Judith Mountain Vineyard

Five days into June, and because of the abnormally-wet May, the weather has been a vintner’s dream.

For the first time I’m watching vines without the morbid trepidation that usually occurs in early June.  Historically, according to NOAA’s stats for Lewistown’s climate, [http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/tfx/dx.php?wfo=tfx&type=text&fx=PNSCLM_2009], the average freeze-free days are bound by May 29 and September 11.  In 2009, they were June 8 and Sept 27, followed by the coldest October since 2002 with dailies 40F below average, with one day reaching -15F, and laying 3 feet of snow in central Montana’s mountains for Halloween.  Suffering the hard  ’09 June freeze and the hard chill in October was too much for vines on the cusp of death.

So far, though, we haven’t had a freeze since May 15, and the vines are growing like crazy.  Well, that is, 69% of them.

I’ve updated the graphs and all the science on the grapes page to include part of the ‘07 through current vineyard climate data.  Our growing degree days, temperature, and rainfall followed by this warm spell are ideal for vitis in a northern climate- we haven’t had a better year.  For the first time I have a handful of vines actually behaving like normal, swelling buds along the entire length of previous years’ growths.

Could it be?  Might this be the start of a banner year, producing stable trunks from which I may have actual cordons?  The vines are already 3 years behind what would be their bounty in climates requiring less leather-like skin.

Remain stolid, at least for another frost free week.  Then get drunk and celebrate.

give a man a fish, feed him for a day.  teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.  and his family and their’s and…

do we ever learn when not to fish?  darwin professes a basic cycle, one that even single-cell bob can’t fuck up, “eat. multpily”.  when growth exceeds food, growth dies back into a web of living balance and submission?  I wonder, then, is it possible for higher-order organisms to smoothen the cycle.  to sort of tame it, or even preempt the swings by enforcing an inflection or series of correctional tangents.  that is, of course, assuming we use the other cells.

in 2004 Hogan and Zanden published research regarding catfish migration along the Mekong River, which passes through or borders Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, and China, in order upstream.  The article, in the American Scientist 2004 v.92 i.3 p. 228, describes studies of historic catches, strontium in otoliths [formed in the inner ears of balancing vertebrates], biotelemetry, and government-sponsored buy-back programs.

The silver-toned catfish travel an average of 5km/day for annual summers at the brackish water mouth.  They are not only becoming fewer but smaller and now only occur upstream as far as Cambodia.  Overfishing is placing a heavy hand on the wooden-handled knife into the former 300kg heavyweight catfish class, one of many fish experiencing the same on a river system that accounts for 16% of the world’s freshwater catch.  Declines in freshwater stingray stocks support the same conclusion: habit degradation, dams, industry and agriculture all share the glare.  Funny how even Animal Planet’s Jeremy Wade, on his recent video How to Catch a Giant Stingray, acknowledges the lack of stingray bounty compared to historic records and upstream reaches, as he takes all afternoon to reel in his fourth catch of the episode (itself nearly 150kg- and gives premature birth to three in the net).

these are my thoughts as a group of us floated down the Smith River at the end of this April (sunny and 70 for two weeks, a perfect window).  Our fishing was terrible- the river too high and viscous for trout amateurs.  Of course, all the old-timers who have lived or fished on the Smith back in the good ‘ol times had stories of better and browns to 2′.  Connection?

Mark Kulansky’s non-fiction Cod tells of a familiar theme.  Overfishing, under numbers, too much pressure.  Seawater catch numbers that rose worldwide on the advent of boats that could handle more remote conquests, then fell even harder afterward.  Salmon fisheries and more on the scare as copper mines and oil disasters alike flare with the pace of humanity.

I’m not writing about fish, actually, it’s more interesting to focus on good stewardship.  minding our selves in the forests (pine beetles abhor fire) and everywhere else.  we’re going to blow shit up and peel out and fire sidearms and love all of this for longer if we simply practice a little self control and accountability with our rods.

the fishing proverb isn’t actually from the Bible but rather presumed to have a Chinese origin.  Like the catfish once did.

Spring came early- April was brilliant! …and out like a lion.  After a few storms and from 2-4 feet snow and bigger drifts, we’re just now exposing the vines to the air again. Yes, it’s May 18, and we’re easily a month behind where we were at for growth this time last year. Maybe that’s a good thing- a little delay may help us through another potentially-fatal June freeze. A big vineyard eval this week, planting of some new vines, and a science update commencing…

It’s mid-March and 60F during the day for a few weeks- enough for the snow to have disappeared from the vineyard but the ground is still frozen. On a recent maintenance stroll noticed that, after three full growing seasons and three winters, vines either made it or didn’t- few exist in the between. It’s about an 85/10 ratio. At this point in their growth, the living should flourish- there isn’t much they haven’t already survived. Raise the glass to a good growing season!

Did you know that nearly 30% of all energy conservation house upgrade costs [heat, cool, water, spring/well development, insulation, windows, doors, biomass (wood) stoves], and nearly 30% of all home power costs and installations [solar panels, wind, and related equipment like batteries, wires, breakers, etc.], actualize as credits
toward your federal income tax?  Click here for details.

In Montana, as credits against our state income tax, we have forms ENRG-B [Alternative Energy] and ENRG-C [Energy Conservation] dedicated to exactly this purpose. There is a maximum credit for at least one of these items [between $5 and $6k, I think?] you can use in a given year; however, any extra carries forward!

So, when conducting a feasibility study or simple budget of whether or not items like wind, solar, solar hot water, on-demand water heat, and spray-in insulation will pay off over time vs. reductions in heating bills, remember these two important points:

1) Up to 30% the cost of the ‘green’ upgrades, and up to 30% off the cost of alternative power installations count ADDITIONALLY in your favor [in the form of tax credits]

2) Heating and utilities bills operate on an average national increase rate of 4%

Do the math. Lower your 2010 state and federal income taxes, future
utilities bills, and spend your cash on self-sustainability! -s

lucky to catch this morning sunrise.  even the deer were lazy and enjoying the peace.

An incredible storm rolled through recently. Though, unlike
Shackleton [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/8499931.stm],
we didn’t leave anything behind while plowing through 200/so feet of
four-five foot drifts.

Update- finally! on the Judith Mountain Vineyard. We finally have a
real toilet, hot water, and a shower after THREE YEARS of living in a
14×14 foot cabin!

It’s amazing, in this time we’ve put in power,
water, a road, and a new home. We moved in on December 23rd, and love
living with the horses and goats and chickens. Our rooster ‘Re-peep’
[Peep's son] reminds me at nearly 5:24 am every morning to wake up and
stoke the fire. Getting used to it, at first we were thinking of stew
but now kind of enjoy it. This barnhouse is a cool system, with
animals –> humans –> waste back to animals, it’s pretty efficiently
cyclical, and entirely off the grid except for a propane on-demand
Bosch Aquastar hot water heater [awesome and inexpensive, by the way].

For the vines, the season finished off well is moderate temps,
dropping to freezing at night started in late September. On other
notes, looking into adding a distilling circuit on the future winery,
and growing bison, and adding on our long-awaited sauna or sweat
lodge. We’ll see how that turns out……

We are so blessed this holiday season, and many millions of thanks to
everyone who helped along the way. All of our friends and neighbors
dedicated time and effort for us to be here, advice and books and
texts, and we couldn’t be more grateful for everyone’s support. Come
visit! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year -Scott

for the first time today we drove across a cattle guard and new
entrance along a graded road down to an insulated barn that has water
and power.  as steady as the country and homesteading are tough so are
the rewards.  when they finally come.

We recently discovered that on May 11th, at 1:39am in the morning,
Judith Mountain Vineyard witnessed a wind speed of 108 mph. This
shatters the previous record of 83.4 mph from November 8th, 2008.