We are planning a big bonfire…as soon as we have our grapevines pruned. As of this weekend, we think that we are one third done with the initial pruning (which is where the massive amounts of vines come from). As we prune, we keep the cut vines on several piles in the center of every other row. This eliminates driving the tractor through every row, which cuts down on soil compaction by the heavy tires, and makes it altogether faster.
We attached the pallet forks to the tractor bucket, and then scooped up a pallet. Jeff drove through the row, and Lars and I lifted each pile of vines onto the pallet. Toward the end, its more of a rolling, rather than a lifting effort :).
Lars then jumped on top of the whole pile, in a belly-flop sort of fashion, and his weight kept the vines from falling off as Jeff drove toward the “burning pile”. (it’s quite a balancing act for him).
We have been dumping all the vines on one huge pile, which we’ll have to light on a calm, wet day.
