The Soil Food Web and Compost Teas

Just attended a facinating seminar on Compost Teas given by Dr Elaine R Ingham at Laverstoke Park.

The Soil Food Web is a diverse community of microscopic organism which live in the soil. There are hundreds of thousands of species and this biology is an integral part of a healthy ecosystem. These soil dwellers are performing important tasks that allow plants to thrive and grow. As they eat, grow and move through the soil, these organisms make it possible to have clean water, clean air, healthy plants and moderate water flow.

Not suprisingly pestacides and hebisides kill off this natural biological system. Organic farmers use composts and compost teas to help the biology recover and also as an effective treatment for disease control.

Compost teas  are made by aerobically brewing compost in a tank of water (a bit like a jacuzzi) typically for 24 hours. This allows the living organsim on the compost, including bacteria, fungi and nematodes to be released into the water which is then sprayed on the vines. Food such as Humic Acid or Fish Hydrolysate is often added to promote growth of the organisms. Kelp helps as a micronutrient and Trichoderma spores can be added to treat mildew but the downside is that it takes out Mycorrhizal Funghi (see earlier blog "Friendly Fungi").

It all sounds quite complicated but hopefully the guys at Laverstoke will be giving me some expert advice. Anyway, I'm convinced its the way to go for the vineyard. No copper or sulphur next year!

No Mud on the A25!

Philip and Gary have created an excellent new hard standing to the entrance of the Vineyard. Hopefully this will mean that tractor wheels will be washed when leaving the vineyard so that we don't deposit large pieces of mud all over the A25. We will see!

Vine Diseases and Compost Tea

Downy Mildew

The main diseases that can effect vines during the growing season are Powdery Mildew, Downy Mildew and Botrytis. Downy Mildew has unfortunately arrived at Albury!

Downy Mildew is a white down that appears on the underside of the leaves causing them to wither and die, the fruit can also be attacked. The standard treatment in an organic vineyard is a copper solution.

As the name suggests Powdery Mildew appears as a white powder on the leaves and grapes. If left untreated the leaves die and the fruit will crack. Dusting or spraying with Sulphur once every 2 to 3 weeks can prevent this disease.

Botrytis will cause fruit to rot and drop off the vine and dark patches will be seen on the canes. This usually appears during Autumn when the fruit is ripening. Avoiding overcrowding of the vines and keeping the bunches well ventilated by removing the adjacent leaves will help restrict this disease.

During last week Downey Mildew has started to appear on some of the leaves at the vineyard, mainly on the Chardonnay. This isn't serious at this stage but we have decided to spray the vines with a copper solution to try and stop it from spreading.

Next year we hope to avoid copper and sulphur by using a compost tea. This is a water extract of compost that is "brewed" to extract organisms (bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes). When sprayed on the vines an enormous diversity of these organisms dominate the surfaces of the vines thereby inhibiting disease-causing organisms from establishing. Compost tea also provides plant food which aids healthy plant growth, strengthens the plant's defence systems and, with the addition of beneficial organisms to the soil, will help the recycling of organic matter improving soil structure.

My first Bunch of Grapes!

Maybe not the best bunch of grapes you've ever seen but they are the first from Albury Vineyard and are therefore "special". Having said that, they are of course of absolutely no use for wine production and are destined for the compost heap along with any other bunches that appear this year (and probably next for that matter).

The first grapes that will be used for wine production will be picked by hand in October 2011 (year 3) when we hope to get around a 40% yield. For the 5 acres planted so far this equates to about 6 tonnes of grapes which will be enough to produce over 4000 bottles of English bubbly. Put the date in your diary now if you want to be involved in this historic event and be invited to the Albury harvest party celebration of the year in 2011!

The Battle of the Weeds is Won...for now!

Weeds are one of the biggest problems for an organic vineyard, especially when new vines are trying to get established. Its amazing how mother nature so quickly takes over with all sorts of vegetation if the land is not managed. In my case the major offenders include Rape, Charlock and Thistle.

Thanks to the efforts of Ivan and the team, Philip, Ken, Michaela her team, my brother Paul, JB, and my daughter's many male friends (a lot of labour!!) the vineyard is now fairly free of weeds and is looking good. How long that will last I don't know but we're now planning to keep the weeds at bay by using some more wood chip mulch as well as sowing between the rows with a Cotswold mix. No doubt more labour will also be required!

Overall the vines are doing very well and most are up to the first trellis wire. Michaela and the team will be in next week to do some further tying up and debudding.

It seems that I have very few vines that didn't flourish. The stats are as follows:

Chardonnay planted 2977 - 10 died (0.34%)
Pinot Noire planted 2986 - 21 died (0.70%)
Pinot Meunier planted 1723 - 9 died (0.52%)
Seyval Blanc planted 849 - 19 died (2.24%)
Total planted 8535 - 59 died (0.69%)

Not sure why a larger % of the Seyval died but overall a very acceptable mortality rate!

The Mulching Begins

Gary, Philip, John (in the cab) and Darryl (from Laverstoke Park) with the spreader and the mountain of wood chip

Weeds are a big problem for organic vineyards, especially when the vines are trying to get established. After much debate we have settled on a mulch to control the weeds, comprising a mixture of green waste compost from Laverstoke Park and virgin wood chip from LC Energy. Last week we took delivery of 50 tonnes of compost and nearly 600 cubic metres of wood chip which arrived in 8 artic lorries.

We now need to distribute the stuff along the rows of vines about 30cm on each side and 10 cm high. To help us do this we will be using a special muck spreader which takes about one and a half tonnes per load. Only 150 loads to complete the job for the initial 5 acres!

Hopefully this will keep the weeds at bay for two to three years. We will be seeding an organic grassland mix between the rows.

The new love of my life!

Dick Bray, from Oakes Bros, delivers the new tractor

Slim, sleek and a right little goer...... yes the tractor!

On Friday my new tractor arrived all the way from Italy. Now that I'm on the wrong side of 50, I have discovered that a new tractor is more exciting than a sports car and almost certainly safer (and cheaper) than a new woman!

The tractor is a New Holland and is specially designed for vineyards. As it is only just over a meter wide it will easily fit between the rows of vines when we're spreading the mulch, cutting the grass and spraying the vines.

The challenge now of course is to learn how to drive the thing which inside looks like the Star Ship Enterprise with more levers than you can shake a stick at. I'm sure that by the end of next week I will be fully competent as I'm on a tractor course with my good friend John Brockwell.

Motorists and walkers of Albury should take cover!