The Weather and My Amazing Family and Friends

Morning Fire Sunrise

The weather has been one of the most challenging issues for farming this past year. We've seen record rain last summer, along with record snowfalls and low temperatures for the winter. How did I know that this Spring would not give us a break?

Last Wednesday and Thursday nights, we had quite a scare for frost. Our little grapes had just broken bud, and as soon as that happened, almost like weather-karma was out to get us, we saw that we'd have two nights in a row with possible temps below freezing. In the NC vineyard world, there's a legend that you're not safe from a frost until after April's full moon. And that was about right.

Two years ago, we were unprepared for the frost that we got that year. We lost about 40% of our crop to the frost. That didn't mean we could take a vacation or not tend the grapes that year. It meant we had to do all of the work associated with growing the grapes but would reap only 60% of the rewards. It's a heart-breaking situation to wake up to.

This year, we were prepared. In order to create just a bit of warmth and to create a sort of heat vortex to keep the cold temps off the vines, we needed little fires placed throughout the vineyard. We had been saving up fire wood and shredded paper for the past two years. We had a strategy, and as the temperature dropped, we fine-tuned it.

On Wednesday during the day, our employees made approximately 60 fires. Of course it down-poured on the piles of wood the afternoon before the first frost, so that first night, we had to use some high powered propane burners to get the fires started. They struggled to stay lit, and my family and I raced around putting new logs on the fires, lighting them again, and spraying them with kerosene. We started at 3:30am in the lowest part of the vineyard, the part most affected by frost. We only got about 20 fires started that night. The ground was crunchy, but the wind kept blowing throughout the night. As it dipped below freezing, we watched for signs of frost damage, but none appeared. Then we ate breakfast. Yum.

On Thursday, we rebuilt the piles of wood. That night, we started lighting the fires earlier- 2am. Around 3:30, we had some of the most wonderful volunteers come out and help us light and maintain the fires. I cannot say how grateful I am for the help of Alissa, Joel, Brian, and George. Their cheery spirits kept the Dover Family encouraged and a little less insane. They helped us get all of the fires lit and, and as the frost covered the ground and our windshields, we held our breaths and drank a beer. We had done all we could do. As the sun rose we could see that there was very little loss from the frost. A few dead shoots here and there, but for the most part we had escaped unscathed. Then, we ate breakfast again and it was delicious.

I can't express how grateful I am to my family and to these friends who helped us out at such a strange hour. They are just as crazy as I am and I love them for it. For someone who doesn't have a husband and children of her own, I really rely on my parents and friends to help out when emergencies arise. There is a reason that farms are run by families- because families are really the only ones you can count on to be there when the shit hits the fan. And you never know when or at what time of the morning that is going to happen. 

We are OPEN for business-- and the lettuce looks amazing

Baby Buttercrunch lettuces- they won't last long!

So, even after I pledged to blog more on the last post, I failed again. I just wanted to wait until we had something to share! Well, I'm almost certain that winter is over now (I don't want to jinx us), and we now have plenty of delicious produce for sale. Bud break in the vineyard is almost here, and we're about to get very busy.

First off, I'd like to share with everyone that Liuba, one of our long-time employees decided to leave us due to health reasons. We will truly miss her work ethic, her tendency to sing and dance in the field, and frequent Romanian lessons. We have learned so much from her throughout the past few years!

Also, WE HAVE A WEBSITE!! We are working on getting a better domain, but this will have to do for now:  http://thefarmatdovervine.wix.com/dovervineyards

It certainly was a challenge for this Luddite to create, however, thanks to several rainy days, soggy fields, and careful editing from friends, we finally have a finished (but ever-changing) product.

Forellenschluss, one of the lettuces in the Gourmet Salad Kit

On the veggie-front, we are now selling produce on Saturday Mornings 9-12 at the Adams Garden: 4758 Poplar Tent Rd. The weather has been a bit difficult this season, dipping fairly low a few times in the past month. We've had to work hard on the few days when the soil was cooperative, but this Spring has already been one of the most productive we've ever had (not that we've been at this for long...). Our lettuces are ready for picking and we're excited to introduce to our customers the Gourmet Salad Kit. We are cutting whole heads of our gourmet leaf lettuce and selling them bundled in groups of 4. It's like getting salad mix, but for a better value. Sure, everyone loves our salad mix, but it certainly was a time consuming product to prepare.

Also, we still have plenty of space in our 2014 CSA. We have a few versions this year, both in Charlotte and in Concord. Email us at thefarmatdovervineyards@gmail.com to find out more information.

I didn't get the crimson clover planted between the vineyard rows last fall. I'm disappointed in myself. I always forget to do a lot of things in the fall, because I basically move to Mocksville to work at RayLen after we pick our grapes. Not only was the crimson clover absolutely gorgeous last year, but it was good for the bees and good for the fertility of our soil. Dad didn't have to mow the vineyard until May! We do have a few spots of crimson clover which came up from last year, but this year, we'll have to settle for mid-season white clover. If I can swing it, next year, I'll try to get the crimson clover spread between the rows of the vineyard in the Fall and then spread the white clover in the Spring so that once the crimson clover dies, the white clover will be there ready to take over. Mowing between the rows is a constant job in the summer and if there's anything we can do to lessen that job, the happier we are. Sure, dad loves to mow, but sometimes, the 4 acres gets a little too much for a 70 year old man. Regardless, we are excited for this year. Hopefully we'll have some white grapes for winemaking this year. Fingers crossed for no more sub-0 temperatures!!!!!

Upcoming: 
1) We are planning a Spring Open House for either late May or early June. No decisions yet.
2) PLAZA MIDWOOD FARMER'S MARKET! We'll be there the first Saturday in May: May 3 from 10-1pm. Can't wait to see all our Charlotte customers and friends!

I'm not very good at blogging and a brief review of last season

Well, so much for my renewed interest in blogging from last year. I was so on fire to keep the blog up to date and interesting, but then it started raining, and if you remember last year’s weather, you will remember that it basically didn’t stop raining from June until August. When it didn’t dry up after a few weeks, I got so depressed that I didn’t feel like blogging anymore. And it just kept raining. Nothing much happened on the farm last year. All of my experiments either washed or rotted away. All the fun things I wanted to blog about were non-existent. And of course, I didn’t want to write about the weather week after week. It would have been something like “It’s still raining on the farm, so we’re not doing much right now” or "We tried to work again today, but we just got stuck in the mud a few times, so we gave up and went home." 

That being said, we did release our first bottle of wine this past year. And, again, I failed to blog about that. It was indeed one of the most momentous events of my life. I was too busy living it to write about it. We had a party at Wanda's to release the vintage. We had over 200 people stop by and taste the wine. My friend Jordan serenaded us on a grand piano that we had rented. Students from Johnson and Wales helped mom and me with the catering. We got a local food truck to provide dinner to those who wanted it. We had a fire pit going in the parking lot of the store. It was easily the most sophisticated night the west side of Concord has seen since the Mexican pool hall closed down a few years ago.

And then came all of the polar vortexes. The plants froze. So, again, we had nothing going down on the farm. Just cold weather. I stayed inside. The Moldovans didn’t seem to mind working in the cold, but there was simply nothing to do since all of our plants died and we had nothing for sale.

Even the snow was not that fun. It was one of the most anxious times of the year for me. I knew that we needed to keep the snow off the high tunnels or they would collapse, however, when I went out that morning to get the snow off, I couldn't get out of my driveway to get to the high tunnels. My dad said he'd come over to help me get out, but he got stuck too. And by the time he got out, and got to me, the tunnels had already collapsed with the weight of the snow. The next day, we got into the tunnels and shoveled the snow out. They popped  back up and no plants were seriously damaged. Sigh of relief. Nevertheless, we will have to replace the majority of the PVC bands that support the structure. 

So, in summary- I am not very good at blogging. Especially when there’s not much going on. I can’t even seem to write about the fact that there’s nothing going on. I really must hire someone to take over the blog next year.

BUT! Spring is around the corner. The garden is planned, the plants are ordered and we'll start getting our root vegetables and peas in the ground at the end of this week. Leafy greens will start going in the ground sometime next week. We're all caught up on the office work and the garages are all sparkling clean and organized (as much as a farm garage can be sparkling clean, that is). 

The kaolin clay is on and it's a count down to netting time!

I was happy with last year's harvest...don't get me wrong, but there are some things that I thought we could do better this year. The easiest of these improvement for us to make this year was to spray less kaolin clay and to spray it later in the season, once the berries had almost reached bunch closure. The grapes helped us out this year by simply growing so quickly that we didn't have time or need to spray them earlier. The weather has been so mild and wet that the grapes have grown like kudzu. Last year, we used the higher end of the recommended rate of 50lbs per acre. This year, we have used less... About 25 lbs per acre. So far the Japanese beetles are staying away, so it seems to be working. The vineyard isn't as white as it was last year, but you can tell that the clay is present. Hopefully we will slow down the growth a little, but get better ripening than last year. I'd like to get higher brix than last year, but keep the good acidity of last year. We are on schedule for putting the netting on in about two weeks. That's about the same time as last year, which means, about 5 weeks after that, well be harvesting! I will be happier if we can keep the grapes on the vines a little longer, but mid August seems to be when our grapes want to ripen. Every year we learn more about the timing of the growth of the grapes in our vineyard!

Speedy Spring Vineyard Season--- the silver lining to all this cool and rainy weather

Diversity is key in any portfolio. This is especially true in the case of the small farm. While it's been too wet for us to plant, hoe, fertilize, or basically do anything, it's been the perfect weather for pushing growth on the vines. We're already to pea size. After the late budbreak, the fast growth has been quite surprising. It's almost time to get the kaolin clay on the vines to slow them down. Veraison will be here before we know it. And then Harvest. 

The rainy weather has also allowed us to plant the experimental varieties we got from Texas (Lenoir and Blanc du Bois). We planted half  beside my house and half in Mount Pleasant on a little hillside of terrible rocky soil. Digging the wholes there sounded like nails on a chalk board it was so rocky. The rate at which we dug the wholes there was about 10/hour. Compare that to digging the wholes at my house- about 30 holes per hour. This field has a northerly aspect, just like the one beside my house. I can't wait to see how these plants react to North Carolina. Only two years until we get to see what their wine tastes like and find out if we want to plant more! 

Other than that, things have been quite slow at the farm. We desperately need to work in our garden. At first, I thought we'd just wait the rain out. And then when it continued every day, I knew we couldn't just sit around for a whole week not doing anything. So we had to get wet. I hope we get a break from this rain soon or I might go crazy. 

Four Places to Purchase Our Produce

After two years of selling veggies under our beloved white tent, WE HAVE A BUILDING! We are so happy to do business indoors! It promises to make our lives and your shopping experience much easier and weather proof.

We now have four ways for you to purchase our produce:

1) Farm Stand: 3600 Concord Pkwy S Concord NC 28027

Monday- Friday 11-6pm

2) Grandma's Front Yard: 4758 Poplar Tent Rd Concord NC 28027

Saturdays 9-12

3) Epicentre

Fridays 12-5:30pm

4) Common Market: 2007 Commonwealth Ave, Charlotte, NC

Saturdays 10-1pm.

We hope that you find one of these outlets suitable to your schedule! Please stop by and see what we have. The offerings change daily.

We will also be hosting a party on June 1st from 4:30-8 to welcome our new Farm Stand to the property. We hope you'll stop by for a glass of wine and some snacks and check out the building as well as meet our new interns! Thanks for your continued support. We couldn't do it without you!

Planting Time at a Small Farm

When some people want to make chit-chat, they talk about the weather. When farmers talk about the weather, they actually care. I could talk about the weather all day long! Well, maybe not all day long, but certainly for an hour or so. It determines so much of what we do. Responding appropriately to the weather is a skill I'm trying to master. When to plant, when to water, when to fertilize; these are all things that the weather dictates.

The cool weather recently has been great for us. I don't know about other farmers, but it was such a long winter, that I thought we weren't going to get a Spring. Now that our Spring crops are finally in the ground, this cooler-than-average temperature is giving them a chance to thrive. The Swiss Chard and Kale are looking amazing! And we're going to have a decent lettuce season as well.

The warm weather a few weeks ago allowed for us to start planting the summer stuff right on time this year! With the turn to colder weather these past two weeks, the squash, tomatoes, and peppers aren't growing as quickly as we expected, but this is giving us a chance to take it easy with our planting and not have to weed as quickly as the warmer weather would have necessitated. We've got our first round of veggies in the ground and we'll start on the second round next week.

With a small farm, with small acreage,  it's often difficult to figure out how best to plant transplants. We don't have a tractor implement to help us. We do it all by hand and hoe. We recently got a new pull behind tiller for our tractor and the softer soil is going to help us improve our planting speed Nevertheless, for The Farm at Dover Vineyards, planting time is pretty slow. We can do about 12 flats/ hour on a good day in great soil. I took some pictures as we planted peppers the other day.

First, Nicolae, the Perfectionist, gets the irrigation line straight. Then he turns it on, so that as he digs the holes and we put the plants in the ground, the soil is already moist. He then commences to dig the holes with a hoe, whilst walking backwards.

Next, Mike goes along with a bucket full of Daddy Pete's compost and puts it in the holes.

Next, I go along with the plants and put them in the holes.

Finally, Liuba goes along and plants the little buggers. With lots of care and love.

I'll go back in about a week's time and fertilize them. It works best with 4 people, however if someone is out, it is possible for one person to put the fertilizer and plants in simultaneously.

For an update on the vineyard:

The vineyard broke bud a little late this year, and for that we are grateful. Knock-on-wood, we are safely out of  the frost danger. We went back and double pruned a week after they broke. The crimson clover has been keeping the weeds down and attracting a whole host of insects. We haven't mowed the inter-rows yet, so that's saving us a bit on labour. We'll be starting our spray schedule tomorrow.

I'm really enjoying this cooler weather, but I know it will end soon. When the heat comes, we'll be ready with planted rows. We'll be opening up our building soon on Hwy 29 next  to the vineyard. Stay tuned for details involving that! We might even be going to two markets in Charlotte!! Lots of chances to support your local farmers.