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April 28, 2008
Green Manure
Spring has sprung and with it comes the endless blossoming of flowers, plants, and hay fever in Napa Valley. One cannot help but notice a difference in all of the vegetation. Being ever so curious, I wondered what's the relationship between the flowers, weeds, and the grapevines. I sought out Dean, our Winemaker, and as I expected there is a purpose for it all...
I was introduced to the function of cover crops.
Cover crops also called "green manure" are broadly defined as any plant grown to improve any number of conditions associated with sustainable agriculture. They are fundamental, sustainable tools used to manage soil fertility, soil quality, water, weeds, pests, diseases, and wildlife.
The endless yellow blooms painted up and down the valley is mustard, which is common is not only Napa Valley but the California coast as well. Although pretty, mustard plays a very small role in the production and management of vines.
Mustard field as seen from WLW parking lot
From Dean I learned there are two different kinds of cover crops: permanent and seasonal. The seasonal seeds are planted in the fall after harvest. They grow during the winter and then are cultivated in the spring. This is done in order to prevent erosion. When I heard erosion I thought, "Huh, we don't have hillside vineyards?" Dean went on to explain that even though the vineyards appear to be flat there is still a possibility of losing good topsoil in the winter months.
The purpose for permanent cover crops and/or weeds is to have something living in the soil at all times. Other benefits are to aid in weed control, reduce soil erosion, and to increase soil and water quality. Some soils are extremely rich so there is almost a necessity to grow permanent ground coverage. Our Bommarito vineyard located on Galleron Road in the Rutherford Appellation of the Napa Valley has such soil. So these 25 acres have a cover crop year round.
The traditional cover crop we use are fava beans or broad beans. Broad beans have a long tradition of cultivation in Old World agriculture, being among the most ancient plants in cultivation and also among the easiest to grow. Fava's are utilized because they can over-winter and because as a legume, they fix nitrogen in the soil.
Fava Beans in our Oak Glen Vineyard
Another important thing I learned is how these crops are planted. Cover crops are planted in either one of two ways: every row or every other row. It all depends on how much vigor we want to control in the vineyard. The vines and cover crops compete for water and nutrients. If there are cover crops planted on in every row there is more vine stress and therefore the capability to control the vivacity of the vines. If the cover crops are planted in every other row than the vine is able to put more energy into its leaves and branches thus giving more to produce better grapes.
Every row- Fawn Park Vineyard
Every other row- Estate Vineyard
No cover crops- Fawn Park Vineyard
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April 24, 2008
Leaving My Mark
On the day of the Big Pour I couldn't resist having a little fun. Tom Sr. wouldn't mind if I leave my mark? I mean a giant lightning bolt isn't too noticeable, right? Besides I'd blame it on Mike. After all he was the one taking the photos.
I even conned Fernando into joining me. Oohhh... busted!!!
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April 23, 2008
The Big Pour
On April 23rd cement trucks filed into our driveway one after another. A light drizzle started off the day. But by 11am the rains were gone and the sun gave way to the perfect cement pouring day. Check out the flames on the remote-controlled boom truck. And that industrial sized cement polisher, now that's what I'm talking about...
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April 14, 2008
Life in the Trenches
With a sigh of relief, I'm glad to report that our construction zone doesn't have that man from Mars, Twilight Zone eeriness anymore. They filled all those open trenches with concrete.
After several months of what seemed like daily dirt pushing, the early stages of a building began to appear. On the morning of March 31st, the cement mixers started showing up two at a time. But the coolest part of the day was watching a giant remote controlled arm soaring through the air and dumping concrete all over the job site. Apparently this contraption is known as a truck-mounted boom pump. It uses a remote-controlled articulating robotic arm to distribute the concrete. The guy working the video game-like remote control moved the boom with pinpoint accuracy and even used a little body English to guide the boom. (He sort of reminded me of an old boyfriend who spent way too much time playing video games, creepy.) There were workers inside the trenches, slogging through the wet concrete as they guided and smoothed it around.
I got to thinking, what if I were working the remote and one or two of my co-workers (or that old boyfriend) were in the trench guiding the concrete... they never did find Jimmy Hoffa!
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April 7, 2008
Crop Circles
The other day Wendy Day, our hospitality maven, made a comment about our new building and it has really stuck with me. So much so that I had to blog about it.
"It looks like crop circles out there," Wendy said. And it's true our 'barrel warehouse' resembles a scene from a Sci-fi flick. But in the place of eerie cornfields there are picturesque grape vines. The trenches for the foundation are dug and if you briefly look at the dirt it sure looks like we had an extraterrestrial visitor here at Whitehall. I'm just glad that I'm not here at night or my imagination would really get the best of me... You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone...( Do do do doo... do do do doo... do do do doo...)
TV Themes - Twilight Zone.mp3
The technical term for those designs scratched deep into the dirt is "excavated footings," or so I am told. This large grid pictured below is the outline of the new building and where the foundation will be. I am really looking forward to the progress and actually seeing something rising out of the dirt, like a building and not the man from Mars.
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