Forced Relaxation: the winter

It's been a long time since I last updated the blog! A lot has been going on and I've spent almost every week up in Mocksville since we harvested our grapes. The wine is looking good and we'll probably put it in barrel next week.

The theme to the year so far is early seasons. Spring came early, summer came early, fall came early, and now, it looks like winter, too, is coming early. It's supposed to get down to 26 tonight in Concord. I can't believe it! I just hope that we get a good solid week of below freezing temperatures sometime in late January. That would help our vines and pest population immensely!

It also, hasn't rained in almost a month. We've been very diligent with our watering, however. Normally this time of year, we have to winterize the well and blow out all the irrigation lines. We haven't had the opportunity yet because we keep needing to water the garden about once a week!

Despite the rough weather, the winter garden is really looking great. Thank you, knowledgeable employees and dedicated customer/volunteers! The garlic is in the ground, our crops have been fertilized, hoed, and mulched, and we're getting ready to start construction on two new high tunnels. Due to the high demand of butter crunch lettuce and swiss chard, we need to be growing those throughout the winter. I'm also going to try putting in a few rows of pink-eyed peas so that we'll have fresh peas for New Years Day!

After we get the high tunnels built next week, we'll begin clearing the dead Vidal blanc vines out of the vineyard and preparing it for our new arrivals in the spring: Villard blanc. I can't wait to try this grape and develop a winemaking style for it. I have never had it before, so it's a huge risk in planting. But most importantly, I know that it will grow in our conditions, so I'm confident that we can make an excellent wine from it. It should take us about a month and a half of steady work to clear off the landscape fabric, cut down the plants, and dig the holes.

It might be winter now, but we still have produce for sale. If you're looking to buy our produce, here are the three ways to do so:

1) On the farm: Saturday morning at 4758 Poplar Tent Rd from 9-12. We will have veggies, eggs, meats (from Big Oak Farm), canned goods, and Uncle Scott's Rootbeer.

2) Via email: Saturday morning on Elizabeth Avenue in Charlotte at 11am, we run orders to Charlotte for our loyal customers. email us to receive the order form

3) Special order: Call 704-782-2117 to order food any time!