Why Sustainable Agriculture?

Organic grapes are very difficult to grow east of the Rocky Mountains. The main problems are weeds and fungal diseases.  We do what we can to use effective organic products when they are available for grapes. If not we choose products that are less harmful to our environment.

 

At times we have to make choices. We keep our vineyard in sod between the rows, but beneath the rows we choose to use an herbicide rather than cultivate the soil. Cultivation of the soil loosens it and results in substantially more erosion than if it were left intact.  If we tried to pull weeds, pulling them repeatedly through the season would result in expenses that would make the vineyard unlikely to be successful.