Organic Viticulture

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=80 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="160085a3.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Shelburne Vineyard</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Shelburne Vineyard "><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Our Vermont Vineyard "><U>Our Vermont Vineyard </U></A>   |   <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Us"><U>About Us</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="News"><U>News</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Our Wines"><U>Our Wines</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id55.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sales Outlets"><U>Sales Outlets</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id56.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tasting Room New Construction"><U>Tasting Room & New Construction</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id69.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Winery Construction"><U>Winery Construction</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Winemaking"><U>Winemaking</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id57.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Medal Winners in International Competiti"><U>Medal Winners in International Competition</U></A>   |   <B>Organic Viticulture</B>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U>Contact Us</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="161d2e83.jpg"> <div> <B>Shelburne Vineyard</B></div> <bR> <div> Our Vineyard</div> <div> <IMG SRC="03f647c0.jpg" border=0 width="100" height="124" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Shelburne Vineyard "><U>Home</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="News"><U>Our history & Newsletters</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Our Vermont Vineyard "><U>Our  Vineyard</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Winemaking"><U>Winemaking</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Our Wines"><U>Our Wines</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Us"><U>About us</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U>Visiting our Vineyard</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U>Contact Us</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=400 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="16207073.jpg"> <div> <I>Organic Viticulture</I></div> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="525" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 2252 WIDTH="519"><div> <B>Shelburne Vineyard</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#006600" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B> GROWING GRAPES ORGANICALLY </B></FONT></div> <div> <B>-Comments of August 2, 2006:</B></div> <div> <B>Its been 2 tough years for organic growing.  I am altering my views, opinions and strategy.</B></div> <div> Its now two summers in a row with heat, moisture and humidity like that typically experienced in southern NY or Southeast Mass.   This generates black rot.  The summer of 2005 was our 1st experience with this disease.  It is almost immune to every organic pesticide we can throw at it.</div> <div> Copper is only marginally effective.  Black rot does not infect all varieties, but it devistated our Riesling and Zweigelt (viniferas) and the NY 73 and the seedless Reliance (hybrids) on our Meach Cove planting site.  Traminette and Vignoles were only slightly infected and Vidal and Cayuga White appear to be immune to this scrourge.   </div> <bR> <div> It's also site dependent.  In 2005 The Meach Cove Planting was hit badly.  The Breeding Barn site was only slightly infected.  As of August 2006 a similar pattern is emerging with Meach Cove's vinifera moderately infected and so far no infection of consequence (including Riesling) on the Breeding Barn site.</div> <bR> <div> SO: what are my conclusions? </div> <div> 1)  SELECT varieties very CAREFULLY if you want to manage the vineyard organically.   Likely avoid vinifera and choose hybrids very carefully as well.  AND keep up a regular and frequent spray schedule.</div> <div> 2)  Space vines further apart.  This will help in air circulation as well as allow for easier weed control.   Even if the vines do not completely fill the trellis...space them far apart.  I will remove every other vine on the Breeding Barn site (now at 4 ft spacing) for 8 foot spacings.  On the Meach Cove site (with vines at 5 foot spacings) I may also remove every other vine and end up with 10 foot spacing.  This is farther apart then I would like (for varieties that are sometimes killed back to the soil mound in tough winters) but it will make the site more manageable.  I'm spacing out more for weed control than for the black rot.....but it may help with black rot control as well.  I have no evidence for this though.  </div> <bR> <div> More Aug 2006 observations:  So far even with the heat+humidity we have minimal powdery mildew or dowey mildew incidents.   Cu+S seem to keep these diseases well under control on all varieties on both sites.   One insect also seems to be causing some limited problems....the grape berry moth.   Leaf hopper infestations seem to be easily controlled with an application of AZA Direct (an organically approved neem-based pesticide).  </div> <bR> <div> This July we planted a new site with new MN hardy hybrids.  They are spaced 8 ft apart in rows with rows spaced 10 ft apart.   These vines being fully hardy in VT (we sincerely hope!) will not be hilled up and will be grown on single trunks and trellised as high cordon or VSP, vs the multi trunk management of all our less hardy varieties.  We hope and expect managemnt of these new vines to be much less labor intensive.</div> <bR> <div> <B>- updated March 28, 2005</B></div> <div> Our vineyard is <I>certified organic</I> by the <B>Northeast Organic Farming Association - Vermont. (NOFA-VT). </B></div> <div> <B>Keys to how we grow grapes organically:</B></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Mildew is controlled by practicing good "canopy management", and spraying with natural occuring pesticides.  </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Weed control is achieved by mechanical means, rather than by applying harmful weed-killing chemicals, and we fertilize with compost.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">And perhaps most importantly...we selected absolutely optimum growing sites</div> <div> That means excellent drainage, with soils drying out early in spring, and no standing          water any time during the growing season</div> <div> Excellent air drainage and constant wind to dry out the vines after each rain and mimimize mildew growth.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Weed Control</B></div> <div> The most Challenging aspect of growing grapes Organically is WEED Control.  Weeds grow lustily in Vermont. The principle weeding tool we use is our <I><B>Weed Badger</B></I>.  This tool consists of an hydraulically powered rotating disk with tines that scrape out the weeds.  We control it from the tractor cockpit, carefully....ever so carefully, guiding the disk around each grape vine.  (With your valuable grape vines at stake....you really learn the task very thoroughly. Quickly!!)  It works quite well, but its extremely slow.  We are still not happy with our weed control, as it is too too labor intensive!! We intend to explore alternative methods, including flame weeding and using  <I>corn gluten</I>, touted as a new effective organic weed control.  See below for more comments on weed management. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Pest Control - Disease</B></div> <div> The most important pest control weapon is our canopy management.  We have a windy site and as long as the grape leaves can take advantage of the wind to quickly dry off after rain storms, mildew can be kept under control.  We prune and prune to insure that fresh air easily reaches each and every leaf and grape cluster.  </div> <div> Can we get along with out spraying?  The answer is yes, and no.  Our experience, performing tests on many vines over the past few years show that a reasonably disease resistant hybrid variety such as Cayuga White can likely get along without application of pesticides.  Vinifera vines, though, especially Riesling, absolutely need some spraying.  The most important time to spray is just before and just after bloom.  With out spraying we found that Riesling will loose leaves to powdery mildew weeks before the normal leaf drop time in the fall.  A few sprayings seems to easily prevent this from happening.  Riesling has come thru our 2 fruiting seasons disease free with application of just 2 spraying before and 2 after bloom.  We spray with two     organically approved substances,  sulfur and a finely ground copper powder.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Pest Control - Insects</B></div> <div> To date we have not sprayed for insects.  The most troublesome insect has been Japanese Beetles.  They are especially harmful on our young plantings...eating away much too much green leaf area.  Once the vines reach maturity the beetle infeststations becomes less damaging.   So far we have not seen heavy infestations of leaf hoppers, but we will be on the lookout for them in the future.  After the wet summers of 2003 and 2004 we have seen evidence of the grape berry moth which damages grapes that have swelled and cracked due the excessive rain.  We are working on a strategy for this pest for the 2005 season.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Fertilization</B></div> <div> Our first vineyard planting received an applicaton of composed chicken manure the year before planting.  The first 3 years after planting we added nothing.  The row middles were planted with slow growing rye and fescue specially bred for vineyards and orchards.  This grass is necessary to prevent soil erosion on our south sloping site.  In this past season, our 4th, we added a generous shovel full of compost to each vine....about 8 yards (purchased from our neighbors at  the Champlain Valley Compost Company), was sufficient to treat all 2000+ vines on this site.  Our latest petiole test (custesy the Univ of Vermont horticulture department) indicates dificiencies of Boron, Potassium, and Manganese. We are pursuing approved ingredients to apply during the 2005 growing season.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Economics and other implications </B></div> <div> I am not aware of another organically managed vineyard in an area with winters as severe as ours in Northern Vermont.  I have not spoken to vineyard operators in Minnisota, so I could be wrong.  </div> <bR> <div> <I>The challenges with organic growing in this climate are as follows:</I></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The need to Hill up the vines with soil each fall to protect the 1st 10 to 12 inches of growth from our excessive low temperatures. </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The requirement to train each vine with multiple trunks to insure at least one survives a severe winter.  We need to choose a trellis management scheme that takes into account the probability that the vines will be killed down to the soil mound      in some winters.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Retaining green leaves on the lowest part of the vines...again to insure live buds close to the ground that might be the only ones that survive a severe winter.   In standard vineyard management, buds are removed from the first couple of feet on the vine trunks.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Weed control can exercised via mechanical means only.</div> <bR> <div> <I>Based on the above requirements:</I></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Mechanical weeding with the weedbadger is slow due to the difficulty in easily spoting the vine trunks and canes from the tractor seat due to the heavy low lying greenery that develops by mid summer. We are continually on the lookout for new mechanical weed control developments.</div> <div>      </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Mulching for weed control is not practicable, as the mulch would be lost each fall during hilling up.</div> <div>      </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Traditional flame weeding tools, with their large flame jets cannot be used as the low lying greenery on our vines will be damaged.  We are researching alternative flame tools that control the horizontal reach of the flame or contain a shield that might protect the lower buds and leaves from heat damage. </div> <div>      </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Early season phases canopy management cannot be completed before spring growth starts in order to first allow for assessing  winter damage to trunks, canes and buds.  In milder climates, pruning can begin in late winter and be completed by early spring.</div> <bR> <div> These are indeed challenges to efficient mid summer vineyard management, but even with these constraints we've successufully managed our 6 acres of grapes, controlling weeds and keeping the canopy under control,  since we began this adventure in the spring of 1998. </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="519"><div>  </div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div>  </div> <div>      </div> <bR> <div>      </div> <div>      </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> . </div> </td> </tr></table></body>