40+ acres
Terraced vineyards with slopes of 10-35%. Recovering from 2020 fire. Steadily replanting to get back to 88 acres of vineyard.
Loved Sunflower (lost in fire). It was the main tool for under vine weed control. No longer in production.
Perfect under vine mower (lost in fire)
Hoe plow (didn’t work well on terraces)
Fischer Twister with a variable deck mower. We’ve only had it for one season so no strong opinions either way yet.
Weed eaters
Shovels
Number of passes really depends on the year.
Six full-time team members. Bring in extra help for weed-eating and planting.
No
Planning to start in 2024
Almost no-till. Often before planting, but not always. Otherwise – every once in many years in a weak spot to add compost and increase fertility, and perhaps change cover crop.
Fluvellin, Bristly Oxtongue
Biggest concern is voles. Have to keep it clean undervine so they don’t have cover. For baby vines, three shovel passes. Have owl boxes, raptor perches. Use mouse traps. Experimenting with different uses of grow tubes for baby vines.
Want ground cover. Only concern is undervine for voles. “There needs to be a big shift in people’s perceptions of beauty.”
CCOF
Fish Friendly Farming
Pre-Fire farming costs/acre for producing vineyard: $11,000-$13,000
Depreciation of vineyard/acre: +/- $3000
Weed Management Costs:
Pre-fire weed control for producing vineyard: $1200-$1500/acre
This includes mowing, under vine mowing and slight under vine tillage (Sunflower, etc.), weed eating the entire terrace and under vine, some shoveling around vines in a couple blocks. Since the fire, things are so weird that the numbers just don’t make sense.
Post-fire weed control for newly planted vineyard (first two years): +/-$2,600/acre
Includes two weed eating passes, 2-3 shovel passes. It’s really all about the terraces. As we are replanting, we are eliminating the inside row on the terrace. This is for many reasons – one is that it will make weed eating a little easier, and I hope someone will invent my dream mower and this will improve weed control costs significantly.