The Vineyard Years Podcast: Recent Episodes
Peter Galvin
The Vineyard Years is the story of one couple’s struggle to establish a vineyard in the inhospitable north. It describes the on-going process over 7 years (so far) of establishing a vineyard in North Yorkshire. Follow their progress and sometimes lack of it over more than 70 podcasts. The original Vineyard Years blogs are available to read at: https://thesummerhouseyears.com/category/vineyard/ Alternatively, we may wish to read this collection of blogs as an e-book or paperback available through Amazon. For more information, please contact Mr Summerhouse: peter@thesummerhouseyears.com
https://thesummerhouseyears.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Drummond-Ave-30-1.mp3
Making music in retirement once more. In an effort to change the tone of this week from grindingly difficult to something more positive, i.e. from hospital visits and work in the vineyard on the bloody netting, I decided to focus on an another aspect of my retirement life, namely my music. If I had thought this would be easy well, guess what, it wasn’t. It was different but not necessarily easier.
Because I was so tired after working with the netting on Thursday I didn’t go to the folk fiddle rehearsal on Thursday night. The second rehearsal I’ve missed since the new term started the week before. So feeling a bit guilty I decided to try and make a musical recording (of The Leaving of Liverpool) like a number of the group have been doing of late and posting on our WhatsApp page. How hard can it be, right? If they can do then so can I, right?
Well wrong as it turned out. The part that I expected to be difficult – getting a balance between instruments – keyboard and violin and to record both – worked out fine. Probably more by luck than skill but I’ll take that. The part I expected to be easier, on the grounds that it was a bit like recording a podcast and as we all know I’m an expert at that, well that was more complicated than I expected.
Anyway judge for yourself, assuming I can get the technical bit right it’s added at the end of this blog. On Sunday it’s the first jazz workshop, we’re doing Autumn Leaves and Moonlight in Vermont among others, so should probably have a bit of a practice as it’s a long time since I picked up a jazz guitar in anger or indeed with any emotion at all. As I’ve written elsewhere it’s slightly worrying that without the pressure of some kind of public performance I choose not to play my various instruments. Not sure why. Making music in retirement summary Perhaps now the rehearsals, gigs, practices are starting again this part of my retirement life might become better balanced than they have been these last few weeks. We’re going up to the vineyard again tomorrow to do more with the netting, so I’m not getting away from this part of my retirement but at least this part will be buttressed by something different. We will see how it all turns out over the next few weeks.
PS. That’s obviously not me playing the violin despite the picture at the top of this blog
The vineyard years, chapter 42. More fun and games with our North Yorkshire weather. Although I suppose it could have been worse.
The Vineyard years. So deeper into the season you might say, April now. It's slow progress at least we're moving in the right direction after the stress of sub-contracting out the pruning side of things to our gardeners. The Vineyard Years summary Not a lot to summarise, better read the blog or listen to the podcast.
The Vineyard Years, Chapter 40. So many chapters and so many different challenges although to be fair this one is about birds again. More other people's problems this time.
The Vineyard Years and it's winter in the Yorkshire Dales. But even so the work starts again although it's not necessarily us that's doing the work.
The Vineyard Years in January. Deepest winter and some required reading to get you through the cold months. The Vineyard years summary If you can't do it you can always read about doing it.
A vineyard group of one's peers. There are many ways in which a vineyard can be taxing. Last time we examined a few. This time a completely different challenge that of appearing before one's peers and asking for their opinion on a wine you made from your own grapes, or mostly, from your own grapes.
The Vineyard Years. Just when you thought it couldn't get any more challenging along comes another hazard. In this case something that defies description or even understanding. Could they be phantom sheep that have eaten our vines or is it The Trollenberg Terror (see image)?
The vineyard years chapter 35. bringing you up to date with our ornithological adventures among other things.
The Vineyard Years podcast. A generally positive of life in the vineyard at this time of year and a few other digressions to fill in the picture of what's happening up there, for example the generator challenges and then fertilisers and sprays.
The vineyard years. Every year at this time hope springs eternal. Past failures are forgotten and fresh optimism raises its head in the form of new buds. Are there enough buds or even too many?
The vineyard years. If there's a definite positive to owning a vineyard it's the excuse it gives me for buying new toys. For example, in this episode the buying of a grippler. What's that you say, you don't know what that is then you didn't listen to the last podcast. Anyway listen on and find out more now.
PS This picture appeared with the last podcast and I've repeated it on this one, so you've no excuse.
It's March in the Vineyard Years and our thoughts turn to winter pruning. We're later this year than last. We shall see what effect this has on our crop, if we get one that is.
PS That's a grippler in the picture by the way.
The vineyard years rolls along into 2016 and as you can tell from the title and the photo above, it's all a load of fertiliser.
So here we are, our last blog and podcast of the Vineyard Years, 2015. It has to be said it hasn't been a great year, to say the least but we're still in there pitching and planning for next year. So read on.
Here we are again and the Vineyard Years podcast. Plenty going off most of it unexpected like bird-scaring in Yorkshire and sad news from abroad. All part and parcel of 'running' a vineyard.
There's more than a hint of irony in this chapter's title of The Vineyard Years. The irony is that it is now September. Still better late than never I guess.
If you're a vineyard owner in the North beware optimism, it only brings disappointment. Such was the story of this particular chapter in the Vineyard Years although we had not expected the disaster to come in the form it did.
So June 2015. A late start to the season on account of the very ordinary weather - wet and cold. But then we got started and there was plenty to do when we did get going. You can get an idea of the 'specialness' of the view from the featured photo.
A big moment in making our first wine. True it was somewhat underwhelming when made up but at least we made others feel better with their efforts at running a vineyard. What more can I ask?
You might tell from the photo that we're in winter, 2015 in fact. Still plenty to write (and talk) about though. Locally and nationally. Even the title is long.
Yep, heading for winter and another set of vineyard skills to be learned. This time about how to get the vines into shape for maximum productivity next year. Otherwise known as winter pruning and you thought there would be nothing happening at this time of year.
So onward towards winter. A quieter time in our vineyard and time to admire the efforts of others in the Yorkshire vineyard world. A little wine-making but not much.
Just when things seemed to be going quite well, at least by our standards, out of the blue, literally, came disaster. This in the form of the birds. In this case it was the early bird that got the (unripe) grape. Pretty much cleared us out and this was quite dispiriting. Still it makes for an interesting chapter in the history of our vineyard.
The story rolls on into August and the grapes develop but there are always anxieties and one way of expanding those anxieties is to attend a course and find out about more things that could go wrong. You know what they say if it can wrong, it will go wrong.
In this chapter more about sheds or the winery as we like to call it. Anybody would think we only set up the vineyard so I had an excuse for having more sheds. Not entirely wrong. That's a picture of it just in case you thought it might be rather grand. It may be a case of putting the cart before the horse in building the winery before we have any proper number of grapes to make the wine with. Still you have to be bold in a venture like this.
In this chapter of the vineyard years podcast, we thought we actually had grapes but it turned out they were in fact the flowers that, if we are lucky, precede the grapes. So we have some way to go before we can celebrate. As a substitute I bought some equipment (like the crusher / destemmer in the picture) that we would need if we ever did get to the point of making wine. You have to be an optimist with a project like this one.
A report on the modest progress of our Trapping Hill vineyard set against the back drop of English vineyards generally. We've a long way to go.
Well we asked for buds and we got them even though they were reluctant to pop their heads out of their plastic tubes. It was freezing this April as you can see. But we got the buds and 200 willows intended to be windbreaks as well. This is vineyard years podcast chapter 13.
It seems only right that I should at some point give credit to where this crazy idea of a vineyard in the Yorkshire Dales all began. The brief answer is it began in a place called the Ferguson Valley in Western Australia. We were living there for a year on an exchange programme. A beautiful place and made even more so by being perhaps Australia's newest wine region. It was here that I began to dream the dream. Listen on.
The real reason I wanted a vineyard, so I could legitimately have my own shed. It didn't quite work out as planned but I got the shed which was what really mattered.
This is the proper version of podcast 11 that appeared a while ago but without the actual podcast. Duh.
I’ll start the new year of 2014 with a rather unusual blog. It describes a night in a hotel with our colleagues. Colleagues, in this case, being other Yorkshire vineyard owners. All but one commercial and, all but one, much bigger than ours. It was an interesting evening. A lot of wine was drunk but very little strategy planned. It meant leaving our dogs behind for the first time and there’s a bit about this before ending on what can only be called a total digression. Find the original blog here: "Vineyard 10 : A night at the hotel - no opera” https://thesummerhouseyears.com/vineyard-10-a-night-at-the-hotel-no-opera/
For more information, please contact Mr Summerhouse:
peter@thesummerhouseyears.com
The last chapter of 2013. It’s entitled a review of the year but on re-acquaintance, it’s really nothing of the sort. It casts an envious eye towards other established vineyards and their success, mostly down south. At a local level there is my first attempt to set up a wine-tasting evening. Did it happen? You’ll have to wait to find out. Find the original blog here: "Vineyard 9 : Review of the Year” https://thesummerhouseyears.com/vineyard-9-review-of-the-year/
For more information, please contact Mr Summerhouse:
peter@thesummerhouseyears.com
When a person has the kind of mad flight of fantasy that seems compatible with setting up their own vineyard, like me they probably don’t imagine the detailed and apparently mundane decisions that it will lead to. This podcast, for example, considers the finer points of tying up one’s vines with string or alternatively plastic. There turned out to be more to it than I had imagined. Funny thing is, making the right decision is quite important. Find the original blog here: "Vineyard 8 : The Ties of Retirement” https://thesummerhouseyears.com/vineyard-8-the-ties-of-retirement/
For more information, please contact Mr Summerhouse:
peter@thesummerhouseyears.com
When you start a new venture there’s always a question about how much support and advice you seek from other people who have more expertise. In our case that’s everybody, but whether it is a good idea to join a professional organization to gain that help or just get it in a more casual, less exposing way - well only time will tell. In this chapter I report back on our first official vineyard owner’s meeting. Find the original blog here: "Vineyard 7 : Just one of the gang, at last?” https://thesummerhouseyears.com/vineyard-7-just-one-of-the-gang-at-last/
For more information, please contact Mr Summerhouse:
peter@thesummerhouseyears.com
In this chapter we do have grapes – not many but a few. But they’re not anywhere near as memorable as my daughter’s reaction to her wildlife discoveries and her anthropomorphic view of our new vines.
Find the original blog here "Vineyard 6 : In retirement we have grapes”
https://thesummerhouseyears.com/we-have-grapes/
For more information, please contact Mr Summerhouse:
peter@thesummerhouseyears.com
Chapter 5 sees me moving into somebody else’s vineyard. An established one of over 10,000 vines at that time. I’m trying to acquire some wine-making expertise should we ever get grapes of our own. We’ve a long way to go was the main lesson learned from the visit.
Find the original blog here; "Vineyard 5 : "The Harvest"
https://thesummerhouseyears.com/vineyard-5-the-harvest/
For more information, please contact Mr Summerhouse:
peter@thesummerhouseyears.com
This is chapter 4 and we move deeper and deeper into the world of windbreaks. That's the ones we should have planted a year before putting in the vines. Instead they're more than a year behind the vines. Took quite a bit of research to decide what to plant. Quite a bit of reading and on-line study, as well as a visit to a friend who had already erected his version of artificial windbreaks. The whole thing turned out to be a lot more complicated than I had anticipated but then what's new?
Find the original blog here "Vineyard 4 : Trapping Hill Vineyard : windbreaks"
https://thesummerhouseyears.com/trapping-hill-vineyard-windbreaks/
For more information, please contact Mr Summerhouse:
peter@thesummerhouseyears.com
This is the third chapter of The Vineyard Years Podcast and is about probably our number one enemy, namely the wind. Wind is the enemy of vines, as a fellow northern vineyard owner told me before we started. We didn’t listen of course but he was right. In future chapters we will tell you what we did about it.
Find the original blog here "Vineyard 3 : Yes, we've got the wind up now....."
https://thesummerhouseyears.com/yes-weve-got-the-wind-up-now
For more information please contact peter@thesummerhouseyears.com
This is chapter 2 of The Vineyard Years Podcast. Recollection can sometimes be faulty and there is a correction statement explaining the true origin of the vineyard. For the sadists among you it details more reasons not to be cheerful and why nobody in their right mind would plant a vineyard where we have. It also describes some of our early preparations.
Find the original blog here "Vineyard 2 : Yes, we are planting vines ....."
https://thesummerhouseyears.com/yes-we-are-planting-vines-no-they-probably-wont-grow-yes-we-are-mad/
For more information please contact peter@thesummerhouseyears.com
This is the very first podcast in the series of The Vineyard Years. It’s taken from the book (available as an e-book and a paperback from Amazon) which describes the on-going process over 7 years (so far) of establishing a vineyard in North Yorkshire. This episode describes how it all began and why the vineyard is where it is and why it probably shouldn’t be!
Find the original blog here: "Vineyard 1: Why in God's name.........."
https://thesummerhouseyears.com/why-in-gods-name-would-you-plant-a-vineyard-there/
For more information please contact peter@thesummerhouseyears.com