We finally have a new concrete pad in front of the winery. Words cannot express how handy this is – no more washing barrels and Macrobins in the gravel.
We framed and poured the pad a week ago, and finally got to walk on it this past weekend. In the photo, you can see that we dug and rigged a drainage trench along the edge of the pad in the foreground of the photo. We hope to mortar bricks over the PVC pipe (with spaces between the bricks) to create a simple drain as water runs off the pad. The PVC trench ties into the septic system and leach field for the farm.
The real fun will come in a few weeks at harvest. We can now rig a tent over the pad for shade and crush right on the pad before pumping into the winery.
It’s amazing how you come to appreciate the simple things in life – some 2×4s and a couple of cubic yards of concrete and you feel like you’ve won the lottery!
Next on the list – grading the property, adding topsoil and compost, putting in an irrigation system and planting a yard this Fall (after harvest, of course). We’ve got a wedding planned for next summer, and we’ll need a green, lush, healthy lawn…..
