Were the druids afraid of having the recipe for their potion stolen? In any case, you consistently refused to put anything down in writing. It is therefore not easy for scientists to find clues about the language of our Celtic ancestors. An important source are the names of fields and waters, as well as old terms linked to work in agriculture. The Gauls' signs of life can also be found in viticulture. In addition to Lay, the synonym for slate, the Gallic origin is also considered to be certain when it comes to the term "sorrow". We call grief the gravel with which the soil in our vineyards is covered. And we call taking care of the stones or sorrowing.

Bei der Weinbergsarbeit kullern übers Jahr viele Steine hangabwärts und liegen dann meist auf der Mauern und auf den Treppen. Ganz schön gefährlich, da es hier auf einen sicheren Tritt ankommt. Ein Arbeitsgang im Winter heißt daher: "Mauern abschöpfen". Die Steine werden dabei auf die jeweils untere Terrasse geschaufelt. Da so von der obersten Terrasse immer mehr Steine verschwinden muss sie in regelmäßigen Abständen gekümmert werden. Dort, wo die höchstgelegene Terrasse an einem Fels endet, wurden früher Steine gebrochen, mit einem schweren Hammer zerkleinert und dann gleichmäßig verteilt. Bis in die 1950er Jahre, wie ältere Kollegen berichten.

And today? We do our best to keep the term, which is over 2000 years old, alive! In some vineyards, especially in the Uhlen, the wild boars help us. In search of acorns in the forest above the terraces, they often carry more stones down into the valley than we would like, and we have to protect the sticks from falling rocks with a solid bridle. The other extreme are vineyards that end on a farm road. Here grief is often in short supply throughout the vineyard. Fortunately, we can approach here with a truck, tip the stones (carefully) and pull them downhill with the hoe. With the amount of stones and the many hours of work, it has something of Sisyphus. Especially since it has to be repeated every par years. But after more than 10 years we are already seeing quite acceptable results here and there. Vineyards that we plant from scratch give us a greater sense of achievement. We don't have to be considerate of the vines and can let the stones thunder through pipes into the valley. At the last completely taken care of the vineyard - see photos - we spread an incredible 250 tons of gravel per 1000 m²! Two weeks of work - and a crash like an earthquake. But then ... we planted the vineyard in 2018, the driest year in a long time. And the vines grew! Slowly, but with dark green, healthy leaves. Indeed, grief not only protects the soil from erosion, it also protects it from evaporation. And last but not least, grief is the best protection against unpleasant vegetation from grass, wind, and blackberries. Admittedly, running over gravel isn't much fun at the beginning. But since we are working horizontally today, after a few years the stones in the row will be arranged into small, quite comfortable, micro-terraces. The stones get caught and stay where they are. A vineyard for 100 years!

Like dry-walling, caring is one of the apparently anachronistic investments that we particularly love.

Dry stone walls

the simple that is difficult to do

Delicate feminism

Video with Kathrin Höhler

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