Tie with wicker

Cool! I didn't know the correct english word for it :P and thanks to mr.Gççgle Translate hopefully I got it right. So apparently "wicker" is the english for the italian word "vimini", a variety of willow commonly used for basketry and... tying stuff!

Willow wicker between two grapevines

Our elders here still do it, so I decided to learn it right away as soon as I could... and teach my son as well! He can do it now that he is 8 years old, of course! This is our homeschooling way, right there in our never-ending outdoor classroom.



This is one of the many many ties that had to do to rearrange the little family vineyard that I am managing since last year.

At the end of this post there is a short video clip showing how to tie with wicker.
The next sequence shows one of the grapevines before and after pruning and tying session. A lot of branches had to come down from this really impressive puzzle. 
Honestly I am very debated on the issue of pruning/no-pruning. At this point I cannot yet manage this space in a totally free way but I am envisioning in the near future an area where to let the grapevines go freely. For now I am just aiming at mastering the basic techniques of conventional pruning.

 Before

 After

 Left branch

Right branch

Finally here is a short video clip showing how to do this tie. It's very simple and lasts long time, sometimes over a year. Pretty amazing hardy stuff.

By the way, at the end of the whole tying process, as I had been automatically Permaculturizing this little plot, we ended up with possibly a couple of dozens new willow-wicker baby trees... just by sticking leftover branches in the ground!
Next year or two, we kick in weaving baskets.