HARVEST 2017
A special publication of The Healdsburg Tribune, The Cloverdale Reveille, The Windsor Times and Sonoma West Times & News
November 2, 2017
2017 harvest a wild ride of heat, rain and fire 90 percent of fruit was already in tanks and barrels when fires broke out By Rollie Atkinson Staff Writer Sonoma County’s 2017 winegrape harvest will be forever known for a much bigger story that had nothing to do with working in the vineyards, crushing grapes into juice or making wine. And, we all know that story is the historic wildfires that burned over 10 percent of the county’s 1 million acres and destroyed more than 5,000 homes. Most call it the Tubbs Fire, but it was much bigger than a single fire. Before the Oct. 9 fires struck, with as much as 90 percent of the fruit already safely in tanks and barrels, local growers were remarking on another very promising crop. The widely spread fires above Sonoma Valley and along the Mayacama ridges abruptly put the final days of harvest on hold while vineyard access was cut off in many places and all eyes and available volunteers watched the threatening flames. In the aftermath, about a dozen winery properties sustained fire destruction or damage and some vineyards were scorched. Final pickings of cabernet sauvignon and other lateripening varietals did not happen in some places and a few vineyard owners lost some crop sales. All in all, the 2017 wine-
Photo Ray Holley
ready to Pick — Grapes hung heavy on this Alexander Valley vine in late September, before anyone thought about firestorms.
grape crop is predicted to weigh in between 210,000 to 225,000 tons. That’s not as heavy as last year, but it’s better than the recent drought-impacted harvests of 2011-2015. The source of heat that had the most impact on the 2017 winegrape crop wasn’t from the wildfires; it was from a record heat spell over the Labor Day weekend. After a long and temperate growing season that started in mid-March, the 110 degree heat streak in early September sent some vines into shock and boosted sugars to premature ripeness. Growers scrambled and hurried harvesting crews into vineyards. Others sprayed water on their vines to preserve cluster juices and most were left to wait to see what Mother Nature might toss at them next. What came next was a few days of unseasonable rain showers that confused both the vines and the farmers. “Every day turned out to be an adventure,” said winegrape grower and Sebastopol winery owner John Balletto. “I have to tell you, this was my hardest harvest ever.” And then came the wildfires. Balletto picked his final grapes (zinfandel) on Oct. 18 along Guerneville Road. “We thought we were having major problems (due to
See Grapes Page 6
‘Heritage’ applies to more than tomatoes Heritage livestock bring the best of the old world to modern times By Heather Bailey Staff Writer In Sonoma County we love anything described with words like “heritage,” “sustainable” or “heirloom” and these words have been used to describe many facets of our local food movement. But recently, those labels have come to apply to more than just tomatoes and squash, they are also being used for many of the animals being raised here, and they have become part of local movement for a return to the older, more holistic ways of farming. If you have any interest in the idea of heritage or heirloom livestock, then your first stop should be the Livestock Conservancy; a national organization dedicated to preserving America’s endangered
Photo Mardi Storm
Now Hare tHiS — A Belgian Hare
named Black Watch’s Jack.
livestock and poultry breeds from extinction. “Rare farm animals represent an irreplaceable piece of earth’s biodiversity and offer incredible variety that may be needed for future farms — robust health, mothering instincts, foraging and the ability to thrive in a changing climate,” its website reads. “These farm animals are a vital part of ensuring food security for our planet, now and for the future.” They list over 150 breeds of endangered and heritage livestock native to the United States, and provide information on the breeds and about the farmers and breeders who are working to preserve them. In addition, there are similarly endangered breeds around the world, who have advocates working to preserve them. Locally, the heritage movement is being championed by two local businesses, Alchemist Farm in Sebastopol who specializes in poultry and Trickster Hares in Forestville, who are focused on two breeds of rabbit. Franchesca Duval opened Alchemist Farm three years ago, but she has been involved with chickens since she was a child. “I was raised with them,” she said. “I had a simple backyard flock of eight hens from the age of five until I headed off to college,” she said. When she started getting back into chickens as an adult, she became interested in egg color, and which breeds would give her the greatest variety in her egg basket, which inevitably led her down the path to heritage chickens. She now has 12 different breeds on her farm, which produce a rainbow of eggs. Mardi Storm was a childhood lover of rabbits, and an avid 4-H rabbit raiser. When she was nine she saw a Belgian Hare at a show and
the rabbit captured her imagination. But it would be many years before she would get one of her own. Storm was involved in a cat rescue and ended up with a cat that had a lot of health problems. A veterinarian suggested she try feeding a raw rabbit diet to the cat, which she did and it did alleviate the cat’s issues, but the cost of buying commercial rabbit meat was daunting. “I returned to rabbits after a 20 year absence thinking it was a good idea to raise my own, as I remember them not costing much,” Storm said. She remembered the Belgian Hares, and did some research to learn more about them, then contacted a breeder. “The Belgian Hare is the first rabbit imported into the United States in 1800s for food,” she said. “It made a big splash at the World’s Fair and there was a rabbit craze in the late 1800s. They were importing them from Europe, and in around 1910 one sold for like $1,000-imagine how much money that was back then? They sounded like good, meaty stock so I got this rabbit, but found that over the last 100 years it had turned into less of a meat breed and more of a fancy rabbit, for pets and showing, and I realized it was not going to work for my feeding plans. So, I started doing research at the Conservancy.” Storm decided that if she was going to be raising food rabbits, she wanted to help restore some of these breeds to their former glory. While she dabbled in several breeds over the years, she fell in love with another Belgian breed, the Beveren, a dual-purpose meat and fur breed, with striking blue eyes and a plush coat. Their popularity has peaked with the rabbits fur craze of the 20’s but had since fallen to near extinction.
See Heritage Page 2
Photo Noelle Gaberman
BiG fella — Franchesca Duval with an Orpington rooster named Big Red.