While tending the vines, we also are avid gardeners and tend to our organic culinary gardens.  Raised beds, old half barrels, and  large plots of land house a variety of seasonal vegetables , fruits, and herbs. We are passionate about heirloom varietals and source our seeds from Sustainable Seed Co. and a local Napa favorite, Van Windens . All under organic cultivation.

Recycled Cabernet barrels make a quick raised bed garden

One way to create an instant garden with a little Napa flare, is to use an old barrel cut in half. This way you can control the soil that goes into it, hopefully free of weed seeds , and the soil can be easily amended . This type of “raised bed” is more ergonomic than tilling a regular plot of land and is easy to weed. It has a sense of sustainability and although they don’t last forever you can get a couple season’s worth of crops out of them .

Bibb Lettuce in a Half Barrel, yummy!

Right now we are munching on a variety of lettuce, carrots, radishes , and two types of Bok Choy. Awaiting the arrival  of Savoy Cabbage, two types of broccoli (Waltham 29, Romanesco), 2 types of Cauliflower (Snowball and Cheddar), Fava beans, Beets, Fennel, Leeks, etc. Practically any heirloom Winter crop out there we have sprouted seeds and transplanted them into the mix of gardens. Heirloom Butternut and Delicata squashes and dry beans are still adorning our plates from the late Summer/early Fall harvest.

Mini winter Squash

Concerned with the delicate nature of soil, we have put the gardens that hosted the heavy Summer feeders (Tomatoes, Zucchini, Squash both Summer and Winter, etc) to rest. Straw, Fava beans, and legume cover crop all await the Winter rains to fix Nitrogen and add organic matter to the soil. Revitalizing the soil is important for the future crops to be planted in the Spring. Healthier soil yields a more bountiful harvest and vigorous plants. If you don’t have the availability or space to leave one garden fallow then adding an ample amount of organic matter can help you balance out the nutrients , build up soil, and fend off pests .

Winterized Veggie Garden

For those of you looking for inexpensive fertilizer and have an addiction to coffee, I have had great success with using old coffee grounds. There are two types of application,  top dressing and brewing compost tea.  Top dressing the grounds on top of the soil  will add organic matter to the soil and act as a slow release type of fertilizer. Creating a compost tea out of the coffee grounds allows the plants to receive the nutrients quickly acting as a sort of instant fertilizer. Although it isn’t a lot of nitrogen, I would still be cautious about applying too much of this type of organic fertilizer and frankly any organic fertilizer. In regards to bloom, too much nitrogen will cause a light set of fruit i.e.  a really big bushy plant with hardly any fruit.

These Savoy cabbages love coffee compost tea and worm castings

In addition to coffee grounds we always add worm castings to the compost tea and as a top dressing fertilizer. A worm bin is a great way to make your household more sustainable, we use a commercial worm bin called the Wigwam but there are a lot of methods to creating a worm bin for your needs.  Worm castings are a great medium to sprout seeds, build up soil, and create compost tea.

As we watch the last leaves fall off of the grape vines and the remaining apples , pomegranate ,and persimmons are harvested off of the trees we are looking forward to the Winter and early Spring bounty.

Persimmons going through veraison

Happy holidays to all the farmers, organic gardeners , and enthusiasts, cheers!

This year’s harvest has proved to be a challenge even for those winemakers and growers who have been making wine for 30 plus years . Besides the previous challenges associated with this year’s vintage i.e. extra canopy management , not enough degree days, and early rain right before harvest, there is one last challenge, harvesting the fruit and “ripeness”.

The question is how long can we put up a fight before Botrytis overruns everything and harvest will skip over us?

Although at Hossfeld Vineyards we grow Bordeauxs, we have entered into the beginning of a fight to protect our crop until we make the level of Brix stated in our contracts. It is challenging , extra spray programs eat away at the profit but on the other hand noble rot ridden fruit will affect flavor of the wine. Not only are molds a problem but the actual berry is becoming exhausted as it can only contract so many times during the hot days and cool nights before it wears out becoming soft and flabby. With each passing storm the danger of losing one’s crop is increasingly becoming a reality.

A few growers have been hit by the horrible reality of loosing one’s crop after a storm where the grapes just couldn’t resist being overtaken by Botrytis and Aspergillus ( the feared green mold). Even Merlot is starting to see signs of susceptibility as the canopy becomes tired and the fruit softer with each passing day . With grapes arriving on the crush pad at lower than usual degrees of Brix , the 2011 wines will be a different style than what is normal for California Wines.

Growers are using every method to keep fruit hanging and healthy.  Cakebread dried their fruit with a helicopter after a rain storm and other growers and wineries are adding more spray programs,  spraying fungicides to prevent everything from Botrytis to Aspergillus. Growers are either accommodating or letting their grapes rot. It is a challenge and the grower/winemaker relationship is being strained, the very relationship that makes the industry thrive. Each side will have to accommodate.

The motto for this year’s vintage is: “flavor is the key” rather than degree of Brix. Essentially winemakers and growers are agreeing to pick based on the all over flavor of the grapes especially when a storm is looming in the forecast. Winemakers that have a strong chemistry background are looking at the glucose/fructose level rather than Brix.  Everyone is feeling the same pinch , as you debate how much mold is acceptable? What TA and PH levels can we accept for our wine making as well as the minimum Brix?

The big debate is either pick it early with its associated  problems that will occur in the wine making process or pick it with problems ? Either way this vintage will be challenging for winemakers as well and will necessitate more resources to smooth out this vintage whether it is filtering the juice, adding more new oak or a heavier toast.  2011 is and will be a very resource intense vintage.

As the forklift arrives today, we will be starting our first pick, almost a month behind our usual pick date. The fruit is hanging in there but it is definitely tired and experiencing a little bit of Botrytis. Can’t wait for the magical 2012 vintage next year and hope that this 2011 vintage shows itself off like the current tasting of the ’98 vintage , 13 years after aging .

Cheers!