Vineyard
Invasion!!
March 04, 2010
On a whim, Ethan and I hopped up this passed Saturday morning and decided to head out to the vineyard. It is a three hour trip from here in Springfield, MO so I was a bit apprehensive. We made it though! Anyhow, we get there just a tad bit later than anticipated (which is pretty good) to find that Dad and Kristen were just finishing up getting some clippings from a few of the vines. After packing in we decided to take Ethan on a ride in the “Monster Truck” or so he likes to call it. (Jeep Wrangler to us taller than three feet).
Climbing the road between the sets of vine plots, we make it to the open field where the new rows are going to be. This is also the field that we typically use for our yearly campsite. See the map below if you need a reference.
A little further down the road and we came across a bit of a surprise. I’d say between 10 - 20 feet from the camp fire-pit, it looked like someone dig up the ground for some gardening, but was having trouble decided whether it should be “here... oh wait...maybe here...or here...”
Dad just stops the Jeep, pulls the near-iconic cigar off his lip, and says ... “Hog.” ... and then banjo music started playing out of nowhere.
Not really, but it might as well. A darn wild boar has started rutting up our campsite! The thing had pulled stones out of the ground that were the size of my head. Can’t imagine how hard it would be to move something buried that size. I’d stuggle with a shovel and a pick axe.
Dad said there was some serious ground damage up by one of the feeders on the other side of the pond in the east field as well. Not a good thing at all. One of these things could probably take out an entire row or more of vines in one night!
These aren’t the cute little pigs that have names like Wilbur. These are some ugly beasts. Here is a better photo of one taken recently near the farm:
Quite pleasant. These fellas will need to be dealt with.
If that isn’t enough, Saturday night around 10 pm, I stepped out onto the back porch and ran into skunk. He brought up the tail, and I didn’t move. Apparently I was deemed a bore, and he sauntered off.
Skunks also tear up the ground. The yard all around the farm house has little holes dug all over the place. What does one do about a skunk? Trap it? That sounds like a mess. A pistol can’t hardly result in anything too pleasant. Hopefully ignoring the little fella will be enough.
Anyhow, the critters are getting braver and moving in closer. And the bears are probably getting hungry.
Climbing the road between the sets of vine plots, we make it to the open field where the new rows are going to be. This is also the field that we typically use for our yearly campsite. See the map below if you need a reference.
A little further down the road and we came across a bit of a surprise. I’d say between 10 - 20 feet from the camp fire-pit, it looked like someone dig up the ground for some gardening, but was having trouble decided whether it should be “here... oh wait...maybe here...or here...”
Dad just stops the Jeep, pulls the near-iconic cigar off his lip, and says ... “Hog.” ... and then banjo music started playing out of nowhere.
Not really, but it might as well. A darn wild boar has started rutting up our campsite! The thing had pulled stones out of the ground that were the size of my head. Can’t imagine how hard it would be to move something buried that size. I’d stuggle with a shovel and a pick axe.
Dad said there was some serious ground damage up by one of the feeders on the other side of the pond in the east field as well. Not a good thing at all. One of these things could probably take out an entire row or more of vines in one night!
These aren’t the cute little pigs that have names like Wilbur. These are some ugly beasts. Here is a better photo of one taken recently near the farm:
Quite pleasant. These fellas will need to be dealt with.
If that isn’t enough, Saturday night around 10 pm, I stepped out onto the back porch and ran into skunk. He brought up the tail, and I didn’t move. Apparently I was deemed a bore, and he sauntered off.
Skunks also tear up the ground. The yard all around the farm house has little holes dug all over the place. What does one do about a skunk? Trap it? That sounds like a mess. A pistol can’t hardly result in anything too pleasant. Hopefully ignoring the little fella will be enough.
Anyhow, the critters are getting braver and moving in closer. And the bears are probably getting hungry.
Preperations 2010
February 18, 2010
Winter...Winter...Winter, why won’t you leave me be? Spring has popped into my head. I feel it on the horizon. There might even be a little pep in my step the last couple of days. This must mean that it is time to set down some good projects for the vineyard. Or at least to daydream about all these awesome hikes I’ve not yet gone on. Hmm...late February hikes...starting to like the sound of that!
Anyhow, first project on my list is to work on clearing out the little cabin we’ve got down by the creek. This will make a fine place to relax in the evenings, drop a few bunk beds in and tell some stories. Here is a picture of the cabin in question...just down the hill from the house:
And there’s the little cabin down the hill.
...Actually, this picture brings back some memories. This image was featured on a German video podcast about photography. Basically the show was about how bad my picture is... well...not exactly...but...anyhow have a look at Meet The GIMP - Wine and Curves.
GIMP stands for Gnu Image Manipulation Program for all you leary to click the link. :)
Also coming soon, there is another shipment of vines! These should be here in a month or two. I need to confirm the dates. The planting will begin once again! Pictures and stories will be posted as they happen.
Take care!
Matt
Anyhow, first project on my list is to work on clearing out the little cabin we’ve got down by the creek. This will make a fine place to relax in the evenings, drop a few bunk beds in and tell some stories. Here is a picture of the cabin in question...just down the hill from the house:
And there’s the little cabin down the hill.
...Actually, this picture brings back some memories. This image was featured on a German video podcast about photography. Basically the show was about how bad my picture is... well...not exactly...but...anyhow have a look at Meet The GIMP - Wine and Curves.
GIMP stands for Gnu Image Manipulation Program for all you leary to click the link. :)
Also coming soon, there is another shipment of vines! These should be here in a month or two. I need to confirm the dates. The planting will begin once again! Pictures and stories will be posted as they happen.
Take care!
Matt
Vineyard Safari
December 20, 2009
Alright, so I’m a little late in getting the next blog post up.The holidays are going well though!
I may have been distracted a bit lately, but the critter cam that nabbed the bear photo in the previous post has it’s never blinking eye scanning the trees for us.
Here are the additional shots that were nabbed recently. (all of these shots are at the same location noted in the map of the previous post.
Here we have a very nice buck that has come along for a visit. Pretty sure he is the one who has been eating the grapes and nibbling off the new growth this past season!
This boar must have hiked over on the OT from Wild Boar Ridge where the Council Bluff campground is located.
Notice his traveling partner, Mr. Raccoon, slinking around in the background.
Have a look at this big fella! Of course, I was like “Mountain Lion!” with my jaw on the floor, but I suppose it is a bobcat. A big bobcat!
So, who is ready for that hike?
I may have been distracted a bit lately, but the critter cam that nabbed the bear photo in the previous post has it’s never blinking eye scanning the trees for us.
Here are the additional shots that were nabbed recently. (all of these shots are at the same location noted in the map of the previous post.
Here we have a very nice buck that has come along for a visit. Pretty sure he is the one who has been eating the grapes and nibbling off the new growth this past season!
This boar must have hiked over on the OT from Wild Boar Ridge where the Council Bluff campground is located.
Notice his traveling partner, Mr. Raccoon, slinking around in the background.
Have a look at this big fella! Of course, I was like “Mountain Lion!” with my jaw on the floor, but I suppose it is a bobcat. A big bobcat!
So, who is ready for that hike?
Where The Wild Things Are
October 17, 2009
The movie has released! I need to dig around and find the book and give the little one a few reads of it before we go. However, there appear to be wild things creeping about off-screen as well! During the camp from the previous post there was some talk about what might be attracted to the persimmon tree tucked in a corner of the northeast field.
[The above map of the grounds should give a little bit of reference. As for scale, each marked spot is around 300 - 400 yards away.]
My best guess as to what kind of critters might be congregating around the persimmon tree would be raccoons and the like. Maybe even a wild boar! There are definitely wild boar in the area. The nearby Council Bluff Recreation Area campground is on “Wild Boar Ridge”. But what was discovered as the potential culprit of the scat lying about was a surprise indeed! Have a look:
The ol’ American Black Bear! How about that!? For a slew of interesting info visit The American Bear Association. Based on the maps I have looked at, the Ozarks (Southern Missouri/Northern Arkansas) are the only place to find black bears in the central U.S. From those I have talked to, finding a bear up by the vineyard is a good bit farther north than most expected. Most expect to find them a few hours closer to the Missouri/Arkansas border.
At first glance, this fella seems all cute and cuddly, but when using some of the references, this bear is sitting at around 4 ft tall. (those corn feeders are around 6 feet i’d guess. That’s a full grown bear by my reckoning!
Now, the date stamp is September 24th as you can see. The “Camp in the Clouds” outing was five days previous. Perhaps now I can feel more comfortable with my skittishness at setting up camp at 0100 am in the pitch black. Especially when you look at the above map and notice that the “camera”, where the bear pic was taken, and the persimmon tree require that the bear cross directly between where we were camping and the farm house. Perhaps the bear nabbed a few grapes on the way...
...which highlights a large reason for having the corn feeders. We’ve already had issue with wildlife eating the leaves from the vines that are inching their way up the trellis’. Hopefully the corn feeders can keep them in the woods and satisfied instead of eating up all of our hard work!
More pictures from that critter cam are to come. Seems to be a high traffic area with a large variety of wildlife. Watch for them in the next post where I’ll also talk about some of the other deterrents we are looking into to keep them off the vines. That should bring forth wide viewpoints from across the environmental spectrum.
Till then...\o
Matt
[The above map of the grounds should give a little bit of reference. As for scale, each marked spot is around 300 - 400 yards away.]
My best guess as to what kind of critters might be congregating around the persimmon tree would be raccoons and the like. Maybe even a wild boar! There are definitely wild boar in the area. The nearby Council Bluff Recreation Area campground is on “Wild Boar Ridge”. But what was discovered as the potential culprit of the scat lying about was a surprise indeed! Have a look:
The ol’ American Black Bear! How about that!? For a slew of interesting info visit The American Bear Association. Based on the maps I have looked at, the Ozarks (Southern Missouri/Northern Arkansas) are the only place to find black bears in the central U.S. From those I have talked to, finding a bear up by the vineyard is a good bit farther north than most expected. Most expect to find them a few hours closer to the Missouri/Arkansas border.
At first glance, this fella seems all cute and cuddly, but when using some of the references, this bear is sitting at around 4 ft tall. (those corn feeders are around 6 feet i’d guess. That’s a full grown bear by my reckoning!
Now, the date stamp is September 24th as you can see. The “Camp in the Clouds” outing was five days previous. Perhaps now I can feel more comfortable with my skittishness at setting up camp at 0100 am in the pitch black. Especially when you look at the above map and notice that the “camera”, where the bear pic was taken, and the persimmon tree require that the bear cross directly between where we were camping and the farm house. Perhaps the bear nabbed a few grapes on the way...
...which highlights a large reason for having the corn feeders. We’ve already had issue with wildlife eating the leaves from the vines that are inching their way up the trellis’. Hopefully the corn feeders can keep them in the woods and satisfied instead of eating up all of our hard work!
More pictures from that critter cam are to come. Seems to be a high traffic area with a large variety of wildlife. Watch for them in the next post where I’ll also talk about some of the other deterrents we are looking into to keep them off the vines. That should bring forth wide viewpoints from across the environmental spectrum.
Till then...\o
Matt
Fall Camp in the Clouds
September 27, 2009
Greetings all and welcome to our maiden post!
Last weekend was our annual Fall Camp at the vineyard. Years past, this is an event not to be missed! Camping, wine, hiking, clay pigeon tournament, midnight trips to the swimming hole, etc, all amongst friends and family. This year though, things were a bit more low-key with the majority of the partiers...erm...campers off to Vegas. Those who were able upheld the tradition and made it up for the weekend.
My goals were stripped down to the essentials. Do some hiking along the Ozark Trail, get some early morning/late evening photographs of the vineyard, and enjoy good times and drinks with the family. Things started out well, at least.
We arrived Friday night at around midnight, [this was planned...], and set up camp in the middle of the night. Successfully too! Amber and I were woken the next morning with Renee blowing the bull-horn to call us down for breakfast.
After breakfast, I went for a little hike/trail-run around the vineyard to warm up a bit. After an hour or two of recovery and a few rounds at refilling the corn feeders, we settled in to wait for Amber’s parents to arrive. This is the point where the clouds enter the scene. Literally. Right into the valley.
[That’s Amber resting after some hard work... ;)]
Quite a pretty site! The clouds, however, pretty much nixed all hopes of getting those sunny late-evening photos I’d been hoping for.
It wasn’t long before the rain showed up. Which decided not to leave until around 9 o’clock Sunday morning. So, I packed up the camera and hiking boots, and we hung about enjoying the atmosphere. Dad had a good time keeping Madie out of our dinner:
I am pretty sure that at the point this picture was taken, we had discovered the baby copperhead that was curled up right next to that bundle of stakes. We certainly didn’t notice it until after we were all huddle around the fire getting things set up! I’ll be keeping a little closer watch from now on.
All-in-all it was a great weekend at the vineyard. Even in the rain, you just can’t beat a weekend away with family, a nice view, and a good dog.
Till next time! \o
Matt
Last weekend was our annual Fall Camp at the vineyard. Years past, this is an event not to be missed! Camping, wine, hiking, clay pigeon tournament, midnight trips to the swimming hole, etc, all amongst friends and family. This year though, things were a bit more low-key with the majority of the partiers...erm...campers off to Vegas. Those who were able upheld the tradition and made it up for the weekend.
My goals were stripped down to the essentials. Do some hiking along the Ozark Trail, get some early morning/late evening photographs of the vineyard, and enjoy good times and drinks with the family. Things started out well, at least.
We arrived Friday night at around midnight, [this was planned...], and set up camp in the middle of the night. Successfully too! Amber and I were woken the next morning with Renee blowing the bull-horn to call us down for breakfast.
After breakfast, I went for a little hike/trail-run around the vineyard to warm up a bit. After an hour or two of recovery and a few rounds at refilling the corn feeders, we settled in to wait for Amber’s parents to arrive. This is the point where the clouds enter the scene. Literally. Right into the valley.
[That’s Amber resting after some hard work... ;)]
Quite a pretty site! The clouds, however, pretty much nixed all hopes of getting those sunny late-evening photos I’d been hoping for.
It wasn’t long before the rain showed up. Which decided not to leave until around 9 o’clock Sunday morning. So, I packed up the camera and hiking boots, and we hung about enjoying the atmosphere. Dad had a good time keeping Madie out of our dinner:
I am pretty sure that at the point this picture was taken, we had discovered the baby copperhead that was curled up right next to that bundle of stakes. We certainly didn’t notice it until after we were all huddle around the fire getting things set up! I’ll be keeping a little closer watch from now on.
All-in-all it was a great weekend at the vineyard. Even in the rain, you just can’t beat a weekend away with family, a nice view, and a good dog.
Till next time! \o
Matt