Organic Viticulture
Wine-growing with local, sustainable, low environmental impact, and human health values in mind.
“An organic farm, properly speaking is not one that uses certain methods and substances and avoids others; it is a farm whose structure is formed in imitation of the structure of a natural system; it has the integrity, the independence and the benign dependence of an organism”—Wendell Berry, The Gift of Good Land
Grape Growing
Many people now know what organic farming means, but I feel Wendell Berry's description of an organic farm is a good introduction to our discussion of organic grape growing. Another definition to have in developing an understanding organic farming is that of sustainability: “Capable of being maintained indefinitely; capable of meeting the environmental, economic and social needs of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.”
Organic farming has been our intention going back to early dreams of a small farm and a low impact livelihood. We have farmed or grapes organically since day one, back in 1986, when we first planted our nursery stock. With our farming methods, we strive to produce food (wine) that is clean and healthy. In trying to be part of being a natural system, as described by Mr. Berry, we work to have a healthy soil and ecosystem and we choose methods that are gentle with our bodies, our neighbors and those of our workers.
Soil Building and Disease Control
Soil Building is key to organic farming: feed the soil, and you feed the plant. A healthy plant is less prone to disease and insect attack. We feed our soil by use of cover crops, natural mineral amendments, and by returning as much to the vineyard as we can. We use cover crops that will fix nitrogen from the atmosphere while they protect our soil from the erosion of the winter rains. Our grape residue and vine clippings are returned to the vineyard floor, where they compost and are used by the vines in coming years.
Disease Control is done in our vineyards using an emphasis on prevention. We use a lot of careful hand work to position the leaf canopy, so as to maximize air flow and sun penetration to vine leaves and fruit. This time demanding work helps minimize the conditions that encourage molds. To help keep mildew diseases from starting, we use beneficial fungi, horticultural oil or sulfur. To eliminate mildew if it gets started, we can use soap, baking soda or peroxide to kill the mildew. Some years we loose some of our crop to disease, but our grapes are free of harsh chemical fungicides.
Pest and Weed Control
Pest Control is always a problem for farmers; we create an unnatural situation of having a lot of good food in one place! Organic farmers must maximize a healthy ecosystem, one that includes and encourages predatory insect species, which then eat pests. We do this by maintaining hedgerows, by encouraging a diverse farm crop (no mono-crop here), by not spraying pesticides that would kill the beneficial species. We also make a conscious effort to be careful to not introduce problem pests that don't exist in our location.
For the vertebrates that live in our environment, we try to exclude them so that they don't become a problem. We net our vines to keep birds out, fence out deer, run off raccoons with our dog, and tolerate some loss to yellow jackets (our only insect pest). For the most part, in an intact ecosystem, a farmer does not have to worry about animals; we certainly do not need to kill them if we are careful to leave them a home, food and put barriers to entry to our fields.
Our weed control is done like it was in the era before chemicals, by mechanical removal. We look to control weeds, not eliminate them. For this we use tilling, harrowing, cover crops, grazing and a “French Plow,” which can reach under the vine to remove weeds from under our rows. Our winter cover crop of clover and rye is used to compete with the weeds of our vineyard, which keeps them from becoming established and has the benefit of adding organic matter and nitrogen to our soils.
Community
Community is part of who we are: the size of our vineyard and business is small, so that others may also be in this business. We do not want to dominate the market, the environment or our workers. We believe strongly that the best farms are small, individually owned and operated, and are the ones who do not use industrial methods of production. We try to fit our farm into the community of our ecosystem. We distribute our products mainly within our local community. Many of those who come and help us harvest every year, come from this community. For those who live in the Puget Sound region, we are one of a few who actually produce a true locally grown wine!
Summary
The above narrative is only a brief view of what organic viticulture is, at least as it is practiced by us on Lopez Island. We strive to work with nature whenever possible. One of our goals is to create a farm that needs little of outside inputs, such as fertilizers, and create a sustainable farm by using recycling, composting and cover crops. We hope this gave you an understanding of what is involved and that the process of growing a crop of grapes is an ancient human task. We hope you will visit us, or better, join us for our annual grape harvest and experience this most timeless of human undertakings! Email us with “grape harvest party” in the subject line, and we will let you know each fall when our harvest is.
Next: Seasons of Wine and Vine
The Vineyard as part of a healthy ecosystem
Crimson clover cover crop feeds the soil
Some of the weeding crew
Chickens weed and eat insects