18. Holes...

Last weekend I tested out this Bobcat auger. I need to drill a hole roughly 9" wide and 10"-18" deep for each of the 7,250 vines to be planted in. The good news is that the auger powered through the rocky soil like a champ and was quite easy to control. The not-so-good news is that it is going to take foreeeeeeeever to drill all those holes. My estimate is that is will take 21 days to drill all the necessary holes. The auger also left most of the loosened dirt inside the hole which will need to be puled out before planting, probably with a post hole digger. There is plenty of time before planting to get this done, though, I plan to wait until my deer fence is put in to start making the holes to prevent any humans, horses, etc. that might wander onto the property from falling in.

Now that the rest of the holes are made for the tent platform footings, I am planning to get the tent platform finished up as soon as possible. The tent should be all finished and ready for habitation by Thanksgiving. So mark you calendars and come visit!

Other things:

1) I am now thinking that I will not use a trellis and will train my Cabernet Sauvignon children as bush vines! If you have any thoughts about this, leave a comment or send me an email.

2) The irrigation water storage tank should be put in soon, 28,000 gallons!

3) Alta Marfa shirts will soon be available on Amazon! That's right, Prime shipping!

It works! Only 7,249 more to go...

I thought about shifting up to rabbit speed, but I decided to stay at turtle speed.

Using this machine it looks like I will be able to drill rows of holes about 3.5' apart.

I took advantage of the auger to drill holes for the rest of the concrete footings that the tent platform will sit on.

So Marfa...