5. Alta Marfa 2017

Friends,

Things are moving forward in the quest for water! I won’t give you all the details until things are finalized (there is still a ways to go) but a promising plan is in the works involving lawyers, easements, underground pipes, etc.

As I wrote in a previous post I have ordered grape vines and they will be delivered in the spring of 2018 for planting. That might seem like a long time in the future (most of the time that’s how I feel), but considering the huge amount of work that needs to be done before the vines arrive, a year seems like barely enough.

The following are some of the tasks that will need to be completed before the vines can be planted:

1) Set up a weather station. Data is an incredibly important tool whenever you have a recurring process that you want to improve over time, aka growing grapes and making wine.

2) Build a tall fence around where the vineyard will be. This will be essential. Deer love to eat tasty green plants (read ‘grape vines’).

3) Build an underground drip irrigation system. Normally drip irrigation lines are seen above the ground hanging along the bottom of the trellises in vineyards. In the Davis mountains, at over 5,300’ above sea level, the extremely dry air and strong winds would blow away a lot of the water before it reached the ground so the irrigation lines at Alta Marfa will be buried under the ground so the water goes where it is supposed to.

4) Build trellises for the vines to grow on. Metal posts, wires, Boom!

5) Sowing a cover crop of grasses and legumes to keep the soil healthy and prevent erosion.

2017 will definitely be a very busy year at Alta Marfa!