Howard-Hill Vineyard

Has it really been 4 years since we've last updated this blog?  How life has crept up on us!  Life has changed dramatically in those 4 short/long years.  Ethan is 20, a junior at our local Polytechnic University majoring in Computer Science.  He will graduate May 2021 and plans to attend Texas A&M for his master's degree.  Whoop!  Isaac is a senior and has already been accepted to the Welding Technology program where he will graduate May 2021 with an AAS in Welding Technology.  His plan is to work with his craft until he can decided where to go from there.  Khloe is now 11 and has blossomed into a lovely, kind and generous girl.  She loves to read and all things British and wants to be a cosmetologist when she is able.  Evan is almost 10 and very much a boy!  He loves to play outside, build bird houses and trade Pokémon cards.  Eilee is now 6 1/2 and is all spunk!  She is smart, sassy and keeps us in stitche...

This Saturday, I will be holding my last Spring plant sale in the Vineyard. May 21, 2016 from 9am until 2pm 9969 US HWY 271 just 1.2 miles north of Union Grove ISD Planting during the Summer is simply not the best idea because it just gets too hot in Late June/July. Keeping the young plants well-watered without a good start in root development can be such a chore. This sale will be the last time I offer plants to the public until after the Fall harvest in September. We will be offering limited numbers of the following vines: MUSCADINES:  1) "Tara" (Bronze) - 1 & 3 gallon pots...................$7 each 2) "Southland" (Black) - 1 gallon pots only...........$5 each   [Our Best Seller] If you remember picking muscadines as a kid or know a family member that makes muscadine jelly these newer varities are going to really surprise you.  A single mature muscadine vine of the variety that we sell can produce between 50 and 100 pounds o...

Ethan and I planted over 740 plants today.  We started what I hope will be all the plants we need for our Spring garden and the beginnings of some of our Spring offerings in the new Nursery. I hope to have some traffic in March and there should be lettuce greens, beans, squash, cucumbers. and several other garden varieties just in time for the last frost date. Thanks for your help today, Ethan.   It was fun working with you today and discussing existential things. ~ Dad

2016 State of the Vineyard This year, Bill Howard and I were able to complete the pruning of the muscadine vineyard by February 1st.  That was a real milestone for us.  In years past we struggled to get half of the vines pruned before the buds began to swell in late March. (That is not a good thing.) We started cutting back to the fruiting nodes earlier this year and were intentional about completing the job before we got distracted with other tasks.  I was intentionally focused on this one thing. Being intentional got it done.   The "oldest" block in our vineyard was planted from 2009 to 2010, and it consisted mostly of 'Ison' and 'Seedless Fry' cultivars.  I was not interested in propagation of vines at that time, nor was I really interested in crafting my own wines.  I just planted seedless grapes that the kids might eat and their required pollinators. those vines turned out to be a great learning experience for us as we lost nearly 30% of wh...

Why soaked grains?  Since our son was 10 months old and came to live with us from a foster care situation, he has been sick.  He has suffered from asthma, recurring staph infections, perpetual ear and sinus infections and gastrointestinal issues including reflux, continual diarrhea and vomiting when he ate.  Coming from a foster care perspective, I really didn't have a choice but to explore every medical option available to us.  He had ongoing appointments with a pediatrician, gastroenterologist, pulmonologist, internal medicine, immunologist, allergist and an infectious disease specialist.  Countless tests, vials of blood work, endless paper work, exhausting daily medications and a lot of waiting and tears later, all we were told is that his immunities were low and not functioning but there was no definitive reason as to why.  The answer was always the same...take this new medication, it will help or one more sinus surgery to clear out excess tissue ...

I am an all or nothing kinda girl.  I  get an idea into my head that excites me and I want to only do that RIGHT NOW!!  This way of thinking has caused me to spend money on lots of things I didn't really know what to do with such as a new sewing machine, sewing table, patterns, thread, sewing videos and fabric.  3 years later, I still don't know how to thread my bobbin :)  This is just one of many examples Mostly, I do it with food .  My heart longs for the way that we people ate about a hundred years ago.  All natural, with no fillers or preservatives.  No cancer causing chemicals or hardly recognizable man made junk that make our food "taste good" and last for months on the pantry shelf.  I have read too many Little House on the Prairie books in my homeschooling lifetime and I totally idealized this in my head.  It's hard work eating this way but nevertheless, my heart always goes back to wanting to feed my family foods that are...