Fence Posts and Grape Vine Holes



Lars and Jeff making holes for grape vines

Spent time this weekend marking off the grape patch for the soon to arrive chambourcin vines and drilling holes (used the biggest auger we have for the tractor)...this is a rather slow process, but it will be worthwhile having the large holes for easier planting. We are making the holes 6 feet apart, and the rows are 10 feet wide.  (5 rows of 40 grapes)

Earlier this week, one of Jeff's friends had gotten a guy with a portable sawmill to come to his farm to cut up locust trees into fence posts.  Jeff helped them most of the week during his free time, and we got about 75 posts plus all the "scrap" boards.  Jeff has been spending time "sharpening" the bottom of the posts with a chain saw - for easier pounding.  He then drills smaller holes with a hand-held auger, "drops" in the sharpened post, and uses the bucket of the tractor (which he fills with heavy rocks), to pound the post in.  Jeff's been working on this a few hours each day, here is the first finished row of trellis posts in the blackberry patch: