2013 – A Recap of a great year on the vineyard!
A recap of a fantastic year at the vineyard:
- In May we removed 142 frost-destroyed old vines and replanted new ones.
- On June 1 we planted another 250 new Marquette vines.
- We trimmed, mowed, sprayed, and tended our 580 productive vines all Summer
- On September 7th we harvested 5,035 pounds of beautiful Marquette grapes, delivering them to a local winery, donating the net profits to our charities for these efforts.
The September picking was our first harvest in less than good weather. Although it started out sunny at 9 am, it began to rain by noon and we finished at 2:30 pm. All of our volunteers raced down to a terrific hot stew and social
Lost Creep Hippies Vineyard - 2013
time. As usual that was great fun and we had yet another opportunity to talk too and thank our 36 volunteers. The social time went well into the evening (which was clear), we had fun joking and telling stories around the campfire. Some stayed up later than others!
The most important thing however was that we did well for our 3 outstanding charities!
Our 5,035 pounds of grapes earned us $4,028.00!
After deducting $1,883.00 in operating expenses, we were able to donate $2,145.00 to our 3 charities. This means that $715.00 (47% increase from last year!) went directly into the pockets of our three charities:
As a result of everyone’s efforts, many people in Minneapolis have a better life, many lower income Minnesotans can live in decent and affordable housing, they will see their lives changed for the better and children in Afghanistan and Pakistan will continue to receive an education, thereby breaking the cycle of ignorance-breeding-poverty-breeding hatred and violence.
We are all connected in this world of ours, so as many others live better lives, we are better for this!
Whats Next?
We plan to relax (somewhat) this winter! We will trim in March and April, planting more vines again on Saturday, June 7th. We will once again have a fun time, so set your calendar!
Have a happy Thanksgiving, a Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year! Soon-after we will all wonder why we’re living here in January and February. Then, it will be spring and another interesting and no doubt eventful year will begin.
We will send out a news update in April – hope to see you next year!
The Board, Lost Creek Hippies Vineyard