To new beginnings.

This past saturday was spend preparing for the coming vines, own rooted Vidal Blanc that will be planted on a little over 0.5 acre of an east facing slope that looks toward the pond. The vidal will share the space with a small planting of Apple trees started from seeds that were collected from Arkansas Black apples last fall. All these things are very exciting and represent a large amount of labor and hope in the future, the real reason for this post is to share a new farm implement! We picked up this Dirt Dog ripper a couple weeks ago and finally got to try it out on saturday.

Rippers improve aeration in the soil as well as breaking up our hard pan clay and making a more desirable planting bed for the coming vines. It is essentially a knife that cuts a thin line through the soil and will cause less erosion than a plough while still breaking up our heavy soils. Enjoy the video if my dad on our old ford tractor with ripper in toe.