Vineyard Floor Management
Monday | 01 February 2010
The Earth is so balanced. At Cowhorn, we take this concept seriously. Let me explain by describing one of our winter practices. For us, the dormant season is equal in importance to the growing season. In the vineyard in winter, we practice a weed-based cover cropping program.To achieve this, it took a couple years of planning. So, during our first years in the vineyard we did several passes of selective hand weeding down the drive lines. (Yikes – too much nomenclature! The “drive line” is the space between two rows of plants, and “under-vine” or “vine row” is the space under the vine.) We pulled out weeds that were tall, or say taller than 6 to 12 inches. Now, as you can see in the pictures, the weed “crop” that comes with the fall rains is short and dense.
These weeds perform three important functions. First, they provide a thick cover against erosion during winter rains. Second, they grow a dense set of roots that break up and aerate the soil. Last, when it is tilled back into the soil in spring, it provides a source of nutrition for the vines.
When we talk in Biodynamic® agriculture about creating a self-sustaining farm or a closed-loop system, this is one example within the farm. Annually, we recycle our nutrients back into the vineyard through the weeds. That means no trips into town to buy something that was produced synthetically, less packaging to be disposed of, and one less tractor pass. It’s what weeds are supposed to do, so let them!
And as a last treat, before we till them under in spring, they will bloom with very tiny, very cute periwinkle flowers. How cool is that?
– Barbara Steele
