Sustainability

There is a constant battle in a vineyard with wildlife. Starting with deer to rodents and birds. We are committed to using sustainable practices in keeping our vineyard in the best condition possible. In order to keep the deer at bay we have installed a deer fence on the back side of the vineyard. It takes an 8ft fence to keep them from jumping over and helping themselves to the young shoots. A couple of deer can wreak havoc early in the spring when the shoots first sprout out. On our new plantings we enclose the plants in a grow tube to help with that. To help with voles and ground squirrels we will be installing resting and nesting places for raptors. I haven’t noticed gophers and moles yet, but when they come we will try our best to keep them out with trapping. Most nights we can hear the yipping of coyotes. They can help with rodent control also, unfortunately they also like to chew on the drip lines. The only time we have to worry about birds is at harvest. If the harvest is early like 2018, they still have plenty of wild fruit to keep them from causing much damage. Noise making devices can deter the birds if necessary. Drones are also used to deter birds.

Because our vineyard came from native habitat, I knew we would have continued pressure from undesirable vegetation. The toughest plants we fight are poison oak, berry briers, canadian thistle, tansy ragwort and wild carrot. On all but the wild carrot I have had to personally walk the rows with a back-pack sprayer and carefully spot spray the invasive plants. It takes several times a year to keep them at bay. I am still trying to figure out how to hold back the wild carrot. 

In order to give the young grape plants the best chance at survival, we keep the ground between the rows tilled. That means in order to keep from having erosion during the winter we have to plant a cover crop. As the vines mature, we will keep the areas between the rows in grass to help hold down vigor in the vines. At that point we won’t have to worry about planting cover crops.