Rain barrel pictures

A picture of each rain barrel set up on a wood pedestal that was built to get them off the ground and make them more appealing to the eye. Next up is to connect them to the drain spouts.

Mother Nature's Answer to JB

I have read that the brightside to the seriousness of the Japanese Beetle problem is that a lot of money is being spent in R&D to counter these awful insects. It has been known for some time that certain pesticides like Sevin and Danitol could help save your plants by repelling JB and killing those that come into contact with it. However, the nice thing about the current trend toward organic and sustainable farming is that new research is providing environmentally neutral or less harmful ways to eliminate JB. In this vein have emerged two possible solutions to JB problems: Neem oil and Kaolin Spray.

Neem oil is a made from the Neem tree, which grows in parts of Asia. It is sold in a concentrate form and is diluted with water before application. A rough estimate is 1 ounce of 100 percent Neem oil per gallon of water. I have seen it sold in 70 and 100 percent concentrations and usually for 15-18 dollars per 16 ounces.

Neem oil makes a plant unappealing to JB and other various pests. If they do decide to eat the leaves, the Neem oil will affect their hormonal system. Neem oil will not immediately kill pests like a pesticide, but instead "both repels and disrupts their growth and reproduction" (http://www.neemfoundation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68&Itemid=74).

Neem is also helpful in keeping aphid populations under control, which affects ant populations and any other pest that enjoys the honey dew produced by aphids.

Along with pests, Neem is also helpful in controlling mildew and rot, which becomes an issue in humid climates once fruit is borne.

Kaolin spray is a mixture of water and kaolinite, which is a type of clay. This product is sold in powder form and is mixed with water before application. Kaolin spray applies a light clay coating on the leaves of a plant and this produces a barrier between insects and leaf and this barrier is enough to dissuade insects from eating or laying eggs on the leaves. Kaolin is obvious on plants because it leaves a milky white coating.

It is also suggested that Kaolin spray has a positive effect on keeping plants cool during hottest part of the summer. This is important because it allows the leaves to remain active longer and thus the plants can grow for longer periods of the day. Normally the plant would shut down during the hottest part of the afternoon.

Kaolin has no effect on pest populations directly and would probably need to be used - like most other repellants - in coordination with other pest management strategies.

I think that we will continue to use Sevin for the remainder of this season to combat JB. This should only mean for another month or so. We will keep our applications of Sevin to as few as necessary to keep the JB away. Next year we will make a more educated and environmentally sound choice of prevention for JB. So far we have only applied Sevin once on the vines and it has kept the beetles at bay. I imagine we will need to reapply at least twice more before the adults leave this earth.

Battle Royal Begins

So, I should have known that growing grapes would not be a walk in the park and, indeed, it is not. This fact was made painfully obvious this week with the arrival of the Japanese Beetle. This pest of pests is abundant across our farm and has taken notice of the 60 new grape plants and their shiny green leaves.

The Japanese Beetle is native to, wait for it, Japan and came to the US early last century through New Jersey (go figure). It has since spread throughout much of the East coast and West to the Mississippi river. The Japanese Beetle eats the leaves of several hundred plants and flowers in the US. They usually feed in groups like a feeding frenzy of sharks and also similarly, the presence of a few beetles eating usually attracts many beetles. Either the male or female produces a scent while eating, which attracts the opposite sex and so on and so on.

Our vineyard management crew worked tirelessly applying a soapy water mixture on the vines, but this proved to have no deterrent capabilities. Next, and this was a difficult decision, came the liquid Sevin. We had wanted to keep the vineyard free of all insecticides and pesticides, etc., but the thought of losing some or even most of our vines proved too difficult to swallow. Commence with the poison.

So far the results seem promising. Whereas yesterday we had several bugs on each plant, today there are only a few beetles on all plants.

The rest of the summer will be spent brainstorming options for long term treatment of the beetles.

Three Japanese Beetle damage shots and one shot of the growth to this point.

Paycheck Tasting 6-17-08

After an eventful night of bottling 30 bottles of Chardonnay, we were able to sit down with a bottle of Bordeaux. For the second installment of our paycheck tastings we opened the 2003 Chateau Lilian Ladouys from Saint - Estephe. Based on the location, this wine is mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with a distinct slant toward the "terrior".

Tasting Notes:

Mike: This wine had strong, obvious aromas of cherry, raspberry and an earthy leave component. Not so obvious, but much more interesting was the cola slurpee smell. In fact, it reminded me of the cola part of the cherry cola flavored popsicles that I bought at Wegmans.

The mouth feel was silky with strong tannins. The wine had a cherry sauce flavor with some Bordeaux earth and a familiar concrete dust finish. The other Bordeaux wines I've had have all had a concrete dust finish.

Overall, I enjoyed this wine. I dont know what the price was b/c John bought it, but i would guess in the ballpark of 15-20 bucks. For that price I would buy it in a pinch. It wont turn any heads, but it also wont piss you off b/c you spent 20 bucks. Unfortunately, you cant really find too many steals in Bordeaux under 20 bucks.

Score: 87

John: This wine started out a little slow and soft for me. Its appearance had good color and tannic structure but the bordeaux was very subtle and almost pinot-ish on the first taste and on the nose. After the initial pour I got a strong sense of raw cherries but not much else.

As it began to open up the wine became much more appealing to all the senses. I was still get a lot of cherries but it turned more to a candied sweet cherry than a natural one. I also started to get hints of tobacco, particularly those found in the wrapper of a good cigar. This was hinting more to the earthy sense that you would get from the region and varietal type of wine.

I got the same cherry and tobacco notes on the pallette with a good mouthfeel, but not as strong as I have gotten with some other full-bodied Bordeaux. I also got a hint of vanilla that I didn't get on the nose as well as a slight taste of garlic butter. On the finish I was getting a good dark chocolate taste that lasted well beyond the first tastes.

Overall, this was a good Bordeaux but I have also had better less expensive bottles. It was a 2003 so it did take a little longer to open up than the 2005 vintage. Overall not worth the price (Mike doesn't know it was in the $30+ range) but a decent wine non the less. Would pair well, like other Bordeaux, with Steak and other red meats or dishes heavy with spices.

Score: 89

New Pictures

Below are a handful of pictures taken in June 2008. These pictures show all of the hardwork and time we have put into this vineyard with our own HANDS and the help of some small machines and one tractor.

Here is the vineyard with the end post wires securely in the ground. You will also notice that all four driplines are up.

A shot of the four end posts and the dripline. We still need to tighten up the dripline at the end of the rows.

Rain barrels. These bad boys were purchased from the Culpeper County Government as part of their water conservation efforts. They were advertised as free, but let me tell you that they were not, in fact, free.

Here is a nice wide shot of the vineyard and the main house at Hall Manor. This is where our vineyard management team rests their heads when they are not hard at work in the vineyard.

Here two members of our deer patrol lie in wait for the chance to stalk any unfortunate deer that wander onto the property. Notice the strategic positioning that these well disciplined animals have taken allowing them a 360 degree view of the entire property. Impressive indeed.

Perfecting the irrigation

Sunday, June 1 was a muggy day in Culpeper County. Although it rained violently in the surrounding area, the Hall property was skipped and, unfortunately, remained dry.

The lack of rain did allow us to redo two of the irrigation wires and finish the remaining two. The irrigation wires now sit 1.75 feet above the ground. The dripline for each row is finished, but is lying on the ground until the endposts can be securely anchored into the ground. I am hoping that the package from Orchard Valley arrives before this weekend so we can get the endposts and first trellis wire done this weekend. The height of almost 40 vines has exceeded the grow tubes.

This is exciting and also scary because the vines are now exposed to the elements and are at the mercy of the deer and other pests. We attempted a crude deer deterrence program three weeks ago. It consisted of two spray bottles and some human urine. Crude it was; effective we hope it will be. We need to make our farm as unattractive to deer as we can until a proper fence can be erected. The pack of dogs is doing their part as well. I fear, though, that one morning we will find that deer destoyed all of the vines that are showing.

More pictures to come after this weekend. Included will be some of the new rain barrels.