Diversity and abundance are the hallmarks of a healthy ecosystem. They are apparent when you are out in nature. But what about the ecosystem underground? A pretty sure indication of health is an abundance of earthworms. If those are not visible, how do you check for diversity and abundance in your soil? To answer that… (read more)
This Podcast with Adam Huss of Beyond Organic Wines explains a lot about our approach to wine and soils. https://recording.zencastr.com/beyondorganicwine/joe-barreca
This Spring I had a big breakthrough in nourishing my grape plants. I sprayed a mix designed for foliar feeding on my vines just after the first few leaves emerged. The intent was to increase the vigor of the plants but just as much to reduce the number of leafhoppers on the vines. They have… (read more)
As the temperatures warm up and everything seems to be in bloom, many folks are contemplating planting grapes. It is a good time for that, but caution is advised. The biggest danger this time of year is a late frost. We have a short growing season even at lower elevations. It’s best to plant grapes… (read more)
Our vineyard went from a backyard hobby to a major enterprise in 2004 when I had some logging done to make a sunnier space for more grape plants. I had some soil testing done soon after that but didn’t worry about fertility. After almost 20 years of dithering about getting some baseline numbers and setting… (read more)
Learning the hard way by making mistakes is a tried and true (though often painful) path to knowledge. Looking back on what I have learned, it seems more like a lifestyle. It starts by taking chances. You seldom do that unless you think there is something to gain. I get a lot of ideas from… (read more)
The Grass is Greener With this very wet Spring everything looks especially green. The green color is from chlorophyll, the molecule critical to photosynthesis, which turns sunlight into plant energy, specifically sugars. Looking at the chest-high grass and purple vetch which has taken over the aisles between my rows of grape vines, I had to… (read more)
How Sweet It Is The quest for evidence-based information is ongoing. So are the efforts to dismiss it. As Yuval Noah Harari pointed out, science is based on the admission of ignorance. With science, as soon as you think you know something new, other scientists are going to poke holes in your ideas and try… (read more)
When I was a younger and less knowledgeable gardener I tried starting apple trees by planting seeds. Johnny Apple Seed right?! It didn’t go very well and I asked Larry Geno, who owned Bear Creek Nursery at the time about how to do that. He laughed in my face and proceeded to tell me that… (read more)
The snow has thawed and I have inventoried the grape plants that are for sale. To look at that information, go to Plant Inventory 2022.
