We started spraying 500 there in 1998. This coincided with establishing
nettles patches, habitat diversity within the vineyard [by tearing out vines
and planting honey suckle and other trees within the vineyard], and
establishing barrel compost pits. We have a heard of about twenty cows,
mainly Texas Longhorns that we use for 500 and bc and tree paste remedies.
We bury about two hundred and fifty horns and have about thirty bc pits. We
currently have about fifteen to twenty thousand units of barrel compost that
is used for conventional bd practice and as a compost tea inoculant. I have
built three stirring machines for the vineyard and we have three dedicated
Cima air blast sprayers. Due to the difficulty in keeping quality help in
the vineyard management department, it has been hard to keep a quality
regemin for spray practices in the chemical realm. It is a very minimalist
spray program. We spray according to scouting and not prophylactically like
may other vineyards do. There is no nitrogen used and no herbicide for about
ten years. The preparations are really starting to show there effects,
especially in the compost yard. They compost on about five acres and we
spray heavily with bc, 500, Pfieffer and compost tea. The compost, after
three years of this and worm inoculations from my farm, is laced with read
wigglers, a testimony to the habitat created by the bd remedies[ie: worm
candy]. What else can I say??? Try some wine and let me know what you
think... Hey, if you come to the Associative Economics Conference in Water
Mill [stay tuned for more info] I'll get a few cases to pour out... ...SStorch
