Yesterday I took a drive to Caruthers, California. It was a classic Craigslist deal: Drive to the middle of nowhere, pull up to a random home, and score a deal under nearly regrettable circumstances. The town itself is quite literally, smack dab in the middle of California. Tucked just south of Fresno in-between Highway 5 and 99, Caruthers is one of those anonymous farming communities that without their existence, we'd have to live with less corn, table grapes, and almonds in our world.

I bought stakes. I had intended to purchase 800 of them, but only 500 were available and met our needs. The stakes will be used to train our vines vertically in their early years. If we decide to "head train" our vines, we'll only use these posts for the first five years and then the vine will support itself. If we decide to install a trellis system, these post will remain permanently. More on that later...

500 Stakes @ 75 cents per piece + 1 Post Pounder @ $29.99 = 2016 Gym Membership

J&SK