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Planting Time
The
plants arrived a few days earlier than expected so there was quite a
rush to get them put in. However we had to wait for the trellising to
be finished!
The
vines arrived in bundles of 25, bare rooted and in a large plastic bag.
They were fairly wet but it was obvious that they would soon dry out
unless we got our act together!
Shown
below are the "Plant Passports" that were provided with the vines to
shown their origin and pedigree.
  
As instructed by Mr. Cox (what would we do without it) we soaked the
vines for a few hours before planting. Basically planting was down to
Ali and I, although the kids gave a hand where they could, particularly
with filling in the pre-dug holes and watering.
The
split of tasks was as follows:-
-
Andy (or one
of the kids) filled in the deep pre-drilled holes to planting depth
while Ali (or one of the kids) watered in the previous row
-
Andy put one
large handful of compost in to each hole
-
Ali mounds up
the compost, and spreads the vines roots out evenly over it
-
Andy fills in
some earth to cover the roots
-
Ali
compresses the soil to make sure it is in good contact with the roots
-
Andy fills in
the rest of the hole and tamps it down with his big feet
-
Ali places
the tube over the vine
-
Andy knocks
it in a few inches with the back of the spade and ties it to the wire.
 I think
we both felt we had the better job so it worked out well.
We
planted seven rows the first day, six the next and finished the odd
ones over the next couple of evenings. The long days were followed by
long soaks in the bath to repair worn out backs!
Anyway
I hope we won't be doing that again, at least not on the same scale,
for quite some while!
However
at the end of it we had the satisfaction of having everything ready to
sit back and watch them grow. The result is shown below.
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