Clay was recently asked to submit a bio for his company newsletter that focused on him as a winegrower. The rest of us loved this snapshot of him, so we voted to post it here. Enjoy!
Successful Inventions Speed Up Olive Harvest
They say that necessity is the mother of invention. Well, we were in desperate need to find a better way to harvest our seven olive trees in time for Trattore Farms' Community Milling Day last Sunday. For the past years of olive harvest, we've shaken the limbs or stripped the olives by hand, and then chased the ones that rolled or bounced off the tarp we'd laid down to collect them. There had to be a better way.
Post-Harvest Work at Gantz Family Vineyards
A Vineyard: Where the Work Is Never Done
Watching Every Drop: Irrigation on Gantz Family Vineyards
The pressure bomb is one of the tools I'm using to develop a more complete understanding of how our vineyard responds to water stress and irrigations. Our foliage was abundant last year, and this year we're seeking a better balance between our fruit and leaves. Monitoring the water is a good way to do that.
What We've Planted in Our Edible Garden
How to Catch a Gopher - Redux
5 Ways to Use Persimmons (Not Just Recipes)
A common quandary in the Russian River Valley this time of year is what to do with all the persimmons? A full-grown tree can produce a lot of fruit, and all of it is ripe at the exact same time. The fruit is too precious to let it spoil -- I see small, little guys going for $2 at the local grocery store -- so here are some ideas for how you can use all that lovely fruit so it doesn't go to waste:
How to Catch a Gopher
Taking Care of the Weeds
The task of controlling the weeds on the non-vineyard property has come to me. I attack about 1.5 acres with a weed eater, whacking away weeds along the fence lines, trees (not too close!), around the house and barns. Then there’s hands-and-knees work, pulling weeds around the roses, blueberries and newly planted fruit trees.