The incredible story of the twig that became a vine

A few years have passed since this huge vine that now reaches the house and shades almost the entire garden, was just a 20 cm sprig inside a jar.
My sister bought it in a supermarket and brought it home with the hope that it would grow a little…

Growth and care

In truth, the first step in transforming that small branch into a vine that produced table grapes in large quantities and also a lot of shade, was to move everything to the sun and, above all, to the ground.
From that moment on, the growth of the plant has never stopped and, for years, it has seemed unstoppable.
In the first few years, I had the naivety of entrusting the care of the vine, which by now reached a height of one and a half to two meters, to the hands of presumed experts in the area.
This has done nothing but stop or limit the growth of the vine in the summer.
When, on the other hand, I gave free rein to my father’s hands and shears, who worked hard to learn how to take care of the type of plant by watching various tutorials on the internet, the vine started growing again without stopping and, above all produce grapes in large quantities.

The wind and the fall

When the vine was high and strong, the usual storm with a very strong wind happened and, when I returned in the evening, I found it on the ground.
At that point I thought it was destroyed and dead, but once again it was my father who believed it. We pulled it up and fixed it so that such an event wouldn’t repeat itself, then we cut the branches (at the right time). A lot of sap was leaking from the branches which made me assume that the plant was still alive!
We covered all the prunings with food paper in order to protect the most sensitive areas and, surprisingly, after a few weeks the vine started producing large quantities of leaves and branches again!
Since then the grapes have also grown in greater quantities and the branches now reach the house (calculate 2 meters in height plus 3 or 4 in the direction of the house!)

The flood of 2023

In the image above, a little photoshopped, the vine photographed a few days before writing this article.
Last May a landslide came down here and the garden was filled with mud.
Not to mention the two weeks of rain and all the volunteers (thanks  to them), who spent days and days in and out of the garden mistreating the vines and other plants.
Despite everything, the one who seems to have benefited most from all this water, mud, then sun and beautiful people, seems to have been her.
The great vine that was once just a small branch in a vase, today has already reached the house, is embracing it and is already loaded with grapes.
Next year another vine will arrive…
Who knows what her story will be like?