time to help us. It gave them an appreciation even of nature! Every morning they were out there all they saw and heard were birds! Birds they had never known were on our property like orioles. And the birds were so noisy! But it was so wonderful to see how busy the birds were, making nests, flying all over the place. Who needs buds in your ears to listen to music? I've mentioned the fact that there is literally a condition out there that children suffer from called Nature Deficit Disorder. Well, this time in the vineyard sure solved that in our children! It was a great example for our younger children to see how hard their older siblings worked. It'll be "natural" for them to help as they get older.
I could go on and on. All I know is that that vineyard provided the most amazing lessons for our family this Spring. I'm so grateful for that project. It makes me remember to not shy away from hard work as so much can come out of it, not just financially (though I hope we do benefit in that way, too!), but in life lessons, spiritual lessons, work ethic, discipline, etc., etc..... it was amazing! I've written this before, too, but if we can do a vineyard, why can't we kill our debt, too? We can.
Now, all I can think of is what's next?!
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