vine garden.
literally an old sheep camp, covered in twitch, thistle and sheep shit. a corner of @hellofoxesretreat is our vine garden.
this site gets slammed by the seasons, heat,wind,frost,hail,drought and flood. its gets all of these and still the vines thrive.
during the first three seasons we cultivated green manure crops to encourage soil life and reduce aggressive potential weed species.
as the vine garden grows we spray in calm conditions preventative sprays which focus on building health.
after we encourage balance with thoughtful methods, we take a break from our intervention with the aim of creating something wild.
a selection of chardonnay clones are the first produce in the vine garden. in years to come we will also see gamay and pinot noir.
we drench our soils with bucket loads of biology which we create in the wine barrels from cow manure compost, comfrey,willow,nettle and seaweed.
autumn soil work is best for us. we incorporate and digest these plants back into the soil. while this process is taking place we spray the soil surface with more biology.
the land which is zoned for future vine garden plantings is improve and prepared through the process of growing food crops.
during periods of low or no cultivation food crops are grown within the vine garden.
during what we call the off season the vine garden and us get to have a rest.
in spring we prune the vines and remove the wood for compost making.
Common horsetail - 508.
By far our favourite field spray.
Very early on in our BD learning, we were encouraged to spray 508 while establishing young vines .
We were encouraged to spray this directly on the soil and / or the vines during the descending moon phase and especially around the full moon and perigee. Our focus was during spring and autumn. But this quickly became a monthly priority while the vines shoot were growing the most and conditions were warm and / or wet.
We used these sprays as a preventive measure with the aim of reducing the reliance on the usual vineyard disease sprays applied for mildews.
The 508 sprays remain one of the most regular tools applied from our BD toolbox.
Amongst all the BD activities we found this to be one of the most truly physical and simple. It's a great introduction to how simple and practical BD is to the beginners we were sharing our experience with.
We still really enjoy observing the comparison and diversity between making a fermented tea which is applied to the soil, and a decoction which is sprayed onto the leaves of the plant.
When making a decoction we take a handful of the dried common horsetail, adding it to a10L stainless steel bucket of warm water. This we then bring to the boil before simmering for a short time. The decoction is then left for a few days, sometimes up to a week before it is strained. The concentrate is then added to the spray tank at a round a 20% dilution.
When making a fermented tea, we use a 10L stainless bucket of dried common horsetail mixed into a wine barrel of warmed water and then left to soak for two to three weeks. It is strained and then added to the spray tank again at around the 20% dilution.
On our vinegarden at Foxes retreat we plan on applying sequential spraying in honor of our mentor Peter Proctor.
We will apply horn manure & CPP late one afternoon the following morning we will apply horn silica then late afternoon we will apply horn clay and the following morning we will apply common horsetail.
Beyond our vines we will apply common horsetail on a monthly basis to our garlic crop.
Thanks to the BD Association who have supplied all the dried common horsetail we have ever used.
By far our favourite field spray.
Very early on in our BD learning, we were encouraged to spray 508 while establishing young vines .
We were encouraged to spray this directly on the soil and / or the vines during the descending moon phase and especially around the full moon and perigee. Our focus was during spring and autumn. But this quickly became a monthly priority while the vines shoot were growing the most and conditions were warm and / or wet.
We used these sprays as a preventive measure with the aim of reducing the reliance on the usual vineyard disease sprays applied for mildews.
The 508 sprays remain one of the most regular tools applied from our BD toolbox.
Amongst all the BD activities we found this to be one of the most truly physical and simple. It's a great introduction to how simple and practical BD is to the beginners we were sharing our experience with.
We still really enjoy observing the comparison and diversity between making a fermented tea which is applied to the soil, and a decoction which is sprayed onto the leaves of the plant.
When making a decoction we take a handful of the dried common horsetail, adding it to a10L stainless steel bucket of warm water. This we then bring to the boil before simmering for a short time. The decoction is then left for a few days, sometimes up to a week before it is strained. The concentrate is then added to the spray tank at a round a 20% dilution.
When making a fermented tea, we use a 10L stainless bucket of dried common horsetail mixed into a wine barrel of warmed water and then left to soak for two to three weeks. It is strained and then added to the spray tank again at around the 20% dilution.
On our vinegarden at Foxes retreat we plan on applying sequential spraying in honor of our mentor Peter Proctor.
We will apply horn manure & CPP late one afternoon the following morning we will apply horn silica then late afternoon we will apply horn clay and the following morning we will apply common horsetail.
Beyond our vines we will apply common horsetail on a monthly basis to our garlic crop.
Thanks to the BD Association who have supplied all the dried common horsetail we have ever used.