Here at Withoek we are busy finishing up the new plantings. The finishing touches sometimes takes longer than the actual job. Poles being planted must be done as well as the plastic mulch covers. The covers in the case of the drip irrigation will go over the drip lines. This makes the dripper doing his / her job under cover literally. With the huge loss to evaporation of the water then sort of more controlable. The micro irrigation is more of a problem. The micro easily blocks so it must be cleaned regurally.
The first leaves on the apricot plantings allready shows and even the Chenin blanc allready shows buds swelling. Very promising.
The apricot harvest looks smaller than the previous season due to a frost in mid August. The peaches funny enough which is higher up in the valley were not affected as much. The peaches is allready nice sizes and we will have to start to do the thinning very soon. The idea is to do it before the pip inside the peach hardens. When that happens most of the division of cells stopped and the only way the peach can grow is by enlarging the individual cells. You thus have a limitation on size because of less cells. This also is the case for the other stone fruit - apricots and plums. We will also thin the plums and the apricots designated for the fresh market.
At the fruit drying plant we started last week with the washing of the stellations. This is done by hand and is quite labour intensive. With less fruit we hope that quality and size will make up the difference at least in our financial statements.
Withoek also have a clean up project going. We provide all our labour houses with a rubbish bin so that they can clean up around the houses. It really is a process making people acknowledge the need for clean surroundings. A clean enviroment also will sort of lead to a healthier family.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Summer kicks in
With the temperatures slowly rising to the early 30's the water usage of the plants with young leafes rises rapidly. This means the water usage grows dramatically and the stress on the new irrigation system rise.
As with most Mondays even those well planned there always turns something out not fitting altogether. A leak here, fertilizer tanks not fitted and worker not turning up after the 'all pay' weekend. All of this contributes to something called 'Blue Monday'. Now what went right. My peaches were sprayed for the necessary insectocides, disease cures and micro element additions. My apricots are getting the same treatment to make sure the smaller harvest provides better quality fruit. Some of my vineyards started to but and I also sprayed them with contact pesticides and a small bit of micro element additions.
The new plantings really keeping me busy and out of the cleaning the orchards / vineyards, I decided to put the old 'skottel ploeg' to work. More mechanics at work less spraying.
The new plantings will come to a halt tomorrow with the finishing of the Indraai block of Colombard. The poles at the Chenin blanc block will also be finished tomorrow and we then can begin with the Colombard. With rain being predicted for Saturday till Monday - about an inch altogether - I want to get most of these things as near as possible to finish. So expect a big forest of poles in the valley. The fertigations systems also being launched this week make this an very eventful and busy week. Hold thumbs everything goes according to plan.
The house of straw project is postponed to October this year. So this make it a big chance of still getting involved in the more sustainable housing projects. Please do contact Selma. The presenters is really good and well informed on other issues concerning the greener lifestyle. Certainly not something to be missed.
The church 'dankseggings basaar' is also this weekend at the station. A definate for most of the Calitzdorpers. Come get good produce at farm prices and support the local church. The Church building will be 100 years old this 17 of December 2010 for those who is counting.
As with most Mondays even those well planned there always turns something out not fitting altogether. A leak here, fertilizer tanks not fitted and worker not turning up after the 'all pay' weekend. All of this contributes to something called 'Blue Monday'. Now what went right. My peaches were sprayed for the necessary insectocides, disease cures and micro element additions. My apricots are getting the same treatment to make sure the smaller harvest provides better quality fruit. Some of my vineyards started to but and I also sprayed them with contact pesticides and a small bit of micro element additions.
The new plantings really keeping me busy and out of the cleaning the orchards / vineyards, I decided to put the old 'skottel ploeg' to work. More mechanics at work less spraying.
The new plantings will come to a halt tomorrow with the finishing of the Indraai block of Colombard. The poles at the Chenin blanc block will also be finished tomorrow and we then can begin with the Colombard. With rain being predicted for Saturday till Monday - about an inch altogether - I want to get most of these things as near as possible to finish. So expect a big forest of poles in the valley. The fertigations systems also being launched this week make this an very eventful and busy week. Hold thumbs everything goes according to plan.
The house of straw project is postponed to October this year. So this make it a big chance of still getting involved in the more sustainable housing projects. Please do contact Selma. The presenters is really good and well informed on other issues concerning the greener lifestyle. Certainly not something to be missed.
The church 'dankseggings basaar' is also this weekend at the station. A definate for most of the Calitzdorpers. Come get good produce at farm prices and support the local church. The Church building will be 100 years old this 17 of December 2010 for those who is counting.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
HOUSE OF STRAW
Once their was three little piglets. Their names were....
The straw bale house workshop is held on the 27 to 29 of September 2010. The organizer is Zelma Kriek and she can be contacted on 082 576 5855. The cost is R1000 and includes lunch and 'verversings'. This workshop is being done at Zelma's farm on the Besemkop/Groenfontein road. About 1km from The Red Coffee Pot or centre of town on your left hand. The grey house with Blue Gum trees.
Do support this informative and practical workshop. The presenters are from Jo'burg and they are Green. Yes very Green. So give yourself freedom from Kannaland Municipality and go to Zelma's workshop. Unfortunately you still have to pay some taxes and present plans for you project to them but that is all.
Enjoy
The straw bale house workshop is held on the 27 to 29 of September 2010. The organizer is Zelma Kriek and she can be contacted on 082 576 5855. The cost is R1000 and includes lunch and 'verversings'. This workshop is being done at Zelma's farm on the Besemkop/Groenfontein road. About 1km from The Red Coffee Pot or centre of town on your left hand. The grey house with Blue Gum trees.
Do support this informative and practical workshop. The presenters are from Jo'burg and they are Green. Yes very Green. So give yourself freedom from Kannaland Municipality and go to Zelma's workshop. Unfortunately you still have to pay some taxes and present plans for you project to them but that is all.
Enjoy
The birth of a vineyard
Last week the vines were delivered and because I was going to a Festival namely the Geyser 'saamtrek', we decided only to start planting this week. The vines were stored in a cold room at 5 degrees and the roots being watered every half a day. After their stay in the cold room we have to rehidrate it in water for 24hrs before planting. This all come down to that we can only start to plant today.
We started with the Chenin blanc which is situated near the Calitzdorp Country Lodge. This being a bit more elevated above the riverbed which also means more airflow. Chenin is a cultivar prone to have rot in its bunches especially if it is not well aerated. The Chenin blanc is also a cultivar which carries a good yield so the soils must be well drained. Both of these objectives is reached with the specific terrior of the Hoenderboer as we call it. (For the less informed a chicken farmer once owned the piece of land.) We decided to plant 3000 vines / day as we want to water them all and see that we get finished planting before the end of the day. I think we underestimated but that is always better.
The blooming period for the apricots is also finished and the frost a few weeks ago really hit us hard especially in the blocks nearest to the town. Some of the trees only carried one or two flowers which means no harvest. The blocks higher up away from the river aswell as further from town had better flowering. I also took out a hectare of apricots to make place for the new plantings hoping the Herminashof blocks will deliver but you can never trust or predict nature.
The peaches in contrast to the apricots had a brilliant flowering period and we will really have to thin to get the right size. The funny thing is SAD allready let me know they are looking for apricots and not so much peaches likewise Langeberg. That is the agricultural balances for you.
The vineyards are just busy budding and we will soon see how their flowering goes. I expect with no natural intervention that it might be a good year. But only time will tell.
We started with the Chenin blanc which is situated near the Calitzdorp Country Lodge. This being a bit more elevated above the riverbed which also means more airflow. Chenin is a cultivar prone to have rot in its bunches especially if it is not well aerated. The Chenin blanc is also a cultivar which carries a good yield so the soils must be well drained. Both of these objectives is reached with the specific terrior of the Hoenderboer as we call it. (For the less informed a chicken farmer once owned the piece of land.) We decided to plant 3000 vines / day as we want to water them all and see that we get finished planting before the end of the day. I think we underestimated but that is always better.
The blooming period for the apricots is also finished and the frost a few weeks ago really hit us hard especially in the blocks nearest to the town. Some of the trees only carried one or two flowers which means no harvest. The blocks higher up away from the river aswell as further from town had better flowering. I also took out a hectare of apricots to make place for the new plantings hoping the Herminashof blocks will deliver but you can never trust or predict nature.
The peaches in contrast to the apricots had a brilliant flowering period and we will really have to thin to get the right size. The funny thing is SAD allready let me know they are looking for apricots and not so much peaches likewise Langeberg. That is the agricultural balances for you.
The vineyards are just busy budding and we will soon see how their flowering goes. I expect with no natural intervention that it might be a good year. But only time will tell.
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