7 days 'til Peru: waiting for grapes
I'm in the last week's countdown until I leave for Peru. This means getting and organizing all the 'stuff' I'll need for living out of a suitcase for 21 days in a variety of climates and altitudes. It also means making sure my yard is in tip top shape because by the time I get back it will be October, officially fall weather, and it's cold working outside.
I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of my grapes. What if they don't ripen before I leave? Oh, the tragedy!
This year produced 4 times the amount of grapes as last year and I didn't cut any of them back in a greedy attempt to harvest as many grapes as possible. Now, I'm thinking that perhaps that too many grape bunches don't allow the vine to put enough energy into ripening all of them. We had some great warm, sunny summer weather although the last month has been colder and wet. But last year was so wonderful! I had about ten sweet ripe bunches of grapes to eat, make grape juice with and share with friends. I thought that it would just be better this year!
Well, we'll see what happens. I might get wild and crazy and cut some back or just have patience and let my house sitter note if and when they ripen (and if they do ripen, she'll get to eat all the grapes, no fair!!).