Before lunch, I popped over to the next village to us to get some shopping in for the weekend. I was surprised to see that the grape harvest has begun already. How did I know?
As I parked the car, I noticed a few of these
waiting opposite the local (very small) winery. This is how the grapes are transported from the fields (no vineyards here, the vines are literally grown in fields,just off the roads); in rickety old trailers pulled by (often just as old, and just as rickety) tractors. They form a queue in the carpark...which of course, in the height of the harvest becomes unusable as a carpark....then the drivers go off to the bar just down the road and have a few 'refreshments' whilst they wait their turn. They happily leave their precious loads, knowing that, apart from interested tourists (and scrappers!) taking photographs, their cargo is perfectly safe.
As the season progresses, there is chaos round about the winery...which is (naturally) on the main road through the village, but today it just looked like this
I said I was surprised, as this is very early...almost two weeks early. I am assuming it's because if the grapes are left any longer they will dry out, as we have had no rain and very hot weather for the last six weeks. We normally have had a good few days of rain by now, which helps to plump up the grapes but with no sign of it, the farmers have obviously decided to 'go for it'.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Thanks for dropping by!
Take care of you
Alison xx
Now, not that I'm jealous but as I'm going this, the fact that were about to have a bank holiday at the height of our summer ..... It's hammering down with rain, and hammering is really the only word for it, and at only something like 4.30 in the afternoon, it's dark. So ok I am a tad jealous of those gorgeous hot sunny photos lol. Enjoy your weekend
ReplyDeleteHow nice to have vinyards so near. Do you get to buy the wine too? Our blackberries have also been incredibly early. I usually associate them around September or end of August, along with apples. But this year we have been picking blackberries for weeks.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my blog and leaving comments. It's always lovely to see your name pop up.
What fun!!!!! Although it isn't very fun picking any form or fruit in the heat!
ReplyDeleteI know I'm starting to sound like a broken record here(!) but I really do enjoy reading your slice of life in a different corner of the world from my own
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely snippet of harvest time :)
ReplyDeleteVery interesting - can't wait to see the layout!
ReplyDeleteI am always caught by surprise at how different some of our lives are here in blogland. A winery right there...imagine that :)
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