Saturday, July 18, 2009

Daughter of a grape farmer...............

All my life since I was born , my dad has been a Concord grape farmer. He is one of the hardest working men I know. Along with the grapes he had always worked another job, with the Ohio State Highway Patrol for the past 30 years. I often wondered if he considered the grapes his FIRST job or the Patrol. I was always impressed at the discipline he had to devote so much time to the farm along with working his other job. Having my own business, I know how important self discipline is and can honestly say that is something I learned from watching my father. As is true in so many cases with a farmer, they would not be able to accomplish anything of significance without the help of their wife. My mom has been out their right along side him, trimming, picking, tying you name it. She has sacrificed time, attention and all that goes into putting a crop first. From that , I learned from my mother what your priorities are and what is truly most important. Nice view of the plants themselves..the bark is peely and the grapes are supported by a top and bottom wire.
This is what the grapes look like now.............................


Yep 82 rows (used to be 88) ...each row individually numbered.............


Will eventually become THIS....WELCH'S GRAPE JUICE! So the next time you are in the grocery store...pick up some Welch's grape juice and you could just possibly be drinking some of dad's grapes! It really is delicious and good for you if I do say so myself!

Hope you enjoyed the vineyard tour! Just in case you are wondering....NO we do NOT pick this all by hand..(thank goodness!) Harvest time comes at the end of Sept. and lasts for a good month or so. There is a special grape picker tractor that does all that...it goes over the top of the row and vibrates the grapes onto a conveyor belt and spills them out a shoot into a 100 ton bin. They are then shipped of to the Welch's processing plant. Okay well that's the end of the tour, if you have any questions, please feel free ot ask! Thanks for coming along!! ;0)




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9 comments:

  1. UnknownJuly 18, 2009 at 7:42 PM

    How interesting! Thanks for the story...Tami E.

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  2. Artsy Fartsy Junkin FindsJuly 18, 2009 at 8:26 PM

    Now... you have to make sure your Daddy logs on and reads this post. He will be so proud of his little girly!! Your mom will be tickled that the pics of her flowers look so darn good... don't ya know it!! Tootles, Janna

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  3. Cat Nap Inn PrimitivesJuly 19, 2009 at 12:10 AM

    I love!!!!! grape juice....great photos..I felt like I was in Mr.Rogers when the trolley would take us on a field trip...:)

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  4. Carmen S.July 19, 2009 at 4:42 AM

    Those are beautiful grapes! I love grape juice too, thanks for the fun tour:)

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  5. Holly Hills PrimitivesJuly 19, 2009 at 5:18 AM

    Thanks for sharing this tour, it was so interesting. I'm sure you learned a lot from your parents. Have a great day, Dawn

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  6. Never So SimpleJuly 19, 2009 at 6:34 AM

    That was a great psots. I really enjoyed seeing your Dad's grapes which by the way look delicious!

    Donna

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  7. A Bit of ColourJuly 19, 2009 at 9:34 AM

    Thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed it.

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  8. Rocky Creek Scotties and Rocky Creek RamblingsJuly 19, 2009 at 2:38 PM

    Good Afternoon, It's nice to meet you. It looks like we have a lot in common. First of all Scotties, then chipping paint and rust and repurposing found items. Please stop by and visit us at Rocky Creek sometime.

    I loved seeing your Dad's grapes. That's a dream of mine - to grow rows and rows of grapes.

    Have a wonderful afternoon,

    Lynn

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  9. savvycityfarmerJuly 19, 2009 at 8:40 PM

    I lift my glass to Dad

    ... who would have known???

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