WATER, WATER, EVERYWHERE, BUT...

The remainder of 2008 had one major theme....getting water to the vineyard. Ed was spending hours lugging water from the well to the vines via the 55 gallon drum method. Surry County was in its 2nd year in a row of drought conditions and getting water to help the vines survive was paramount.
The rest of his time was mowing, or doing all the little things to help the cause. There was little time for weeding, though he squeezed some time in for drilling those wire holes we now needed to hold the drip system piping.
Every trip I took had irrigation as the priority, so, recognizing it might take me twice as long to figure out how to do it, Glenn Slade made a recommendation whom I contacted to help jump start this project. Scott Wright was a retired Va.Tech guy who was an expert in irrigation systems. Though he spent most of his consulting efforts on golf courses and new developments, he took on the challenge of a vineyard. With my significant weakness in Fluid Dynamics in college, he was able to quickly calculate the size pumps I needed to pull water up hill from our source, get it through all the filter systems that we had lined up, and then shoot down the driveway over a quarter mile to get to the end of the rows, taking into consideration the pressure loss over that distance.

It was more than just a tinker toy set to assemble. We needed to pour concrete to make 2 pilings to support the first in line self-priming pump (there is a real play on words) near the creek, make our equivalent of an aqueduct to get the water up 20' or 30' of hill , get a shed built to hold all the equipment, design a manifold system for the first block and allow for all the subsequent expansions, not to mention getting it all wired up with 220v and run all the pipe.

We now recognized that we had alot of work to be done, and it wasn't going to be done overnight. Ed dedicated his time to drilling the holes and running the wire, and when that was done he stretched out the drip lines and installed all the drippers ( 1/2 gallon per hour)......one for each plant. This took him into the Spring of 2009. As for me, I spent all my time on the forward end. Figuring out where to put the pilings and getting them ready for the concrete, making the small design changes I wanted on the shed, which Amish Sheds out of Petersburg was able to do in a very skilled timely manner, and then after it was delivered (dropped in place on a dime I might add), I assembled the irrigation system just as Scott had designed it. With a few twists and turns, a missing part here, an additional part needed there due to extra bends in the flow or my particular required quirks, I got it finally together in mid-Winter. It was time to get an electrician in to do the first half of the wiring, which included all the hook-ups, electrical panel in the pump house, and tieing the the creek pump to the main box.

The 2nd half of his wiring had to be held back until we made all the trenches for the pipe. He needed a trench to bury his source line which came 89' across the driveway from the service barn. This was scheduled for April (April seems to be a popular month in a vineyard) when we hoped everything else was all wrapped up so we could dedicate our time to dropping almost a mile's worth of pipe and tieing it into the 41 drip lines that Ed had put together during the winter.

Our vines were now dormant during this winter period. It wasn't particularly cold by northern standards. We had done our inventory in late Fall to see how many vines we needed to replace that didn't make it through that first year......maybe a hundred or so.

We had decided to make 2009 a "recovery" year. We just had too much on our platter to deal with to worry about an expansion. We had to finish the irrigation system or it would have been crazy to hand water all these vines 2 years in a row. We needed to replant some of the vines. We needed to start and maintain a spray schedule. We needed to do some serious pruning to get the vines trained on the trellis. And we had to resolve the weed issue....somehow.

A "TELEPHONE POLE FOREST"

The hydraulic post driver was now fully operational, and on my return trip this was the top project for Ed and me. All the vines had been planted, and during the last couple of weeks Ed had been trucking water back and forth from the house well to keep the new plants watered. With 2000 vines at 1/4 to 1/2 gallon a day, that's alot of trucking. Ed was probably the only one wishing for non-stop rain just so he could skip doing it. It wasn't like he was carrying pails upon pails; he had a 55 gallon drum in the back of his truck that he filled and then used a standard hose with "gravity feed" to water the vines. It was still alot of work even with this. Couple this with the mowing he did weekly, and a certain amount of weeding, and you can see how his time was spent.

When these poles were dropped we only had half a clue as to how we were going to proceed with the job. One of the things we did was break all the bundles, determine which end would go in the ground, and predrill our first wire holes that were to be 18 inches above the ground surface after they were pounded in. It just made sense that it would be easier to drill them lying on the ground instead of in a vertical position. We loaded about 20 poles at a time onto the pickup truck for distribution, using the tape marks on the yellow rope we had also used for plant location. This is when we found another problem. Turns out the rope really did stretch, especially over 450' of row length, and that everytime we moved the rope a bit to plant the vine (or auger the hole), the rope was really pulled out of position, affecting every location down the line. What a mess. Plants were to be 6' on center, poles 24' on center. Putting the first vine 3' from the first pole, then going 6', 6', and another 6', (leaving 3' to the next pole) we would be giving each vine 3' in each direction for trellis training and growth. Our actual measurements were close at best, and putting some plants literally on top of a true pole location at their worst. It bothered me (and still does) to no end how 2 educated guys couldn't get a simple pole / plant layout to work in a simple grid pattern. We did the best we could though, compromising in some areas and moving vines in others. We decided future layouts would use a steel cable only, and discard this rope idea.

This problem, though accentuated by this rope idea, was really due to not getting the poles in the ground first. Pole pounding is a long tedious process, and we wouldn't have been so inclined to use the yellow rope if we only needed to be true on center , which we used a surveyor's transit for, and be 24' apart, easily measured by the cable or a long tape measure. Once the poles are in, laying out the plants would have been easy.

There are 2 sizes of poles. The 10' long end posts, that are 5" - 6" diameter, that go 3' into the ground, and the smaller much easier to handle 3"-4" line posts, that are 8' long and go in the ground only 2'. Though the hydraulic driver was able to handle the end posts, it did take seemingly forever to drive them in. Remember, the posts have blunt ends and had to go in 3'. Driving straight down, with all the earthly resistance , is a tough job even using hydraulics. It maybe took 15 minutes to pound one in, and we had 82 of these to do ! We resolved the time issue by using a post hole digger to start the poles, digging down maybe half the required depth and letting the driver do the rest. It cut our time in half, thank heavens. And you couldn't even get these to vibrate once they were in. Line posts comparitively, were a snap. Their biggest issue was because they were smaller, if they hit a rock or a hard spot they would go in crooked. Though we were really aware of this, Ed ended up digging out maybe 20 of them to straighten them . The vineyard was now easily identifiable when someone drove by on State Route 10. There were nearly 500 poles in the ground, dwarfing the vines they would someday support.

As you can see, it took some time to do this part of the job. Oh, and those pre-drilled holes ? We couldn't see them after we brought the poles out and put them in position, and the poles sometimes twisted when they were put in, which would have twisted the wires had we used them. We also changed our minds sometimes on which end of the pole should go in first. Enough of that. We gave up and just decided to ignore the hole locations and to drill them later. When we finally got to this, we set up a portable generator on the back of the truck and used a drill with a level on its face to keep it aligned, and placed the bit on a jig that located the hole exactly 18" above the ground. It was much easier than we would have guessed, and alot more accurate.

When we finished with the hole drilling, it was now time to run the lowest wires. Bamboo stakes were used to support the vertical growth of the vines, but the wires were needed to run the black flexible PVC pipe needed in the drip system. But now was the time for chasing the latest problem, and strange as it may seem getting water to the plants efficiently had to take the back burner. We were getting eaten alive by Japanese beetles, which came out in droves on June 1st. And with the hot humid days before us, weeds as well as airborn fungi & mold became our primary concerns. I raced out to our local AgriSupply (local is 50 miles away) and picked up a backpack sprayer. We only had 2000 vines, and none of them were above knee high yet. I felt it would be able to do the job. Wrong again. A backback sprayer only held about 5 gallons, which didn't get us very far. The very next day I raced out once again to pick-up a 55 gallon ATV-sized sprayer which I put in the back in my truck, locked and loaded to spray the vineyard.

The good news ? 55 gallons was enough to do the entire vineyard, riding along down each row in my truck, using a hand wand to direct my spray on each vine. The bad news ? Though the rows were supposed to be 9' on center, they weren't, and I got my truck wedged in-between 2 endposts, bringing my nice shiny truck to an end. There was no debate on which was the immovable object. The truck now has "personality" with what I call "story lines" on its right side showing that this is no longer a highway truck, it is now a working farm truck. Needlesstosay, when Ed saw what I did to my truck, proclaimed I would get in a boatload of trouble with the Mrs., and that he wasn't going to subject his nice shiny F150 truck to row driving. Once again, Weeds 2 - Opposition 0.

IT DOESN"T GET ANY EASIER...

No, it really doesn't. If you think about getting into farming because it has sort of a richness to it, getting oneself integral with the earth, first remove the romance and supplement it with long days, backbreaking work, and never-ending tasks. Now figure that mother nature is going to test your stamina as well as conviction and that is more like what you're in for with starting a vineyard.

Unlike large scale commercial farming, this is truly hands on. Every vine will get looked at and touched numerous times during the growing season, and then a couple more times when they are dormant. Unlike a field of soy that is planted, maybe sprayed a few times, then mechanically harvested, the vines will demand your time, all the time. No sooner do you finish going through the vineyard are you then called back to the beginning to start it all over again. Enough of a warning as 2008 begins.

This is the official first year. We prepped the land for all that that was worth. We fertilized and lymed. To some degree we put in a ground cover that can without a doubt be confused with a blanket of weeds. Now was the time to officially become a vineyard. We had ordered about 2000 grapevines from Double A Vineyards out of New York State, with an April delivery.

For all this to get a jump start, and recognizing that I still had "a real job", I hired a retired fireman by the name of Ed, "Big Ed". Picture combining Santa Claus with the fried chicken Colonial, and add 12" to his height. This guy was huge. He had soouthern sensibility and was able to speak his mind in a well thought out way, without stepping on your toes. He was not afraid to get right into the thick of things and provide the know how and where-with-all that was required to get the job done.

Our "plan" was to till our rows and set in all the posts before the plants arrived. Through experimentation with a 3-point auger on the back of the tractor trying to set fence posts in the prior year, I had decided that the soil, which was a sandy loam, didn't have enough structure, moistness, and clay to hold the fence firm after a year. The very best alternative was purchasing a hydraulic post driver that hooked up once again to the back of the tractor, that could drive a 10' blunt end post up to 3' in the ground. This was another multi-thousand dollar piece of equipment that was not in the original capital goods plan.

Now one would think tilling a row 42 times would be an easy task. I just took my large 5' wide tiller that I had used last year to prep the 3 acres, and removed tines to give me 24" of till width. Now the engineer in me decided the best way to maintain a straight line was to build a sight that mounted on the hood of the tractor, much like a sight for a rifle. Keep the 2 pins lined up, aiming for a spot at the end of the row, and presto, a straight line.

I put the New Holland in the lowest, slowest gear I could, and started her up. I held that line as best I could, bumps and all, and 10 minutes later I finished the row, ready to start another. Once again I lined up my sights, focused on the target at the end of the row, and began.
When it was time for me to analyze my work, I got off the tractor and eye-balled my lines. What a let down it was. I had made the most beautiful set of parallel curves one could make. Turns out the tractor tilted when it got to gradual changes in slope, and without warning it just tilled followed the path it was aimed at, with the sights ever so slightly tilting in unison. It was a lost cause and another failed experiment. I found it was actually straighter to just aim visually with the endpoint and accept whatever variance there was in the tilled row.

Now we were ready for the posts. We tried to mount the hydraulic driver on the back of the tractor, only to find we needed a chain hoist to rig it up the first time. The machine weighed a ton, and it was impossible to get it in position without help. Surry Equipment became involved, even though the driver was purchased over the internet (hey, I saved $600). They helped to get it mounted, and then when the main cylinder sprung a huge leak and needed to be replaced, they were able to fix it and get me back in the fields. Problem was, the place I purchased the driver from sent us the parts (it was under warranty), though I struggled to get the right parts in and when it was all said and done, they wouldn't cover the labor cost that Surry Equipment put in to getting it to operate right (there went the savings). It is a great machine, but it goes back to my trying to save a little by not buying locally. In my defense I didn't know Surry Equipment carried anything like a hydraulic post driver until I had them look at it after the fact.

All of the juggling of replacement parts for the driver took nearly 3 weeks, and needlesstosay, that was long after the grapevines arrived. We had no visual clues on exactly where to plant these creatures, excepting for the tilled rows which were already labeled as no where near straight. Here came my next engineering brainstorm, a "prestretched" length of marine polypro rope, where we marked every 6' with a piece of colored electrical tape. My father, who came to the farm to watch this adventure unfold, helped me with this huge 500' spool of bright yellow cord putting on the colored tape. Green for the plant, and black for the posts. Plants were 6' on center, poles 24' on center.

The grapevines arrived right on time. We purchased about equal quantities of Seyval Blanc, Cabernet Franc, Viognier, and Norton. Heading out to Row 1 we decided to tackle the Seyval Blancs first. We laid out the yellow cord the full length of the row, about 450', pulling tight and whipping it to move it where we wanted it to go. We then tried to use a small auger on the end of an electric drill to make our holes. That didn't work; the auger got clogged too easily and really didn't give us the diameter hole we needed to plant the vine. Then Ed grabbed a post hole digger, which worked fine but after a few holes we multiplied our efforts by 2000 and decided someone would be carrying us away on a stretcher were we to keep using this method. I then went to Home Depot and rented a gasoline powered auger. To put this on the back of a tractor, or a truck, and drag it around a vineyard trying to center the bit over the correct spot was downright slow. Ed and I pushed and pulled the auger around the vineyard, up one row and then down the next. It took 3 days to do 2000 holes, but we did it. Behind us Diane and my father planted the vines, and when we were done we jumped in to move the project along. It finally got done, and because none of the irrigation lines were in, the vines had to be hand watered to keep them alive. I applaud Ed for doing this, because without his help they would have surely died with Surry County going through its 2nd drought season in so many years. I had to go back to New England after this, and my return trip would be timed with the post driver finally able to be utilized. Even with the posts in, there was still alot of work that needed to be done......

2007 - GRASS vs. WEEDS: WEEDS WON

Each year tends to take on a personality of its own. There is always something to do in a vineyard, whether it is a new one or an established one. There are only so many man hours available, and as priorities change they jolt the overall plan. Certainly everything needs to be eventually done, but some things just seem to push their way up in front of all the others.

Just as 2006 was the year we bought the farm, initiating the steps required to fulfill the big dream, 2007 was the year for planning to make sure we were doing everything "right". The demands for the land seemed limited in this Year 1, so we were confident that we could do the small amount of ground prep. that was required and layout the vineyard in a very logical and methodical way.

For anyone who has purchased their first house, you must remember the days when you have this project to do and that project to do. And everytime you went into a hardware store there was another tool you needed to buy. At first it may have been simple things like shovels, hammers, screwdrivers, or saws. As honey do lists got longer, maybe a hand power saw or a table saw was required to "properly" keep a true edge and complete the job in a professional a manner. Hand tools range from $10 to $40, and when you start getting up into the bench tools and equipment the prices for these "must haves" jump up to $299.95. Now take this concept and transfer it over to a farm. Starter tools or equipment cost a minimum of $400, but after getting the few you need at this price the new level of pain quickly jumps to $700 to $1000. This level is also quickly exhausted and the new level is $4000 to $6000. Putting aside the required purchase of a $13,000 heavy duty farm tractor, what we're talking here is real money.

All I wanted to do in 2007 was plant grass. We have 32 acres of land, of which we figured 25 could be farmed. Our game plan was to convert it to vineyard about 3 acres at a time. With all the costs involved in this conversion, including posts, wire, irrigation, not to mention all the grapevines and labor associated with it all, we figured 3 acres was all we could handle. The balance of the land that we weren't converting would be leased for the farming of corn, cotton, peanuts, or soy.....the typical crops rotated through the lands down there in Virginia.

What is there to growing grass ? It started with doing our homework regarding ground cover in vineyards. There is a fair amount of information on the web regarding this, but like all information you obtain this way it ranged to "why bother ?"........the rows were primarily bare dirt in Napa, to just letting the natural weeds do the job, to having a proper ratio of ryes, fescues, and clover We opted for the blend and took significant pains in trying to develop the correct mix that we were going to use. With this mix formula we went to a Johnson's grain store right in Surry to place our order, months in advance of our need. Steve Johnson became our first "go to" guy in setting up our vineyard. We also got a soil test, which led us to having Steve make an application of lyme and later fertilizer to bring all the readings of to par.

Steve took our order for seed, gave me a price, and recorded our need date, leaving me now to go to Surry Equipment to get what was needed to cut this new bed of grass that was going to come up in that Spring. Dave Berryman was the inside sales guy who helped us here. What was great about Dave is that he listens, puts his advice forward whether it is in agreement or not with my original thought process, and is willing to provide never-ending help to get us what we need. He realized I was a novice at all this without reminding me of what little I knew.

Word to the wise.........if you are going to make a major investment in a machine, especially one critical to your operation, like a tractor, stay local. Sure you can price shop to make sure you're not getting hosed, but nothing beats calling your local provider to fix a problem, immediately if need be. That sense of security is worth the few extra bucks you might spend, if you do have to spend extra at all. Most of these guys will treat you very fair because they want all your business, not just what little they win via the cheapest bid.

I've mentioned the tractor, of which I bought a shiny new New Holland 30 hp. with PTO / 3-pt. capability. This is a bare necessity. But to ready the earth you need sometning like a tiller, and I bought one that is 5' wide. Makes the one you rent down at Home Depot or Taylor Rental look like kid stuff. I could do my garden at home in 5 minutes with this baby ! And then you need a spreader of sorts, and of course it needs to be adaptable to the 3-pt. system, and then finally you need a finish mower. Farm equipmentt is not cheap, but in its defense it is the most solid equipment you can buy. Simple in design but solid in construction, it is heavier than lead and is meant to handle alot of abuse. That being said, it does need a minimum of care and if you can shelter it after use it'll last a lifetime. At least that's how I justified all this capital expense for the first 3 acres.

When the time came for me to pick up the grass seed, it wasn't ready. Also, the mix I wanted wasn't available either. My brain was ready to burst. Here I was traveling 12 hours to get to the farm only to find out that the best laid plans hadn't been laid at all. The seed wouldn't be available for a couple more weeks, and I couldn't make the trip back down to Virginia to spread the seed in that time slot. I had to hire a guy down in the area to spread the seed. Though the price I paid may have been fair, it still was a tough nut to swallow not wanting to delegate the task from the beginning. I felt my first chance to start the process had been taken away from me, but I had to accept it and move on.

Weeks went by and Steve got the seed to the contractor. Following that I was like the father of a newborn. I would call Steve and ask him if it had sprouted yet, and over the coming weeks he gave me the play by play. He drove by the farm regularly and took a quick look as he passed. Route 10 however is maybe 15' below land level, so his grass reports were from a distance and based on quick visuals. His reports were positive though and with that I settled into a position of confidence that we were back on track. I scheduled my next trip down a month after the seed went in with the intention of mowing the 3 acres with my new toys.

Weeks went by. I was getting edgy. I was eager to get down and start the physical part of farm work. When I arrived I felt the same as Jack felt when he saw the beanstalk. The grass was waist high ! I knew the land was fertile, and things grew down here like crazy, but I never could imagine the growth I saw. After a nights rest to recover from the long drive, I immediately got the tractor and mower ready for the cutting that needed to be done.

It took most of the morning to cut through the large stems. White powder covered the blue hood of the New Holland. All the stalks looked chewed up instead of showing a nice clean cut. I swear some of them were big enough to be used for lumber, but the tractor and mower survived the ordeal.

My major thought was that I can't wait 4 or 5 more weeks for my next mowing, I had to do it sooner. I scheduled my next trip for 3 weeks away. And three weeks went by very fast only to have me find once again grass that was 3 to 4 feet high. I tried identifying the grasses, and though I knew what rye was, and what clover looked like, I had no clue what fescue (2 types) looked like so I just identified them as such. Foolish me.

Glenn Slade is the local Virginia Tech. Co-Op agent for the area. He was the first person I had talked to to try to understand this farming jazz and what the county could offer in regards to advice. By his own admission he knew very little about grape growing. Whenever a farmer had an issue with one of the big 4 crops he is able to get the answers needed. I went in after one of the mowings and just talked to Glenn about my observations, and out of simple curiosity he decided to come out to the farm and see what was happening. What it did was confirm how much of a city boy I was.

Glenn is an optimistic guide of guy in a real world kind of way. He is himself a farmer of many decades along with holding the Co-op Agent job. He came out and in his matter of fact kind of way he was able to identify every kind of weed I had growing in my fields. Weeds ? I asked him to identify the fescue for me and with some hard searching he was actually able to find small clumps of it here and there. The 3 foot grass was really marestail and a couple of other potent weeds. You see, down In Virginia you don't plant grass seed in late Spring. It only gets burned out and the weeds dominate the landscape. It wouldn't be so bad but later after the grass lost the war several people who were well aware of the goings on could have told me that the seed wasn't going to take.

I guess it is what it is........locals don't want to butt into someone else's business unless they are asked to, especially if it is to a new guy on the block who is planting grapes for the first time in that county since Jamestown was founded.

Recognizing that sometimes you get dealt a bad hand, I decided to overseed in the Fall, preferably in October. Up north we wouldn't think of planting that late, but in Virginia there is still enough time to establish the seed. And it is when the weeds are dormant and won't conflict with the growing grass. Our first big lesson learned.....and not to be our last.

In October one has to think about the following year. You see, with vitus vinifera grapevines they have to be grafted with American rootstock, so early ordering is a must to assure timely delivery. I chose "Tax Day"....April 15th, for our first 2000 grapevines to be delivered. I'm not sure how appropriate that date was, I just knew it was one I wouldn't forget.

DO WE OWN THE LAND OR DOES THE LAND OWN US ?

Diane and I were now the proud owners of a soon- to- be vineyard. Well, I guess it isn't technically a vineyard until we plant our first vines, but that will come in ample time.

Shortly after the long distance closing we made it down to Virginia to see what we had purchased.We decided to spend a long weekend down there, getting the keys from Mike, and opening and closing all the doors and drawers to get a basis point on what we needed to do over the coming months before we could use it as our working retreat from our professional lives up north.

What we found was a fairly well built house (fortunately), though the interior design was somewhat confusing and the last time the interior was updated must have been back when the Brady Bunch was popular. We could see where the previous owner must have taken the advice of the realtor and completely painted the interior.....and I mean completely painted the interior. Ceilings, walls, moldings, door, cabinets.....all one color, a sort of beige. Look at it this way, it made for a great basecoat for our redecoration plans !

There were little things that bugged us.....toilets all seemed to have small leaks in the flappers, one of the dual ovens didn't work, the well pump seemed to be set wrong, and there was a leak near the hot water heater. Oh, and there were the field mice that decided winter was coming and the house provided an opportunity to stay under shelter. All of this was irritating but not too unexpected moving into an old dwelling on a farm. But then came October.......5 inches of rain inside of 24 hours washed out our driveway ! And I mean washed out. A Sherman Tank would have had difficulty getting up the driveway. The way we heard about it was from our oil man. We had ordered a delivery of heating oil to top off our tank but when he drove into the property he was unable to traverse the washout. They called with the bad news, and $4500 later we had to bring in a crew to regrade the driveway and put in a gravel base which had been swept away. Diane and I went down to the vineyard to watch them do the grading, and along with this issue Diane discovered that the furnace didn't work either ! The good news was that the local Surry Hardware store was also an all-purpose operation that had someone on staff that fixed these kind of things, and within a very quick timeframe they got it working properly.

Welcome to the neighborhood !

All we could do was grin and bare it, and start planning for the upcoming year of land prep. and planning, and getting the house so that it was livable. Pray for no more catastrophies. A vineyard is an expensive enough venture without these unknowns creeping in.

Virginia Real Estate 101

The vineyard currently is in its 2nd full year of operation, and following this little excerpt the stories will be more attuned to setting up the vineyard and getting the real process going. But to complete the story......

As I mentioned Mike Lyttle was a key player when it came to finding the "ideal site". He knew what we were looking for, and he also knew vineyard land requirements, which were not necessarily the same. You see, one can read all they can and talk to as many people as time allows, but the fact is that theory and actuality seldom cross paths. Sure, we wanted a south facing slope. Sure, we needed a water source for both irrigation and to make a microclimate. We wanted soil that drained well and was somewhat fertile, and a group of neighbors that would be both helpful and open-minded to what we wanted to do. And of course we wanted to fit in, a couple of Yankees coming down into Southern territory. All this is well and good, but the fact of the matter is that half of those starting a vineyard inherited their land while the other half just had to grab the best piece of land available and make the best of it.

I have seen PBS specials showing grapes growing basically out of a stone covered land with pebbles as big as golf balls, and I have read how there are vineyards in every state of the union. So, even though theory is great, it comes down to finding the best piece of land possible, combined with the right cost, and all with the right timing.

Diane and I had a target for first crush, and knowing this we backed into our start date, and then further into our "time to start looking" kick-off. In this venture there is nothing available that would lead to a quick reward, unless of course money is no object and someone could purchase a running vineyard / winery. There are many out there. It was money we didn't have though (more on that later) and besides, I already defined what makes me happy and the major item is by making something from nothing, which raw land to vineyard to winery certainly meets that bill.

Mike ended up taking a map and making a circle on it. Periodically he would jump in his car and drive this loop, looking for Real Estate signs along the way that might show land for sale. He did this for several weeks, maybe a couple of months, when he finally came across a decent sized piece of land that was undeveloped, over on the Surry side. It was 85 acres with a couple of small out buildings. Perfect land, 5 to 10 minutes from the ferry with good road access.
Typical of how things seemed to go when searching for land 600 miles away from home, Mike sent us pictures and as much legal info. that he could dig up. He highly recommended the land, and from northern standards (that's all we had to go by) it seemed reasonably priced. One catch though, they didn't want any title search or surveying of the land to confirm what they were selling ! Huh ! As good as it sounded they were unwilling to allow the time needed to do a full due diligence. The deal was like that of 2 buddies shaking hands and taking each others word for it. Hardly how we handled real estate in New England. Unfortuantely we had to let it go. Too much to risk on a wing and a prayer. I did see the land at a later date though and it was pretty. Some local developer bought it and apparently is trying to solicit potential buyers for smaller parcels.

It wasn't long afterwards that Mike found another property, also in Surry. Camera phone pictures, as well as internet photos started coming in rapid fire. He had driven around the property with had one major driveway, a ranch style home with a service barn, right on State Route 10, all situated on 32 acres plus or minus. Everything down there is "plus or minus". He dug up what existed of a plot plan and more with his fair share of difficult conversations with the seller's realtor, and once again strongly suggested we put a bid on it if we wanted it.

Real estate, especially that with value or location, doesn't come up often in Surry or in that neck of the woods. We were told that generally a family has to have some financial difficulty to spin off a piece of land and not leave it to other family members, though that wasn't the particular case here. We are talking about land and homes that have been in the family for generations and generations. If it is a nice piece of land, locals will grab it before the sign is put in the ground out by the road. Good real estate is on the market for only days, if it ever gets that far. It was a pace I wasn't used to in New England (who says the south moves at a slower pace ?). We were going on pure faith, site unseen except for Mike's pictures and input. We put an opening bid on the property with what we felt were normal conditions and contingencies, and this is when the fireworks began.

I have purchased alot of real estate in my days. Personal residences as well as commercial property for my business. After a while you begin to see the pattern. All the legalities, the surveys, the financial approvals. There is a way of doing things, and it pretty much has to follow a certain order to be done correctly and efficiently. But the realtor (or is it Virginia'a way of doing things ?) would have none of it.

I suggested getting a survey to be taken, at my expense. The map we were given had borders that were defined by colored rocks, fallen trees, sites in the distance, you name it. With the survey I suggested that if it came out more than the plus or minus, I'd pay a prorated increase, and that if it came out under I would pay less. They would have nothing to do with it......the price was set, not negotiable for even the most valid reasons. Where have I heard that before ? And then to make it contingent based on financing, even with a time constraint, they didn't care. This was the price, they expected a buyer to have a trunk of cash, and that was that. The realtor even tried to tell me that the acreage was probably more because of the rolling hill in the back providing more square footage of workable land. Trust me , it gets worse but I'll stop here. We had to rush and get financial approvals on land that wasn't even a signed deal (who does this kind of thing ?).

In any event, we finally made an offer. Diane and I hadn't seen or walked the property at all. And they approved. Two weeks later we made it down to Surry to see what we got ourself into, including driving up the driveway and turning around and driving away. Once the seller's realtor found out we did this she called Mike and yelled at him for our "trespassing" ! You figure. And then when we needed one more day to get the banks and signatures to sign off on the closing, she refused saying the seller was going to Florida the next day and couldn't move the closing (sorry, we were told by neighbors that he never left for Florida). We used Federal Express to shuffle all the paperwork, and for the first time I didn't get to go to my own closing due to this strict unilateral deadline.

I had a strange combination of feelings. Frustration at how complicated the purchase and closing had become. Grateful that Mike made some really good calls on the real estate, and the extra effort he put in dealing with the seller's realtor. Bewildered at how this level of legal transaction can be treated so casually. Miffed at how we were basically introduced to southern hospitality with such a negative attitude. And wonder....wondering what we got ourselves into purchasing land, a house unseen with the next 40 years of our future being started on a once again on a wing and a prayer.

But the fun, I mean work, had just begun.......

THE END OF THE ROAD

By now we were fairly worn out. Looking at the east coast for prime farming land seemed like an act of despiration....a lost cause. After all, think of New England having any affordable farm land near the shore....I can't.

But we were determined to give this idea a try, so we went about mapping out the area and setting a target for our next trip down to Virginia to do exploring. We felt almost like Lewis and Clark, except we were going to visit Williamsburg as our vacationing excuse (see a theme here ?).

Luck have it, I was contacted by a real estate agent up here in Massachusetts who was putting together potential clients who might be selling commercial property, and in an off-handed way I thought I'd throw a teaser at him. Does he know of any real estate agents in eastern Virginia, with vineyard experience, that he could put us in contact with ? He didn't flinch and said he'd get back to me. Sure, I wasn't waiting for that call soon, but was I surprized when he called the next day and gave me a name of an agent located right in Williamsburg whom he said could help me.

With some cynicism I called up Mike Lyttle at Prudential and had a short talk with him, only to find out that his professional career started in Napa Valley, and that he had taken part in setting up several vineyards. Was I surprized ! He actually talked the talk, and walked the walk. I immediately called Diane and the 2 of us scheduled a trip south to talk to Mike about our needs and dreams.

We spent over an hour with Mike in his office going over what we theoretically felt were the requirements of our land and vineyard, and Mike constructively put his 2 cents in. He didn't have any parcels for us to look at just then, and I have found this to be normal procedure when we talk to people. No one seems to take us seriously at first. They let us go through the motions some more before they realize we are committed to the project. That was the case here too but what Mike did was map out a driving tour of the area so that when he did locate something that we would have a good idea as to where he was directing our attention. And that's when he sent us into "no man's land". You see, Williamsburg is a solid tourist destination, with its historical significance, Busch Gardens, and home of William & Mary College. Surrounded by old plantations and having a close proximity to Newport News and Virginia Beach, it is a major draw in the area. But Mike gave us a spot to look at that seemed worlds away. Just south of Williamsburg is Jamestown, and south of Jamestown is the James River. And south of that is Surry County, a still rural farming community with sparse housing. The only way to get across the river was via ferry, something Diane and I had never done, except for one trip in Europe. Ferry seemed like a real stretch as to what we wanted to do, or had planned. We didn't exactly jump at the idea, though when we started to do our tour we figured we might as well do it, if for no other reason than it being an adventure and that we could tell Mike we tried it and be able to say thanks but no thanks.

The ferry ride was novel. It almost seemed romantic. All in all it takes about 20 minutes to cross the river......it is fairly wide at this point. The ferry is large enough to hold well over 50 cars, so it took the waves well. The surprizing thing about it is that it is free. That's right.....I'll say it again....FREE !! Up where we live in Massachusetts it would be another way to sock the taxpayer.....easily a $5.00 charge. However, down here in Virginia they seem to have a sensible way of looking at things, and periodically they review the bridge vs. ferry debate and up to now figure the ferry is the best option available. Also Surry does not have alot of business for people to work at, and the trip to Williamsburg shouldn't cost an arm and a leg to just get to and from work. Wild idea, huh ?

Diane and I took the trip, and using a mapbook we zigged and zagged around the county to see what a true farming community looked like. Well, it looks like farming land, and lots of it. Small houses intermingled with the land, sometimes tucked way in the back by the forest line, but usually right on top of the road for easy access (most likely from the builder's point of view). All the roads seemed to meander, and most had names only the locals would remember due to their being named after civil war battles or families who had been there for generations.

One of the things we did find out though was that Virginia Beach was a mere 45 minutes to our east, as was Norfolk / Newport News. Richmond was 45 minutes or so to our west, and in less than an hour there were 3 major airports. Smithfield was just 15 minutes down the road (think Smithfield Hams) and was a small tourist attraction in itself. Taking into account the ferry ride and the fact that it seems you always had to wait to get on it (it runs a minimum of once an hour and more during rush hour, 24 hours a day) figure another 45 minutes to get into Williamsburg.

Little did we know that Mike would find the perfect property right here in Surry....a one horse town (OK, they got their first traffic light in 2008 !), and we would be the proud owners of a vineyard start-up. The fun (I mean work) was almost ready to begin !