This whole week we have been running back and forth to another farm because we were asked to do tests on the grapes. It has been a real organisational week trying to fit in the tight schedule on our farm with driving out at designated times and days. I have learned more about grapes in one week than I have ever in my entire life; the tests that we did were Brix or Specific Gravity which is sugar level, pH which is a measurement of acidity or alkalinity and TA (Titratable Acidity) which is a measurement of all acid, even in the bound form. All these tests are helpful in determining an ideal picking time for grapes in order to make wine.
We had to conduct the tests all week so that we could determine a trend and then consider the perfect harvest day, the last test date was Friday morning…what a day!!
We got up early in the morning to brush-mow, do coconuts and all our usual stuff. The heat was on…by 9am we were in the car zooming off to collect grapes and then back to our farm to do the tests. After that, we were on the road again…to Placencia this time for a Birthday party. Phew…it was just non-stop!! We gave our friend a gift of Gnome’s Home-made Mead with Happy Birthday Commemorative labels!
After the Birthday party, it was another two hour drive back to Toledo. By that time it was getting dark so we had to get back to the thinking about the grape picking again. From our results we had determined Sunday as the harvest date and so we wrote a schedule up en-route back to Toledo. We were so tired, on the road, and did not feel up to it but nonetheless we organised a run down of events. Gnome said that it was important to make a schedule because it involved so many different jobs which had to be co-ordinated at the same time. To Gnome, it was about efficiency of time and so he didn’t want all of us sloppily trudging about with buckets of grapes in an aimless, meandering sort of way.
Anyway after a whole week of running around and testing grapes, the harvest was cancelled. We kind of felt a bit of an anti-climax after all the energy we channelled into it. Partly because of that, we lost our momentum and fell crashing into a heap of exhausted tiredness today. We slept all day…I was so tired, I was blowing bubbles!!
We feel a bit more human now and have recovered some of our energy. Glad to have spent the whole day on the farm without needing to leave.
“Home is where the Heart is” …this was affirmed by the birth of two new piggies in the maternity ward; this morning we were greeted by mother-piggy licking and cleaning up her brand new babies! Mayor Gnome gave the mother and new piggies his blessings and then promptly fell asleep…with a smile on his face!
Sunday Harvest, Ripe New Piggies:
Brix level 24 = super sweet!! (wine joke).
Mayor Gnome gave a gift of grass; triple grass like “triple salad.” All Paradise Piggies were rejoicing and weeweeing in unison. Mayor Gnome is well on his way to another term.
