Handling Hillsides

Our vines are on a pretty steep hillside. Good news is that it's great exercise. Bad news is that I've been known to slip, twist ankles, etc - which is especially bad when wearing a 4-gallon backpack sprayer or carrying an armful of clippings.

So I investigated how others solve this problem, and remember the Mosel River Valley, in Germany. They used funiculars - these cool carts on rail systems that went up & down the slope of the hill, to make pruning and harvesting easier.

I posed the idea to my super handy husband - who at first was not interested at all, but given time he realized it was (a) an interesting puzzle, and (b) a project where he gets to build stuff.

So here's a picture of round one - a staircase ALL along the steepest side of the vineyard. It's 86 steps long (I think, I counted with my 4-year old nephew who may have missed a number or two).

Now it's a snap to get up & down, AND my boots are less likely to be caked in mud. Yeay!