Tess, Mac & Scotty

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:09:37 -0600

Three Border Collies equal one human genius. Tess is 11 and we call her the old “Momma Dog”. Mac is 10 and can imitate just about any sound you can make. Mac is one of her litter pups we kept. Scotty, Sr. was the father. He was the smartest dog I’ve ever known. Scotty, Jr., here, looks a lot like Scotty, Sr. and in his own way, is just as smart. He is almost 3. We call him #1 because he rules the roost but pays deference to Mac, the oldest male of our 7 dogs and one 19 year old cat.

I believe that having a dog or cat with you makes you far more sensitive to the environment and what’s happening in Nature. Machelle Small Wright, who wrote the book Behaving As If The God In All Life Mattered, once said that our pets process the coarser vibrations we have and send them back as finer vibrations. The calmer we are, the easier it is to see Nature and be with our Creator.

I used to have a cat named Albert who knew more about my emotions than I did. He would always sit with me just before I was about to get upset over something. Scotty, Sr. slept with me every day of his 8 year life. He never left my side. Scotty, Jr. is the same way. Nothing beats a combination of intelligence, talent, athleticism, sensitivity and loyalty that is the hallmark of border collies. I’m fortunate and honored to have three.

© 2008 Greg Willis on content and photo. All rights reserved.

GW Hizzelf

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:45:56 -0600

That’s me digging holes for my mini-vineyard of 25 vines. Note that the holes are staggered to give the vines the maximum amount food without having to compete with other vines. We plant them in a triangle or diamond pattern like the French Intensive Method of gardening. The layout is based on the Golden Mean Proportions. The trellising system is also designed on the Golden Mean to make the vineyard as close to Nature as possible to increase yield and quality and reduce or eliminate diseases and pests.

Notice also that the way we plant vines is to use a 30” by 8”-10” auger to dig a hole for each vine. Then we fill the hole with fresh manure, which vines LOVE when they’re young or in the Fall, and plant each one. Vines are one of the few plants that thrive on fresh manure, in this case a mixture of cow, horse and bird manure.

Do not ever apply fresh manure to vines in the Spring since it will pretty much destroy the flavors in the grapes. Only apply fresh manure that has gone through the heating and cooling phase in the Fall, after harvest. It’s not necessary to have it go through the heating-cooling process for first year plants.

I particularly like bench grafts or own-rooted varieties since we get a crop sooner. We also make extensive use of companion plants, barrier plants and permanent biologically complex (at least 20 species in the mix) cover crops for vines that are 85% legumes and 15% mustard.

We mow the cover crops rather than turn them in. The mustard (which provides calcium to the vines) is mowed after it blooms and before it goes to seed to control its spread. The legumes are mowed at a height of 6-10”.

Three studies sponsored by the American Vineyard Foundation showed that permanent cover crops in vineyards require no more and no less irrigation than vineyards without cover crops, busting the myth that vineyards with cover crops require more irrigation.

More on vineyard management will be posted in the future. My vineyard book, Wholistic™ Viticulture, will be published and available at the January Wholistic™ Agriculture Conference, January 12-14, 2009 at CSI in Grand Rapids, MI .

All are invited to attend. Call me at 214-592-9800 or CSI at 616-246-7933 for details. The Three Day Wholistic™ Conference is just $477 for the three days and well worth it.

We will be discussing Wholistic™ Agricultural & Biological Science, Wholistic™ Viticulture, Wholistic™ Apiculture and many other related subjects.

When we are finished, you will know more about how Nature really works than just about anyone in the world.

Gw

Nothing’s Greener

Tess, Mac & Scotty

GW Hizzelf