Sitting under my own vine
Jun. 3rd, 2017 03:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
julietTwo years ago we relaid the patio (to make it Better[0]), and put a pergola in, and I planted two grape vines, one at each end[1]. The aim being that over time, they would grow up and over the pergola, and provide shade in the summer when it's needed, and die back in the winter to let more light through. And (obviously) provide tasty grapes.
This year the first patch of shade has been produced! Currently it covers only about one person's worth of sitting, but this is clearly Proof Of Concept, and the vines just need to keep growing. The vine on that side (west) is also covered in bunches of proto-grapes, so as long as I net it in time (last year I didn't, and the birds got the single bunch of grapes, grumble), later in the summer we should have lots of lovely grapes. Annoyingly the other vine is doing much less well, but I will give it another couple of years before I consider uprooting it and trying a different variety.
The raspberries have finally hit their stride, too, so we are already in "just keep eating raspberries" season.
Signed, A Very Satisfied Gardener
[0] Very successfully!
[1] The east one might have been planted the year before. I definitely planted one in 2013 which died, and I can't now remember if I replanted in 2014, or waited til 2015.
This year the first patch of shade has been produced! Currently it covers only about one person's worth of sitting, but this is clearly Proof Of Concept, and the vines just need to keep growing. The vine on that side (west) is also covered in bunches of proto-grapes, so as long as I net it in time (last year I didn't, and the birds got the single bunch of grapes, grumble), later in the summer we should have lots of lovely grapes. Annoyingly the other vine is doing much less well, but I will give it another couple of years before I consider uprooting it and trying a different variety.
The raspberries have finally hit their stride, too, so we are already in "just keep eating raspberries" season.
Signed, A Very Satisfied Gardener
[0] Very successfully!
[1] The east one might have been planted the year before. I definitely planted one in 2013 which died, and I can't now remember if I replanted in 2014, or waited til 2015.
