BUGS

One of my greatest concerns in the vineyard is BUGS. One has to develop a BUG eye, the ability to see bugs. Unfortunately I treat bugs like commercials: if they aren't crawling on me I ignore them.

Karen has a great bug eye. From across the room I can tell when she's spotted something crawling around in the corner ten feet from her with no lights on. She has this certain expression that is a combination of disgust and why haven't I disposed of this creature yet. This habit is extraordinarily effective with her roses and orchids. She will notice immediately if there is something crawling underneath a leaf that shouldn't be there.

But I'm a big picture sort of person.

So with a vineyard it will be imperative for me to focus on a level of life that I am not accustomed. Early and often.

It is estimated that there are approximately 10 quintillion (10,000,000,000,000,000,000) individual insects alive. There are 1,017,018 species of insects in the world with some experts estimating that there just might be as many as 10 million species out there.

And they are hungry.

Our objective is to develop an organic, sustainable vineyard. So management of insects that are interested in dining on grape vines is rather important.

Oregon has a sustainable, organic program certifying vineyards for good agricultural practices. They offer assistance in attaining this certification and helpful hints about good practices.

The state of California provides all kinds of information about insects, plant diseases, recognition and methods for combating problems. There are descriptions of which bugs are good and of the good bugs which ones will eat other good bugs. Praying mantis eat other bugs. But they do no discriminate. So they will eat any other bug that comes along including other praying mantis. So it is important to know which bugs have a taste for the bugs that can do the damage.


An Adult Spined Assassin Bug: sensitive, likes moonlit walks and poetry and eats aphids and leafhoppers.

Waiting for Pinot

Actually it's more of a search. Where to find good grape vines for sale. If you click on the title link you will find a website describing vines for sale. There are even discounts for commercial growers (I hope that someday that's me).

This is a photo from the website of pinot noir grapes.

Now my concern is that this is a Gallo pinot noir. I haven't researched exactly what that means in terms of quality but it needs to be explored.

In selecting grape vines it is also important to pick vines grafted on a hearty stock resistant to phylloxera, that nasty critter that just about wiped out European grapes in the late nineteenth century.

From Wikipedia: "Phylloxera was inadvertently introduced to Europe in the 1860s, possibly on imported North American vinestocks or plants. Because Phylloxera is native to North America, the native grape species there are at least partially resistant. By contrast, the European wine grape Vitis vinifera is very susceptible to the insect. The epidemic devastated most of the European wine growing industry."

It will be important to learn more about the root stocks that are most resistant also. So one step at a time. The site linked above has some very nice information on all facets of grapes, planting, pruning, etc. Well worth your time and effort.

Aren't those pinot grapes lovely?

Fresh food

This is a nice Wikipedia photo of the West Side Market. The Market is a true Cleveland icon. It has been saved, remodeled and praised.

As a child my mother would take me from Scranton Road and Clark Avenue, by trolley, to the Market. The large vaulted, ceramic tiled interior space had all kinds of permanent vendors selling all kinds of meat, cheese and produce. There were whole carcasses of all kinds of animals. It is a real experience. If you go there often enough you get to know the vendors and there is always an interesting conversation.

What I remember most though were the outside vendors. Wrapped around two sides of this building were farmers' stalls, open to the air, that were occupied several days a week. These were my wonderment. The farmers would split open their summer melons and offer slices to assure you of their quality. There was much given away in the hope of a sale.

These outdoor stalls at more contemporary markets have no where near the character and ambiance of those at the West Side Market.










These white tents have to be set up and taken down by each vendor. They might provide a nice bright soft light on the sales area but little beyond that.










This is a corner entry and an interior photo. To my liking there have been too many upgrades over the years. The "outdoor" stands have been enclosed with tacky metal roofed enclosures. Cleveland winters are brutal and greenhouse farmers that work the winters are certainly far more comfortable. In the past there were canvas coverings and fires going in 55 gallon drums to keep everyone warm. The interior, with its wooden stands, brick piers and vaulted ceramic tile ceiling is truly unique.

Here's a birdseye of the stands that wrap the market building.

So the winery gets permanent stands. Yes it might be expensive. But it may just fix a memory of an elegant, rich, fresh, aromatic, lively market in the mind of another small child.

Olives

As part of the landscape of the winery and vineyard there needs to be a few alternative crops. Because this venture is intended to have a very long life, planting, maintaining and harvesting olive trees seems appropriate.

During my stay in Orlando, we used to frequent a farmer's market in Winter Park on Saturday mornings. One stand featured a variety of olive oils from many different countries. As time went on we tried a number of varieties amazed by the various flavors.

Fine olive oils provide a wonderful compliment to so many foods.

I don't know much about these trees but a few things I've read indicate that they are fairly disease resistant and easy to maintain. They must be hardy since very old trees can be successfully transplanted. I was surprised to see 20 year old trees listed as a standard catalog item.

It would be nice to line the entry road to the winery with olive trees, set back far enough so as not to drop fruit on the roadway but balanced enough as a part of the entrance. At least that's one thought.