New Year's Preparations

New Year's Eve, 2007 -- It's been another 3-ring circus at the little vineyard on the hillside in Blue-Merle Country. In the first ring was the setting of 10 ft. posts and stringing wire for drip lines and cordons for new vines to be planted in March. The second ring was construction of the Great Wall of Merle -- a 120-foot retaining wall. On top of that, preparations were under way in the household below for welcoming in the New Year -- was it really Christmas a week ago -- not to mention feeding a crew of workers. The Ringmaster barking orders was having a grand old time. I couldn't help but sing this song as we dug 4-ft holes, hauled boulders, and carried 500 cinder blocks down the mountain:

"On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me:

12 lines of vines

11 hundred lbs. mortar

10 rebar bundles

9 tons of stone

8 fresh oranges
7 pallets of block

6 bottles Chateau Lafitte

5 circling hawks

4 guys working

3 hanging gophers

2 yucca plants

and a talking Aussie Shepard."

Christmas At The Blue-Merle Winery

Welcome, warm, Santa Ana winds gusted through the rows of vines in Blue-Merle Country as the orange glow behind the eastern mountains signaled daybreak's advance, bringing paradise weather to a land in winter. Christmas Morning; Red Flag Warning. Unlike those frightful days of October when those devil winds ushered in acrid, ocher smoke, today they are an enjoyable gift.

As the 20th anniversary of our marriage approaches, the Queen has left several hints for the present she desires. Not just a diamond. Twenty diamonds, one for each year she has endured with me (and boy does she deserve them). I have hid the big "rock" in her stocking. Twenty tons of rocks. Merry Christmas, darling.

If there were a poll about what profession Jesus might choose for a next appearance, I would vote for mason. Laying the cornerstone; laying the bricks. What a noble line of work. Building things. This is how we are spending our Christmas. Laying the foundation for retaining walls, holding back the earth with rocks. It is body numbing work, giving the mind a chance to wander, reflect and to say prayers for all of those we care about. Vineyard is art. Vineyard is meditation. Vineyard is prayer.

Attentive readers will ask, "Where is the Princess?" She has gone Indian, with a decorative nose piercing. She was in Bollywood last week, New Delhi today, the Taj Mahal tomorrow and a pilgrimage to the Ganges next week. When she returns in January, there will still be plenty of paths to be dug, and rocks to be placed.

John & Gunvor brought a special gift -- 6 bottles of Chateau Lafitte Rothschild! Of course, they are all vinegar, John says, as they are from the 1970 vintage, and have been cellared in California homes all of these years. Well, if my Queen wishes for diamonds, I wish for one of the bottles to be unspoiled. We will share the spoils at a hastily called meeting of the Hidden Meadows Winemakers Association . Merry Christmas!

Planting The Cover Crop

Last Friday (Dec. 7) we were blessed with another rainy day (that's two Fridays in a row in a drought plagued land) so the plan for the weekend was more digging, terracing and sewing a cover crop. Planting a cover crop on a steep slope is an intersting proposition (some would say "foolish"), especially since I can't get a lawn mower, much less a tractor, up there to cut it once it grows. Planting a cover crop is asking for more work -- how will I find the time to maintain it? And what if the seeds migrate down to the vines? More trouble. On the other hand, having a natural barrier of grasses or flowers will help control erosion and return nutrients back into the ground. So this year, I decided to experiment. I picked a couple of relatively flat areas (which are rare in our vineyard) to give it a try. If it turns out disastrous, I'm only looking at problems in 2 rows out of 40. As the earth was moist from the rains, I was able to combed her easily with the rake, creating a path down the center of the selected rows. I spread some annual grass seed, and covered with hay. Temperatures were in the 40s on Sunday (cool by California standards) with clear views to snow capped mountains to the North and out to Catalina Island in the Pacific to the West -- with very few birds except for circling hawks. (One of my concerns was that this effort would simply result in a feast for crows .) The clay and decomposed granite that make up most of the the Blue-Merle Vineyard drain quickly, and by Sunday evening, the muddy & moist areas that I had raked earlier in the morning had begun to dry. (I was beginning to wonder if I would need to water the seed after all of that rain.) The seed has been set; let's see what takes. (Hopefully, we will not find grass sprouting at the base of the vines -- but an emerald green carpet running straight down the row, accenting the land with the promise of spring to come.)

Gustavo came out and inspected the routes for delivering a 20 ton truck-load of rock, slate, ledger, mortar, rebar and concrete blocks for continuing our work on The Great Wall. He thinks he can maneuver a fork lift onto key areas of the property, and make the drop. His planned date: This Friday. Although we survived the second set of heavy rains without catastrophe, there is erosion, and the retaining walls will be helpful long term. "Vineyard is art" and the retaining walls are the frame.

Will the fork lift get stuck in the mud? Will weeds sprout faster than the cover crop and take over? How will we cut the grass if it starts growing? If we hire the neighbors goats to graze the grass, will they eat the vines instead? Will rains continue next week, eliminating the mandate for growers to cut their irrigation by 30% next year?

January 3rd, 2008 -- update on the cover crop. The seed has taken root and there are paths of green where we sowed. Another winter storm is on the way. Fidel says he wants to spray "roundup" herbicide to kill the weeds that are also beginning to show their green tops -- he'll try to kill everything green that isn't a vine. We've got to keep that sprayer from him. So far so good on the cover crop-- as I have 15 lbs. of grass seed left over, I may sow some more this weekend after the first rain (as the earth has turned rockhard again after three weeks of no rain).