Sunday, June 22, 2008

Organic Viticulture Field Day

Organic Winegrowers New Zealand (OWNZ) held their first Organic Viticulture Field Day on Friday 13th June. Seresin Estate hosted the afternoon session, which began with an introduction from our estate manager, Colin Ross, overlooking our compost piles.








We then wandered down to the compost piles where guest speaker Mike Weersing of Pyramid Valley Vineyards introduced the group to the Biodynamic Compost Preparations.










We got 60 willing volunteers to help us finish our second pile by inserting the preparations into the pile.












And finished it off by stirring and sprinkling valerian on it.















Guest speaker James Millton of Millton Vineyards discussed Cowpat Pits with the group while we turned the manure.










From there, Colin led a vineyard walk to show the group our various weeders and mowers.










We finished up the cowpat pits back at the shed where we inserted the preparations and topped them off with valerian.














Mike provided an overview to the group of some of the biodynamic concepts.














The day ended with a wine tasting and conversation. It was a joy to be part of this event and to able to share our story and philosophy of managing the land with the group.

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