Blodgett - Pierce Family --- Family Stories
Memoirs of life growing up on a farm in Chautauqua County
by Barbara (Blodgett) Vannier
Grapes
The countryside around the town of Fredonia, in western New York, where our farm was located,
was called "The Grape Belt". The main crop on all the farms in this area, including my father's,
was grapes because the conditions for grape farming - weather, soil, drainage and proximity to
Lake Erie - were all ideal. There was a processing plant that made Welch's grape juice which
bought the grapes right there, too.
Grapes require special care. In the winter Dad dressed warmly and spent any days pruning
the excess growth from the vines, leaving only enough to support the next crop of grapes.
Because he had the knowledge and experience needed for this critical operation, he did it
himself. He had been brought up on a grape farm and had graduated from Cornell University,
majoring in agriculture.
After the pruning was finished he hired a man to help him with the other tasks. First they
had to pull all the brush he had trimmed from the vines. Next the brush had to be cleared
from the rows. I really don't remember how that was done and neither do I remember what
was done with the brush, but I think they must have burned it.
The wires that held the grapevines were strung on posts, which the frost raised up every year.
So early in the spring the men "pounded the posts". They did this by riding down the row on
a wagon drawn by a horse, giving each post a whack with a heavy maul as they passed it.
This was easier said than done. The wagon was moving, the post was a small target, and the
maul was heavy. Each time they hit a post they had just enough time to raise the maul again
before they came to the next post. I used to watch this process with awe. After they had
completed this feat, the wires had to be re-stretched.
Then several ladies, including my mother, tied the vines to the wires. This was done before
the buds came out, to prevent any buds from being broken off. So this task had to be done
before the weather became warm. This meant that these ladies had to work outside while it
was still cold.
Unlike pruning and tieing, grape picking was an easier process. It was done on a pleasant fall
day. The grapes were usually picked by the same ladies who had tied the vines to the wires.
Sometimes we children got to help. I didn't mind that at all.
While our parents were busy working with the grapes, the boys did the tasks around the barn,
like feeding the animals and cleaning the stable and I did the housework.
When I came home from school on the days Mother was either tieing or picking grapes,
I might find a note telling me what to do to help prepare supper for the family. On one
such occasion I was asked to cook macaroni. I sat on a stool right in front of the stove,
reading a book. (I was about ten and an avid reader.) The smell of smoke alerted me to
the fact that the macaroni was burning. I quickly grabbed the pot, but it was too hot, so I
set it on the floor. After getting potholders, I tried to pick it up, but it was stuck to the floor.
A piece of the linoleum came up with it. I can't remember being scolded or punished, perhaps
because it was new linoleum with a design in squares that could be easily replaced with
left-over pieces, or perhaps because they knew I had tried to do what Mother asked.