in the vineyard

End of winter...  and it’s time to prune the vineyards.

A friend of mine is the viticulturist on a beautiful farm up the road from me, so I put on my boots and headed to the vineyards to get some vine shoots for making wreaths.  They are so easy and cheap to make and I love them...

:-) for your information...

viticulture  (ˈvɪtɪˌkʌltʃə)
— n
1.	the science, art, or process of cultivating grapevines
2.	the study of grapes and the growing of grapes
[C19: viti-,  from Latin vītis  vine]
viti'cultural
— adj
viti'culturer
— n
viti'culturist
— n

Collins English Dictionary

To make the wreath

You need:

• ·         A pair of sharp garden shears
• ·         Vine shoots (free of leaves and fruit, but leave the curly bits on the vine, they look pretty)
• ·         Ribbon and decorations

When cutting the vine shoots make sure you cut long pieces that easily bends.  [Best is to craft the grapevine wreaths soon after you have cut the vines. ]

Starting off use the one end of the vine shoot to form a circle, then use the loose end and wrap it around the circle that you have made in a spiral fashion.  When you reach the end of this vine, tuck the end into the circle that you have wrapped.  

 Then take the next shoot and tuck it in between two wrapped pieces close to where the previous vine ended, and again wrap it around in a spiral fashion, when you have reached the end tuck the end of the grapevine into the wreath as before.  Continue until your wreath is the desired thickness.

Grapevine wreaths make a lovely decoration to use as is tied with a ribbon. You can also use it as a base to hang decorations from, spray-paint it white, use it horizontally tied with a few ribbons as a chandelier base. There are many ways you can use the wreath...