A need for winter feed will now help establishing a new vineyard
Like many other practices across Tinja Farm, trialing ideas aids in the creation of sustainable and effective processes. With the winter just gone forecast to have been drier than normal, our team were working to ensure enough feed for our stock – a decision that will now help shape our new vineyards primitive years.
The 2024 Winter was looking bleak – cold yet dry. In preparation for a shortage of sustaining feed for our Tinja flock, our farm manager, Saxon, sowed a patch of winter active crops in an area earmarked to become a new vineyard block later in the year. The scope of this was to move lambs to this pasture when feed on the farm became low and the oats and brassica reached their correct growth stage – providing finishing feed for the sheep prior to their processing for The Zin House.
At the conclusion of their occupation, a forage harvester was sent through the remaining crop, with the yield becoming great green-material for our existing compost. With the bulk of the functional crop now removed, it was evident that the oats and brassica were also incredibly effective cover crops, suppressing competitive weed growth.
The Vineyard Plan
Now that the crop has spent its yield and the sheep have moved on, the intention was to till the entire sown area in preparation for irrigation lines and planting of our new Greco vineyard block. However, after such great results in weed suppression, we will now be only tilling the planting strips – leaving the space between where the vines will run (midrow) intact.
If the entire area was tilled, it would not only kill off the oats and brassica which have proven to be effective ground cover, but would also encourage competitive weeds to germinate in the space – essentially moving progress backwards, and not forwards. Leaving the midrow spaces untouched will also ensure that we do not strip excess microbial life from the soil – something that is essential in the establishment of resilient and highly functional vines.
Our vineyard team anticipate that keeping these corridors of cover crop in the midrow spaces with continue to suppress weed growth in the growing season, eventually self-terminating and becoming a ‘mulch’. This too has its own string of benefits, as it not only continues to function through soil coverage and protection, but also delivers nutrients and organic matter back into the soil.
Our Compost
The forage harvested oats and brassica were used to start new compost heaps, with their proliferation now well underway. This compost will then be used back in this vineyard block and across others on our property. You can read more about our compost processes here.
Monitoring
With works underway establishing our Greco vines, the true test now begins. Tilling is now, irrigation is going in, and it is nearly planting time. Be sure to check out our progress on your next visit to Tinja; the vineyard block is located at the bottom of the trufferie.