Mrs. Crackerbee's vineyard

[crackerbee]

!0 years ago I gave my wife wine making equipment for Mother's Day(only the Cracker would do this),and since then she's become very proficient crafting fine wines.She's won 13 medals at the Florida state Fair amateur's competition,and 3 for Wine Press Magazine's annual competition,which is an international competition.(the 3 medals on the left)
http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr307/hydrogen2/100_1617.jpg

She has all the latest gadgets for wine making including an automatic bottle filling and racking machine.
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But there was something she wanted most of all was her own vineyard,sooooooo 10 years later this past Mother's Day I gave her the vineyard.I ordered a few vines online,that were all Mucadine(Northern grapes won't grow here)then bought some vines in Sebring fl along with some from Texas. and ended up with a total of 72 vines and 960 ft. of trellis.In all there are 13 different varietals,about 3/4 are bunch grapes most of them developed by the University of Florida in Gainesville,that will grow here in Fla.
Who's that good looking dude in that pic?


http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr307/hydrogen2/100_1411.jpg





Here's the first post in the vineyard one of 48 I sunk for the trellis.I used water to jet the posts down because the ground was too hard and dry to use an auger without killing myself,and it only took a few minutes a post,and I also used 24" turnbuckles for the end posts.
http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr307/hydrogen2/100_1406.jpg



I'm glad I did a little research on building trellis,and found the handiest gadget for tightening the top and irrigation wires,called a quik-end that only allows the wire to go one way,making wire tensioning a snap.
http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr307/hydrogen2/100_1609.jpg



I also used a wire 18" off the ground for the drip irrigation system to make watering a breeze and can do 1 trellis or all,with each 120 ft. trellis having it's own shutoff valve.All the fittings are really inexpensive as well as the 4 gal. an hour drippers and tubing.
http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr307/hydrogen2/100_1611.jpg

http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr307/hydrogen2/100_1612.jpg

Here's the trellis's completed with vines going in.

There's that good looking dude again.

http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr307/hydrogen2/100_1416.jpg

The round thingys around the base of the vines are called grow cones,used to protect the vines from pest,herbicides and harsh weather.

http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr307/hydrogen2/100_1613.jpg


I know most of you are thinking what the heck I'm going to do with all the grapes.We plan on of course making wine,also jams and jellies,and to help with expenses and make a little extra money,we plan to open the vineyard to u-pick.There's a couple of vineyards near me that have u-pick and they do quite well selling grapes and grapevines.Who knows maybe it can turn into a retirement plan for us if I put enough vines in,so as to get away from all the heavy lifting the automotive lift installation business I own entails.
Well that it,just wanted to show off all my hard work,hope ya'all enjoy the pics.

[PerryBee]

Fantastic set-up Cracker (I have to say though, I think you have spoiled your wife :wink:).
Your place always looks so tidy and well managed.
Thanks for the pics. :thumbsup:

[G3farms]

Hard work I reckon!!

Looking good there cracker!!

That dude in the picture (not sure about the good looking part though) has to be in the quality control department!!:lol:

[efmesch]

Your wife is a fortunate woman and her husband is obviously a fortunate man. Yours is the way to maintain a marriage happy forever.
Keep it up both of you and the next series of awards you (that's the plural you) pick up will be for well blended marital compatibility.
As I'm sure you can teach others, like wine, marriages improve as they age. Keep it up Carckerbee!

[PerryBee]

You can tell he's a happy man, I've yet to see a picture of him not smiling!

[crackerbee]

You can tell he's a happy man, I've yet to see a picture of him not smiling!

Got that right Perry,life's too darn short for frowning.

And thanks very for the compliments guys.:thumbsup:

[brooksbeefarm]

Cracker, i'm guessing with 960ft. of trellis you also have 960ft. of drip irrigation pipe? I'm wanting to change the soaker hoses in my blackberry patch to 1/2 in. pipe with the drip buttons. I was wondering if you use the water from your home water faucet or have other means for a water supply and the PSI pressure it takes for your 960ft. ? I have a small Honda water pump that has a waterhose(garden hose) output that i can draft out of my pond, but it may pump more GPM flow than what i need. I can't find the book on the pump and don't know the PSI or GPM it pumps,it's a dandy little pump and will run between one to 2hrs. on a pint of gasoline. Would appreciate any advice or input. Jack

[srvfantexasflood]

As I'm sure you can teach others, like wine, marriages improve as they age. Keep it up Carckerbee!

Well said, efmesch.

Crackerbee, thanks for sharing the pictures. That's a great team project.

[Marbees]

Cracker, this is very well planned, and executed project, congratulations:thumbsup:
Like that quik-end gadget, do you have any link for that thing, wonder if it can be used, for the bear fence?

[crackerbee]

Jack here's the link where I bought everything really reasonable,as far as advice goes I'm real new at this and this is the first time I've installed a drip system.I learned everything from Irigation direct's instuction vids,and they have folks to help you if you call.I can tell you it doesn't get any easier than this,super easy to install.

http://www.irrigationdirect.com/

Hope this helps

[crackerbee]

Cracker, this is very well planned, and executed project, congratulations:thumbsup:
Like that quik-end gadget, do you have any link for that thing, wonder if it can be used, for the bear fence?

Here's the link for the quik-ends.

https://www.kencove.com/fence/detail.php?code=CWV89

If thats an electric bear fence it may not work because it may ground out in the post.

[brooksbeefarm]

Thanks Crackerbee,that's what i needed to know. I done some trading with a neighbor who had several hundred feet of the 1/2 in. black plastic pipe with some drip nipples already on it, he used in the peach orchard he dozed out, i'll have to do the same (to find the right PSI) as i do with my bees,the trial and error method.:roll: Jack
PS. that's a great looking setup you have going.:thumbsup:

[Zulu]

That looks wonderful, lucky girl, hopefully she is also makin some mead now...

Irrigation direct is wonderful. All my drippers on the hops farm are from them. Most have lasted 2-3 seasons so far. Piping is the high cost for me.

I use the 2 gph pressure compensating drippers, allows similar watering from 5 psi to 40 psi.
http://www.irrigationdirect.com/irrigation-products-and-supplies/drip-irrigation/drip-emitters/pressure-compensating-emitters/dd-tc20

They run twice a week for about 3 hrs each time. About 12 gallons a week per hops plant, in loam that has med to high clay content, with lots of organic material added.