Two Paddocks and Organics

by Richard Flatman, Vineyard Manager

Why I Do It

I think I enjoy the organic approach because it makes me feel good. It’s the same reason for going for a run, having a beer or a steak. When I was working for the big conventional corporate wineries, using herbicides ( like Preeglone -- drink 5 ml. and it WILL kill you) or insecticides, I would go home everyday, take my clothes off before I walked into the house where my beautiful pregnant wife would be waiting. This should end happily but the only reason I took my clothes off was so that the chemical wouldn’t come inside. All my work clothes were washed separately. I couldn’t stand the thought of chemicals coming in contact with my wife and un-born child.

Why Two Paddocks Does It

We do it here at Two Paddocks for a similar reason as the one above. Not because of a pregnant wife, but for love. Love for the environment, family and for each other. We are lucky enough to have you Sam to encourage it and us. Organics is not just about not spraying herbicides, it may start with that, but in the end it is the way you treat everything. It becomes the way we all live. Like us here at Two Paddocks or Gareth at Felton Road or Nick Mills at Rippon, we all have amazing relationships with our staff and the environment. When other people come onto these properties they leave feeling better than when they arrived. Now this is what organics should be about.

Preventive Measures

Growing organics in Central Otago is really quite easy. We do most of the preventive work by hand.

• We have a warm dry climate so our disease pressure is very low. With low rainfall we don’t really have many weed issues, so we don't use herbicides.
• We take more time shoot thinning, bunch thinning and opening up our canopy to stop fungal incursions, so we don't use fungicides.
• We plant cover crops to bring in the predatory insects to stop leaf roller, so we don't have to use insecticides.

As grape growers we must be aware that the vine roots should grow some metres  and not just in the sprayed strip of a vineyard. Weeds therefore matter little unless they grow into the canopy. Organic grape growing is more about what you don't do, that what you do.

Composting

We make our on compost at Redbank. We combine poplar tree branches chipped up and left for approximately 12months (this helps fungi get established), cover crops grown and harvested on Redbank, and a small amount of weathered manure which we normally have to buy. We spread throughout the property and vineyards. Last season we applied the first organic approved fertilizer on the vineyards in 3 years.

Twice a year we head to the beach. We pick up the seaweed that has been washed up on the shore, bring it home and wash it down. We then let it dry for about a week then chip this up to make seaweed brews out of. Otago farmers having been putting this on their vegetable gardens for decades.

Compost teas are a big thing here at Redbank. We get a small amount of compost, warm castings, comfrey plant(all from Redbank) and a small amount of humic and aerate it for 24hrs. This then gets sprayed on the vineyard to help bring back the fungi and bacteria.

The Results

When you first change a vineyard from conventional growing to organic philosophies it does take time. Populations of beneficial insects need time and encouragement to come back. The fertilizer and herbicides which are basically salts that have been thrown on need time to disperse. Because these salts encourage a vine to drink more (like when we eat salted peanuts) the vines need time and encouragement to go deeper looking for water and nutrients. Because fungi and bacteria have been depleted over so many years it takes time and encouragement to come back.

Now that we have been growing organically for more than 3 years, growing cover crops, adding compost tea, adding seaweed teas the populations of fungi and bacteria are coming back. Our vineyards are healthy places. The vines have formed a better symbiotic relationship with their surrounds, the canopy looks healthier, we have fewer disease issues andwe are making better wine.

The Future

I think we have a very bright future here at Two Paddocks. We are minimizing the damage we all do to this precious place called Earth. Not just by growing organic grapes, fruit and vegetables but also by recycling and feeding scraps to the pigs and chickens. I love the fact that my children can wonder off to the  vegetable garden, pull a carrot out of the ground and eat it. No need to wash it when you are 4 yrs old. They will remember when they are my age just as I do what a home grown tomato or apricot taste like.

I had a very pleasurable day today; I moved the lambs from the top paddock down to the compost paddock. I do this by using the pet sheep we have called Baa-baa (named by my daughter 3 years ago) as he helps lead the rest, I had to lead them past the two Kunikuni pigs that we own. These young ladies were happily eating the last of the acorns (they are free range pigs but don’t seem to run away). I then moved past the rare breed chickens that were feeding on the grass grubs in the Riesling into their new paddock. Environmental damage nil, enjoyment immense. 

The environment that has been created here at Two Paddocks is transferred to the vineyard and the wine. We all love working for Two Paddocks not only because of this environment but also because we all truly feel we can make some very special wines. The depth of colour and flavour, the complexities of fruit and the well-rounded acidity. This mixed in with a little spice, red berries and plums. Every year that we grow our wine organically is having a positive effect on these wines. I believe that they are getting not only better but healthier (in moderation of course).

Good drinking.