"I really can't stay
Baby, it's cold outside
I've got to go away
Baby, it's cold outside"
Frank Loesser, "Baby, It's Cold Outside," 1944
"We are stardust, we are golden
We are billion-year-old carbon
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden."
Joni Mitchell, "Woodstock Song," 1970
Life goes on.
Even amid today's too-consuming political news, the business of life continues. Babies get fed, people go to work, crops get planted. And I try to protect the fragile grape buds from freezing.
I don't fret about the weather or the farm. There are tasks to do, yes, but some things are just out of my control.
My vineyard is on nearly flat ground bordering the Rogue River and gently sloping toward it. It is below the higher ground of the two Table Rocks on either side of the farm. The river itself is at the lowest elevation in the area, of course, because water seeks that lowest elevation. So does cold air.
Cold air hugs the ground over my vineyard, and freezes buds. I deal with it by stirring up the air. This is why I am out here observing the fans at 4:30 a.m. The "A" in the photo below signifies that this is the ambient air temperature on the control panel at the base of the fan: 33 degrees. The fan just above this control panel is on full blast, turning fast and loud in the pre-dawn morning.
I needed two fans to protect the eight acres, because of the spread-out configuration of the vineyard. At this temperature, one fan, the fan nearer the river, had come on by the time I arrived. The control panel on the fan 250 yards away, the one farther from the river, showed an ambient temperature of 34.4 degrees. It was not on at 4:40 a.m. but it came on shortly after I took this photo. The fans are set to precise temperatures because the difference of just a half a degree one way or the other is important.
Here are the fans at 5:00 a.m. on full blast, both illuminated by a spotlight at the base of the fan tower.
Over the course of a minute the direction the fan faces rotates 360 degrees, providing air-mixing on all sides of the fan.
The fans worked this morning. The temperatures were the same this morning as they were back on April 13, when the photo below was taken. Then the fans had been set to come on at 32.5 degrees, which, in hindsight, was too close to the frost point. They did not come on in time, and as can be seen in the photo, the ground frosted before the fans got to work stirring up the air.
Here is a Cabernet Sauvignon plant directly below the south fan, looking healthy in the morning sun, protected from the frost.
The plant is nearly ready for the May pruning cycle, when the lower leaves and root sprouts are pulled off and the plant growth is directed toward the cane wire at 31 inches. It is best to wait on that pruning until all risk of frost is gone. It is the nature of this area to have cooler nights than in the more marine climate of the Willamette Valley. There are pluses and minuses for that for getting the high quality that Willamette Valley pinot noirs are known for, but a minus is the need to protect against that hour or two of pre-dawn frost, even on a day with an expected high temperature of 77 degrees.
I spent a full minute looking at that Cabernet Sauvignon plant in the photo above. It made me happy to look at it. It looks so healthy and green and natural and alive in the morning sun. We need to take care of ourselves.
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8 comments:
And you are not polluting the air with smudge pots. Some things really are better. It’s good to appreciate life in others and ourselves, being grateful for our blessings whether you believe in a God or not is a good way to view our life.
So, better a winery than a “whinery”, even if you’re not a “fan” of Trump… 😀
I'm afraid that when it's all said and done, that this wine grape business will be a money-losing venture. People are drinking less wine nowadays, and there is a glut of wine grapes on the market.
Thank God for those who continue growing our crops, regardless. I'm just afraid this administration's fixation on indiscriminate mass deportation could make finding people to harvest them difficult.
I can’t imagine how much more stressful this would be if your solvency was dependent on your crop’s success. So many factors: climate, pestilence, market timing, customer preferences, trade policy, and labor availability (to name a few).
Farmers are a courageous lot.
Michael, do you believe Trump wants to be a dictator, ? If so, are you OK with that, or do you believe all this talk of dictatorship is wrong??
Peter, surely you are aware that frost can form, especially on clear nights, at higher temperatures than 32°, such as 38°. I’d hate to see you lose your whole crop due to setting your fans up to run at too low of a temperature.
That is entirelly possible. I am in the happy situation where the amount of money I might make or lose is not very consequential to me. I expect to lose money on a cash basis. I also expect to die someday, although it has not happened yet -- so far so good. After my death I suspect the two farm parcels I own, 33 acres each, each with a homesite, each with four acres of grapes, each with 400 feet of Rogue River frontage, each with superb views of the two Table Rocks, each with well-established water rights and problem-solving easements, and in an area that is gentrifying -- with all of that my heirs will be able to sell the two properties easily and at a price that will be greater because I participated in this gentrification. The alternative to wine grapes would have been hard to manage alfalfa, thanks to the gopher problem in pumice soil. If it turns out that this venture/experiment is not of interest to the next owner, at least the property would have looked good -- well staged -- for when the buyer looks it over, decides it is a dream opportunity for something other than grapes, and buys it. I stumbled into doing pretty well as a financial advisor. My goal is to be a land steward for property my great grandfather bought in 1883, the land my grandfather and grandmother worked, the land my father and I farmed as a hobby, the land that gives me some exercise, and the land that will eventually get sold because I don't have an heir who wants it. I am not rich, not really. But I am rich enough to do it my way and not worry much about the money.
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