The call to harvest was early this year and we had no idea how long it would take, so we packed for 3 weeks just in case and on Sun 20 Sep we set off for the short trip to the vineyard, parking up in our usual perfect spot just outside the winery where we could enjoy the silence and dark skies. 3 days of perfect picking in glorious sunshine followed, then it was back home for a long weekend during which time we decided that electric bikes would be a good idea, so we bought a pair.
On Monday we collected the bikes and had a quick test ride around Grafham Water, then they were loaded into the garage of the motorhome to see active service on the half a mile commute from the winery to the vineyard each day. We picked on Wednesday and Thursday and, after work on Friday, we went back to the Camping Club site in Cambridge for a couple of nights and to buy some thicker duvets ready for the winter.
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| Cambridge CC site |
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| Test driving the new bike around Grafham Water |
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| New Duvets |
The following week we picked every day except Thursday when the weather was forecast to be pretty bad. On Saturday we went to the caravan club site for the night to recharge the batteries, empty the waste and fill with fresh water. The caravan club is more expensive than the Camping Club and, in all honesty, not as nice. We certainly preferred the camping club site. We were going to go for a walk on the Saturday but it threw it down all day, so we stayed in and watched the Rugby and a film.
Monday the 12th was the last day of picking and it was a long, hard day. The Pinot Noir grapes grow low along the wires so it was backbreaking work bending over for 9 hours to clear these pesky beauties, but finally it was done and we cracked open a bottle of wine produced from last year's labour to celebrate - and bloody good it was too!
In all, hard work, but so nice to be out in the fresh air in good company in a Covid safe environment doing something productive. Can't wait for next year.
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| Valuable grapes need suitable security arrangements |
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| A happy bucketeer |
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