8/2/08



Welcome to Mike and Christine's blog!!!

The first section of the Casa Somerset vineyard is in!
We are located on 287th Street in Paola, KS.

That is me (Christine) getting ready for the planting!

The weekend of May 25th, some VERY good friends came out and helped us plant 400 cabernet grape vines on the gentle western slope of the property. As you can see, the vines overlook the lake, which is rather scenic!

Mike and I decided a year or so ago to plant some grape vines. We asked Dennis Reynolds of Somerset Ridge Winery to help us obtain the vines. Our vines are Norton cabernet and were grown in Illinois, so they will withstand the cold Kansas winters without dying. We decided the initial planting would be 10 rows of 40 vines each. They are approx. 5 feet apart in the row, and the rows are 9 feet apart. We had the rows trenched 2 feet deep, to make planting easier.

Because we are going to grow organically, we brought in cotton burr compost to add to each of the plants as they were put in the ground. (Mike is an organic gardener, so we are going to have organic wine!!) We have added cotton burr compost to the rows now, which helps to control the grass growing between the vines, as well as nourish the vines.

Right now the vines are growing in "Blue Tubes" (you can "Google" that) which protect the vines and help them to grow. A tall bamboo stake holds each one upright. You might wonder "where do you buy 400 bamboo stakes?", but our friends just up the road at the Somerset Ridge Winery helped us find BWI in Lenexa, KS., which has just about everything you could want for growing and gardening!

We are also building a house on the property. The house is up higher on the slope with a view of the lake and vines. I know eventually it will look beautiful. As soon as they start framing, I will add some pictures of the progress.
Christine