Bob’s a Natural with Fertilizer

Down from the house along the top of the vineyard, making my way to the olive grove

The view is lovely… if you can see past the rust bucket.

660 lbs of fertilizer in the hooptie – made it to the top of the olive grove

Sweet Baby G looks great even when she’s spreading fertilizer.

Bob looking kind of Amish hauling fertilizer down on the farm. (The stuck Land Cruiser is visible in the upper right corner of the picture.)

A fixin’ to fix the stick.

225 kg of fertilizer down; only 75 kg to go

We celebrated surviving the fertilizer fiasco – snacks and cocktails on the terrace, with a gorgeous sunset.

Due to timing, competing schedules, and a general sense that the Americans should put a little more elbow grease into Tutto Doppio, we were informed that this year we would need to fertilize the olive grove by hand.  That’s 300 kg of fertilizer to haul down into the grove and then to spread (somewhat) carefully around each of approximately 300 trees.

I had the GENIUS idea of using my 1974 Land Cruiser to haul the fertilizer to the top of the grove… which, rather miraculously, worked.  The problem was getting the jalopy back to the house.  That didn’t happen; she’s currently proudly stuck just above the grove, prominently displayed for everyone in our neck of the woods to see.  Umberto, the tractor expert, has promised to help pull it out… as soon as he feels that putting any type of mechanical equipment up there is safe.