In 2000 we converted to completely organic! We don’t use any pesticides (never did) or herbicides, or even petrochemical based fertilizers! It’s a lot of work, but it’s the right thing to do!

This year we added a clover cover crop directly to the vine row. The hope is that the clover will choke out most of the weeds AND add nitrogen back to the soils. It will probably be gopher heaven, so we’ll see how it works. Come April – June, the clovers, poppy’s, lupine and other wild flowers should be in full glorious bloom! Come by and check it out!

At Pipestone Vineyards, we do strive to be gentle on the land while making a living for our family. It is not always easy and we learn something new every day. If you want to learn more about our practices, we encourage you to come visit and take a walk in our vineyard and orchards; we may even learn something from you! Sustainable agriculture is a broad goal of agricultural production that is dynamic and emphasizes the full use of biological (renewable and recyclable) resources. It is a group of farming methods that do not deplete soil, water, air, wildlife, or human community resources. The term generally refers to farming practices that strive for this ideal, as opposed to typical farming practices that rely heavily on petroleum products (like gasoline, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides) and/or exploited labor. Of the 1.8 million farms in the US, maybe 2-4% use some kind of sustainable methods. What we do to promote sustainability and natural farming:

• Cover crops: Our orchards have been in native grasses and legumes for at least 35 years. In the vineyard, we have inter-planted with the naturalized flora, native grasses that include bromes and fescues along with clovers, medics vetch, lupine and other legumes. We are experimenting with a large and vigorous legume called bell bean in rocky areas to add extra organic matter and natural nitrogen to the soils. The cover crops hold the soil in place preventing erosion and keeping the dust down in the summer months. Since no tillage is used, the earthworms even have a fighting chance! The cover crops promote biodiversity in the types and numbers of invertebrates (bugs!) (and even in the microbes) living in the vineyard. Many of the insects we see are beneficial, and they are all living in the cover crop. At certain times of the year, we have seen 1000’s of lady bugs in the vine canopies! The covercrop roots also give the soil better structure, allowing water and nutrients to penetrate more easily into the root zone. Organic matter is returned to the soil annually as the plants are mowed. The legumes even produce excess nitrogen that is taken up by the other cover crops and the vines themselves.

• Chemical Use: We minimize the use of farm chemicals in the vineyard. The orchards have been farmed organically for as long as anyone can remember with no chemicals used since at least 1988 and likely for 10 years prior to that. Certainly our kitchen garden is totally organic, as are our chickens! If you come at the right time, we often offer our surplus vegetables to visitors! We have eliminated the use of farm chemicals in the vineyard. Anyone who would like to volunteer for hand hoeing (seven miles of vine row) should call me immediately!!! We have never used any pesticides and enjoy an abundance of insects in the vineyard. Parasitic wasps (too small to bite you!) are common and their prey (leaf hoppers) are far and few between. Only sulfur is used as a fungicide for mildew control, a practice that dates back to ancient times even predating Rome.

• Fertilization: We only fertilized the first year the vines were planted. We do keep close track of the nutritional levels in the vines and have not had to fertilize since. Maybe it is attitude, but our vines are generally on the lower end of nitrogen levels, which is fine by us to avoid overly vigorous growth. We would rather the vine’s energy is directed to the fruit and not into growing a jungle of tangled vines and leaves. Fertile soils have a balanced mix of minerals, organic matter, microorganisms and macroorganisms (like earthworms). Sustainable farmers like us, try to keep these components in balance (see the page on feng shui) by adding compost, minerals, naturally occurring fertilizers, and by returning back into the soil crop residues and the cover crops grown specifically for fertility. The pomace from the winery is also returned to the vineyard after being composted.

• Wildlife Habitat: One of our goals is to be easy on the critters that share our little neighborhood. We have left much of the property unfenced and maintain areas for the deer to pass through in their hunt for tender greens. Birds are excluded prior to harvest using nets and a loud cannon to move them on their way. Owls and other raptors are encouraged with housing and perches (they eat the ever present gophers – yum, yum). The native vegetation in the vineyard, the orchard and in the natural areas we have left provide habitat and food for everything from ladybugs and butterflies, to a diverse number of small birds, rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, bob cats, mountain lions and even a tarantula or two!

• Reuse, Recycle, don’t throw that away: My wife sometimes thinks I am just a cheap Yankee or a pack rat, but there is a method to this madness. We recycle or reuse virtually everything here. We rarely have any trash to send to the landfill. Anyone who saw our original tractor (a 1939 Ford) can attest that we are loath to get rid of anything! (Actually we sold it to an antique collector when it was clear that it would either kill us (no brakes) or bankrupt us with repairs!)

• How can you support sustainable agriculture?: 1) Grow your own food in whatever space you have; 2) buy organic or sustainably produced foods at food co-ops, natural food stores, or ask your supermarket to carry organic. Better yet, buy them directly from a small farmer (at farmers’ markets or directly from the farm) dedicated to sustainable farming methods; 3) visit a small farm that is managed sustainable to learn what it is all about. We invite you to visit us anytime!

Jeff Pipes, Pipestone Vineyards

Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land. By land is meant all of the things on, over, or in the earth. Harmony with land is like harmony with a friend; you cannot cherish his right hand and chop off his left. That is to say, you cannot love game and hate predators; you cannot conserve the waters and waste the ranges; you cannot build the forest and mine the farm. The land is one organism. Its parts, like our own parts, compete with each other and co-operate with each other. The competitions are as much a part of the inner workings as the co-operations. You can regulate them--cautiously--but not abolish them.

-- Aldo Leopold