Last weekend we were priviledged to host Louisa Hargrave, founder of the Long Island wine region, at our property. We have become acquaintances over the past year or so and had invited her to our Open House back in April. Unfortunately, at the time, Louisa was under the weather and had to decline the invitation. We were very interested in showing her the new classroom and vineyard, so we were delighted when she agreed to stop by on Saturday morning.

Upon her arrival, we escorted her out back to see the vines. Her trained eye quickly noted that a few of our vines were afflicted with Downy Mildew. While it wasn’t surprising for us to have mildew problems — they are very common in our humid climate — I was surprised that, after having studied various vine pests and diseases extensively, I wasn’t able to identify it myself. In fact, after examining the leaf in question, I still wasn’t sure what it was I was looking at that was indicative of the mildew. It just further illustrates to me the importance of hands-on education beyond book knowledge (as well as the importance of providing clear, color photographs in educational books).

Louisa also commented on the crab grass growing beneath our vines and explained that as an invasive weed with deep roots, the crab grass was in danger of hurting our vines. Accordingly, she suggested Round Up as a safe option for eradicating the weed and preventing any additional damage to the vines. Finally, having identified a problem with Japanese beetles ourselves, Louisa mentioned that there were traps we could purchase to lure them away from the vine’s tender leaves.

Going forward, Jared has recently subscribed to the Cornell University Co-operative Extension’s weekly alert, so we will be more informed about the perils and pitfalls of vineyard management that await us each week. We are reminded once again, that while wine is more glamorous than cauliflower au gratin, farming is farming.