November 2000

November 2000
[ Home ] [ Up ] [ Deutsch ] [ Contact Us ]

Birth and Death

The compost tea machine is now complete and up and running. The starter ingredients have been added and it is brewing up its mixture. A very impressive structure, it is linked to the irrigation system and so all the goodies can be pumped to the vines through the drippers.

There are several new arrivals on the farm as spring turns to summer and the weather warms up. Some baby chicks and some baby turkeys have been born. Somehow I don't think they'll be ready for Christmas and anyway Jane says they're pets and not to be eaten!

We also seem to have acquired two friends for Magic the chestnut horse, she is delighted.

In amongst all this happiness and birth there was a moment of great sadness, Bella the Jack Russell belonging to Manie and Jane died in a horrible accident on the farm. Always check under your 4 wheel drive before you get in and drive away! Bella was well loved and was buried on the farm that she had gamboled around. The place will be a lot quieter without her. Nobody said much for a few days, and if you can mourn for a dog then there was a lot of that going on.

The dam work had to be halted as the source of easily obtainable rocks was denied us. While we were collecting rocks a few of the neighbour's ostrich eggs went missing! Manie told the neighbour that our staff thought they were strange looking rocks and took them away by mistake. I suspect there were a few oversize omlettes being cooked up that evening in the cottages.

As all of the G-W and M families are descending on the farm from all over the world for the Christmas break (a month in the case of Mrs. G-W and the sprogs), we decided to build a pool in the garden of Villa Veriugli. After thousands of megabits of emails the plans were finally approved and the work started. John M said that the normal pools no bigger than a bath tub were not for him so an enormous hole was dug in the garden by our friendly dam builder. No sooner had it been dug than Redvers Buller said it was in completely the wrong place for a pool - too close to the house etc. Eventually, with the arrival of Mrs. G-W on the horizon, it was decided it would have to do and work was started. From the picture either that builder is very small or the pool is very deep. And that's the shallow end! It'll probably take a week to fill.

Being averse to cold of any sort John M decided we needed pool heating. He is probably right, heating the amount of water in that pool would be impossible without some help. We were offered a solar heater for R14000 which seemed a little steep so Manie (now in his solar heating engineer hat) is rigging up 200 m of pipe that will circulate the water round the roof of the house and back down into the pool. He can't wait for the pipe to burst and John and Mrs M to be soaked as they lie in bed below.

In the vineyard we have had a small attack of downy mildew. This happened in the most sheltered area, where it needed weeding and after a rain storm. The mildew spores are thrown up from the ground by the rain and onto the vine leaves. We can control it with organic sprays but prevention is better than cure. It shows how much care the vines need, especially the weeding which is a big task.

We also had an attack of spiders and worms on about 5% of the vines but this was controlled by applying BT, an organic bacteria spray.

Manie is planting fennel to encourage beneficial insects that help control worms and nasty bugs. In fact we are planting beneficial wild flower beds at strategic points throughout the vineyard to act as insect "sinks".

As the summer comes on irrigation is becoming necessary. We are irrigating about once a week now for 10 hours. It will be very interesting to see how much water we use. One 10 hour application lowers the water level in the main dam by 50mm. It will be a big test this summer to see of our overall plans are feasible with the amount of water we have stored or can access. In these parts, as in other Mediterranean climates, the biggest limiting factor is water.

Our first submission to Biogrow the organic certification authority was sent in. The work required to fill out this, just the first of many reports over the next 3 years and beyond is prodigious, but it will be worth it in the end. I think Manie especially is learning a great deal about sustainable agriculture and the discipline is good. Growing these 4 hectares is a good way of getting quickly up the learning curve.

The planning for next year goes on. Irrigation surveys, block layout and soil testing. We hope to be able to plant 10 more hectares next year, dependant on the budget projection.

Next month we will be warm and dry and it is Christmas which we are all looking forward to. Mrs. G-W will be in residence with the sprogs so chaos will reign.

[ Back ] [ Next ]

[ TMV...the birth! ] [ January 2000 ] [ February 2000 ] [ March 2000 ] [ April 2000 ] [ May 2000 ] [ June 2000 ] [ July 2000 ] [ August 2000 ] [ September 2000 ] [ October 2000 ] [ November 2000 ] [ December 2000 ] [ January 2001 ] [ February 2001 ] [ March 2001 ] [ April 2001 ] [ May 2001 ] [ June 2001 ] [ July 2001 ] [ August 2001 ] [ September 2001 ] [ October 2001 ] [ November 2001 ] [ December 2001 ] [ January 2002 ] [ February 2002 ] [ March 2002 ] [ April 2002 ] [ May 2002 ] [ June 2002 ] [ July 2002 ] [ August 2002 ] [ September 2002 ] [ October 2002 ] [ November 2002 ] [ December 2002 ] [ January 2003 ] [ February 2003 ] [ March 2003 ] [ April 2003 ] [ May 2003 ] [ June 2003 ] [ July 2003 ] [ August 2003 ] [ September 2003 ] [ October 2003 ] [ November 2003 ] [ December 2003 ] [ January 2004 ] [ February 2004 ] [ March 2004 ] [ April 2004 ] [ May 2004 ] [ June 2004 ] [ July 2004 ] [ August 2004 ] [ September 2004 ] [ October 2004 ] [ November 2004 ] [ December 2004 ]

Home Page Tulbagh Wine Tulbagh Visitor's Info Where to Stay Where to Eat Tulbagh Real Estate Event Planning Activities Tulbagh Trade Tulbagh Mountain Vineyards

Tulbagh Information Tel: +27 (0) 23 230 1348/230 1375 email: tulbagh information