HARVEST WAS NUTS!!!
There were early mornings, long days, baiting frost and scorching heat. We laughed, we cried, things went right, and some things went very wrong. LOL, it wasn’t really all that dramatic, but it was still pretty brutal. It was one of the biggest years at Del Rio. We recorded more pick days this year than we have ever have before. With our Birdseye ranch going into full production there was a mountain of crop to bring in. So many records went down: total harvested tons, most harvested tons in a day, most cups of coffee drank in a day, and most frozen Hot Pockets consumed (last two by yours truly). Just a record breaking year all around. We were really picking and processing as fast as we could. Getting everything in a timely manner was a real race against the clock. If we only had the two harvesters that we used last year, instead of three that we have now, things would not have turned out as well as they did. Thankfully, everything did go well without major incident.
Now that is all behind us, we are into our winter projects, and it’s awesome! First thing we are doing is putting up a new building in our equipment yard. We will be storing our farm equipment here, giving the winery back some of the space we have been slowly encroaching on. Soon the new building will be done and there’s going to be so much more room for activities (like karate for example)! Other things on the to-do list include, but are not limited to, a new fueling station, a new tractor washing station, a bike rack for the tasting room, a new sign for the tasting room, and whatever else we want to work on before we have to start thinking about grapes again. Now, some of these things might not sound that exiting, but trust me there are several people with these on their holiday wish list. The biggest problem right now is what to make the bike rack look like? I mean there are just so many options! Should it be shaped like a bunch of grapes? A wine bottle? Something else? I just don’t know and I’ve already sunk so much time on Pinterest that it’s becoming an issue. I’ll pick something at some point I suppose. In any case we’ve got lots to keep us busy this winter I just hope we get to all of it.
Pizza Pocket King,
Clayton Wallace
HARVEST 2019 IMAGES
