On the Farm: Vineyard manager races Mother Nature

Our grape harvest is about 75-percent completed. Time passes slowly for anxious growers waiting to send the last of their fruit into wineries juggling tank space for the yet-to-be harvested grapes.

We are vulnerable to the Oct. 12 rainfall that brought a half-inch of rain to Los Alamos.

Like in most things, timing is everything. Our crews picked all day under the threat of showers.

At White Hawk Vineyard, one load of syrah, hand-picked into small FYB containers destined for Oregon, was loaded into a refrigerated truck as the first showers of the afternoon approached around 4 p.m.

Two additional loads of hand-picked syrah were already finished from Premiere Coastal Vineyard just up the road.

Those grapes were loaded into trucks with four 5-ton fiberglass tubs parked in the yard at Premiere Coastal Vineyard. After being loaded, the drivers placed tarps over the fruit and took off for their final destination in San Miguel.

The forecast was for light drizzle, clearing early in the evening. That was good news, as we were scheduled to pick the last of our chardonnay still hanging on the vine the next morning.

Around 8 p.m., my assistant Carlos Guzman called and asked if we should call the crews and hold off on the next morning’s pick due to the continuing rainfall.

I opened the sliding door and went outside, where I could feel a slight drizzle. My response to Carlos was not to call off the picking and have the people come in, hoping the weather forecast was correct and the clouds would move out and a nice breeze would blow for the rest of the night.

I awoke at 2 a.m. to the sounds of raindrops on the roof of the house — so much for the weather forecast.

There was still a slight drizzle at 4 a.m., and I told myself we would just have to wait until we could see in the morning, check the vines and the rain gauge and make the call to pick or not.

The leaves on the vines were soaked, with water running off. The bunches protected by the leaves were dry, and the rain gauge read .40 of an inch. The grapes needed to come off.

I called the winery the fruit was destined for and let the field rep know the condition of things in the vineyard. After consulting with the winemaker, the decision was made to wait a few hours and then the pick.

To speed things up, we hooked up our sulfur dusters and used the fans to blast the vines with air to dry them off. At 8:30 a.m., the crews were in the field picking the last of our chardonnay for 2007.

Making hay in the sunshine

Rains in October always remind me of growing alfalfa in the Santa Ynez Valley with my brother, Dana. When we first began farming, we would invariably try to get just one more cutting of hay for the year.

Lured by the warm Indian summerlike days the first part of October can bring, we were usually about 40-percent successful in getting the hay baled and off the field in good condition.

The other 60 percent resulted in a struggle, with short days, sporadic rainfall and cool temperatures.

In the early days of our hay operation, we used a truck and side loader to pick up the bales in the field. We borrowed a side loader from the Laranjo brothers, who were farming more beans than hay on their ranch southwest of Buellton.

We spoke to both Bill and Mannie Laranjo, who let us use the side loader, with the rent being that when they baled hay, we would come and haul it for them. I think we only hauled hay for them once or twice. They were helping us get started by using their loader.

We hauled hay with that loader for two or three years. As the acreage we farmed grew, we hired Dwayne Holmdahl with his harrowbed to haul the hay for us.

I was saddened to read that Mannie Laranjo passed away Oct. 7. I recall going down to the Laranjos’ ranch with my dad to do a story on the three brothers and their lima bean farming operation.

I remember looking up at the big Case tractor pulling the Big Bertha bean harvester. There were lots of acres of lima beans grown up and down the Central Coast in the 1960s and ’70s.

I remember a picture dad ran in the paper of the huge harvester making its way through the field separating the massive wind rows of vines and beans.

I believe there was another photo of the three brothers standing in front of the tractor pulling the harvester.

Memories of the ever-changing face of agriculture here on the Central Coast.

If you have not been out in the country lately, take a drive and enjoy the beautiful fall colors our vines are showing this time of year. The cool nights have brought on the brilliant red and yellow colors that make fall such a special time of year in our area.

Get out and enjoy the clean, fresh air after a rain; enjoy the colorful vineyard landscape before Jack Frost comes along.

Kevin Merrill is a vineyard manager for Mesa Vineyard Management in Santa Maria. He is president of the Central Coast Wine Growers’ association and a board member for the Santa Barbara County Farm Bureau. He can be reached at kmerrill@mesavineyard.com.