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
