We walked the farm fields Friday afternoon with Ben Beale from the Univ. of Maryland and St. Mary’s County, to discuss the viability of our soil for growing grapes. Thumbs up from Ben! We have some of the best agriculture soil there is in the county, and some soggy areas as well. After sending soil samples to the Virginia Tech labs testing for nematode levels (too many are bad for grapes) we will make our vine order and plant our first acre next spring!

Saturday morning we met with one of St. Mary’s best barn rehab experts, Jeff Thompson of Colonial Woodwrights. Jeff said the barn is in pretty good shape considering it was pretty much hidden by vines and trees a few weeks ago. We learned a few things about the barn as well. It’s 80 x 30, 20 room barn which is about twice the size of a standard turn of the century tobacco barn. Jeff will replace the rotting wood, repair a damaged sill, and the barn will be home for our goats, sheep, llama, and a donkey or two.