tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75096327413004617032024-03-13T16:30:16.882-07:00Withoek - CalitzdorpWINE AND LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE!!Fanie Geyserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858669621877124934noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509632741300461703.post-28017855278929197032012-10-18T05:22:00.000-07:002012-10-18T05:22:06.482-07:00UNITED FRONTAs with most good things in life you always finds someone else doing the same thing. I got a lot of calls and interest in the fruit fly report in the previous post and a lot of it positive. I am also glad to report that Calitzdorp Cellar is on big time on the wagon. Some of you might allready have found some funny things hanging in your fruit trees in the backyard. They took that upon themselves to hang out these fruit fly bait stations. What it does it attracts the female fly and kills it. It works for three months. The Cellar will carry the expense of the first one for the season. It only works for three months so after that you can go and buy one at the Calitzdorp Cellar. It is really expensive a price of R3.80 for one. You hang one per tree and the problem of fruit flies is gone. <br />
Those of you that did not receive one yet. The cellar will through young Hein Nel, son of Joos Nel, come and visit you and he will put it out. If you are not there he might take the liberty of doing it anyway. All in a good cause for better fruit for everyone. <br />
I think from a farmers respective and a member of the community I would like to thank Joos Nel, Dirkie Brink and rest of the board of Directors of Calitzdorp Cellar for this bold move. The fight against this insect can be won in Calitzdorp because of the small area and if everyone pulls together this insect had his day in the Port Capital.<br />
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A few weeks back I had also the opportunity to talk to the Graham and Rhona Beck Skills Centre. That is the big building just before Rooiberg Cellar on you left as you drive to Cape Town on the R62. <br />
Their main focus is the developement of skills among the unskilled. They are a non-profit organization and make use of outside expertise to present courses in about anything. Some of the sample they talked about is ironing, cleaning, welding, basic repairs on cars, driving, spraying etc. They are really open to any suggestions for courses and is eager to do some of those courses in Calitzdorp. <br />
I took the liberty to offer a bed and if we get maybe two or three of you restaurants to also donate a plate of food then the cost can really come down and be affordable for everyone. <br />
They try and cover any area of work and are willing to look into anything. I think we must try and think such courses that might benefit the local community. Do send any suggestions to me and I will sort of try to co-ordinate it. The players I'll like to see get involved is the tourism, agricultural and restaurants in Calitzdorp. See where your workers need some more refinement and maybe there is more than a few that also face the same problem.<br />
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On the farming side the apricots is getting bigger. Now is the time to introduce some real potasium for quality of fruit as well as nitrogen for size. Don't overdo the nitrogen though. You might also look into the whole micro element sprays for your plants. Things like zinc, boron and Manganese are important for your plants but they need it in small quantities. The first two is the most important in the local conditions. <br />
As in the first paragraph stated now is also the time to fight our six legged friends. Do hang those bait stations and replace after three months. It would not just help you but a lot of farmers will sleep a lot better. <br />
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Enjoy.<br />
Fanie Geyserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858669621877124934noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509632741300461703.post-9802402694772690592012-09-18T23:33:00.000-07:002012-09-18T23:33:48.935-07:00Agricultural practices for September / OctoberFor the weekend farmer and or town fruit garden owner maybe a few tips on what to be done.<br />
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1. Fruit thinning. Usually with our lovely weather our trees produce to much fruit. To get better size and quality fruit you have to thin. With peaches it is usually a space between fruit of about 15cm and with apricot and plums a space of 8 to 10cm is fine. This creates enough space for the fruit to develope and you will pick definately bigger fruit this year. <br />
2. Fertilizing. This is the tricky one. If the trees do get enough water they will usually have enough vigour in Calitzdorp. To help the tree a bit and to replace the Nitrogen and Potassium which the tree took out of the soil with the removal of last years crop you have to add a bit. The commercial farmers will tell you that with apricots and other stone fruit you have to replace about 2kg of nitrogen per tonne fruit produced per hectare (800 trees per ha). The potasium replacement will be about 2.5kg per tonne fruit per ha. Remember compost never replaces the fertilizer and usually just act as an add-on. Your trees will definately act on good fertilizing habits. The compost adds a lot of organic matter which sometimes include nitrogen and potasium in very small amounts but never enough for the plants needs.<br />
3. Micro elements. Sometimes plants especially peach trees show some yellow leaves and that is usually a shortage in micro elements. Here you must look for additions of small amounts of magnesium (Engelse sout) and iron. A spray of boron and zinc can not do the tree harm either. Most of these is available in our soils but because of our high pH soils not very accesable for the plant.<br />
4. General spraying with a backpack spray (16lt) cost you about R170 at the local Landmark, can also be done. Spray for most fungal growth with Mancozeb and Sulphur (Kumulus) base sprays. Do incude also something for insects as after the wet winter and warm spring their numbers are increasing quickly. <br />
5. Do remember to spray for fruit flies and or put out the 'lamp olie / water' mixture to keep their numbers intact.Fanie Geyserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858669621877124934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509632741300461703.post-77843720948440960532012-09-18T04:34:00.000-07:002012-09-18T04:34:00.924-07:00The attack of the Fruit Fly<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The first fruit is allready visible and so far the setting looks great. It seems as if we did have a warmer and drier August and it the warmer weather really hit us in the mid of September. This is also what the long term forecast for the Southern Cape predicts. To look more into the future it seems that the months of September and October will be drier than usual with the chance of only 80% of the normal rainfall. <br />
The weather will change in November with the rainfall being 120% of the normal. This means problems especially for the fruit farmers and these days the onion seed growers. <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YJSAxWJvaAM/UFhWoOD9BvI/AAAAAAAAAEU/3pw-n54SZGI/s1600/IMG-20120904-00016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" hea="true" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YJSAxWJvaAM/UFhWoOD9BvI/AAAAAAAAAEU/3pw-n54SZGI/s320/IMG-20120904-00016.jpg" width="320" /></a>With more rainfall comes higher possibilities of fungi growth and insect counts. Talking about the six legged creatures: Do you also find that the mosquitoes are more active earlier this year. I was surprised to also find the first fruit fly in my plum orchard. This is a menace to the local farming community and we really want to encourage the people in town with the one and two fruit tree gardens to help us in this battle. </div>
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The last few years it seems as if the numbers of the fruit flies really took off. There is a few possibilities but the two most common is also the most expensive. In the Boland / De Doorns areas where the table grapes and fresh fruit production is huge the release infertile males which leads to females being not fertilized and thus less fruit flies being born. This is an very expensive exercise. </div>
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The best option is probably the second one. Spraying. Hire and aeroplane and spray the whole town. This is a practice done in the Americas with great succes and can easily be applied here. It still stay very expensive and spraying residue will be in the air for some time. It is not harmfull and very safe. Again it is expensive. </div>
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Now you ask what can I do to keep these menaces out of my town garden to help myself getting better fruit and keeping the population of fruit flies down for my farming neighbour. There is two possilities.</div>
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1. Spray a product with active ingredient Mercaptithion at least once every week. You can put it in any open container add some water according to the dosage on the bottle and add some sugar (the one which you put into your coffee). This will draw the fruit fly to the poison and the kill it. The Mercaptithion will break up very easily in direct sunlight so this must be done weekly so that you keep the population down. You can start as early as October.</div>
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2. Some of the older farmer do have a other solution. You take a two litre plastic bottle like a coke or the other famous beverage in town which bottles are distributed everywhere in town. Cut a few holes in the bottle in the top part. Keep the bottom intact. In it you pour some Parafin or Lamp Oil with water and hang this container in the fruit trees in your garden. This mixture you can replace every two to three weeks. You will find a lot of our insect friends in there. </div>
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I want to take the opportunity to really ask all the town small holding farmers to take trouble in this fight against the six legged organisms. They don't contribute anything to our fruit industry and really create a big problem especially to the late season cultivar fruits.</div>
Fanie Geyserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858669621877124934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509632741300461703.post-88555417878685661462012-09-18T03:38:00.001-07:002012-09-18T03:38:39.703-07:00Town of Dreams<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well the last few months anyone visting our little village would have noticed a lot of work done on the overall look of the town. Barrels with succulents later being replaced by other plants with some more thorns to take the possilbe use as seating out of the equation. This is all done from lately a project of 'Droom vir 'n Dorp' which started in a small town of Bonnievale with huge success. The application of the same principles to Calitzdorp was done with the driving force of the local Tourism association. <br />
Withoek and James of Spekboom Cottages decided to make our contribution by replanting the edge of the road which enters the town from the North - that is the Groenfontein side of town. <br />
We planted two rows of trees with some aloes and other succulents and also installed a drip irrigation system. The plan is later to introduce more plants and also some resting places for the community of Besemkop on their way home after shopping on a Saturday or a walk to town any other time. We found that their is not many places for a person without transport to rest if he / she walks into town and or returns. <br />
The trees planted are all plants made from cuttings by the workers at Withoek. There will be a few Wild Fig trees, Olive (Mission) trees, an Oak, Pepper and Karee. An real collection of types found on the Herminashof property. <br />
We hope that this will better the view for the incoming traffic from this beautiful valley in our town. Anyone who want to contribute a plant feel welcome. Advice is also very much appreciated.Fanie Geyserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858669621877124934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509632741300461703.post-50625345760595955922012-09-18T03:19:00.001-07:002012-09-18T03:19:17.108-07:00Withoek Vegetable project<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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At Withoek we decided with the current economic conditions as well as current state of employment we will try and produce at least some of the food for the community. Withoek Boerdery will provide the land and water and the workers as well as community members the work force. <br />
The plan is that the work would be done after hours and that the workers will take the responsibility for the day to day running of the garden. <br />
The garden which will grow eggplants, cabbage, tamatoes, pumpkin, beans and carrots will cover about 0.3ha and will be drip irrigated. Let us hope this project is a success story. <br />
Fanie Geyserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858669621877124934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509632741300461703.post-23412572122056721792012-04-18T03:36:00.000-07:002012-04-18T03:36:16.285-07:00Long time - no writeAs you can gather from my frequent writings I have been busy. The harvest was one of the biggest that I can remember and according all records I have of the farm. We were about 48% up from the previous year and most produce were one of the biggest yet by Withoek. Just our plums disappointed but with only 3% of the area and of that 2% is still in its first year I can't really complain. <br />
Because of all the plantings recently we decided not to plant anything this year. Of all our fruit about 26% is less than 4 years old. Meaning still not in full production. No the questions is when do the different fruit groups come into full production. With grapes it seems the 3 year you are very near and with peaches it looks like the 4th year. Apricots takes the longest according to my experience and will only start to produce good yields in the 5th an 6th year. Luckily I planted a lot of grapes recently. <br />
We are busy cleaning the farm up. Especially the weeds that took over while we harvested must be controled as we are also in the phase of after harvest fertilizing. This means that we reward the plants that did produce with nitrogen(N) and potasium (K). This is given according to the yields of every block. Usually a rule of thumb is about 2kg for each tonne fruit delivered from the block. You must also take into account the growth pattern (vigorous or normal or bad) and the fruit type (apricots / peach / plum / grapes). <br />
We are lucky that because of the investment in the infrastructure we now fertigate (irrigate with fertilizer). This means better introduction of the fertilizer and hopefully better delivery to the plant. We also give it in two parts so that better absorbtion takes place. If you do it at home you must leave a week or two weeks in between the different parts as the plant will otherwise think the overflow of N and K is normal and then it doesn't absorb as much. <br />
We will be irrigating until the second week into May and then stop. The plants roots because of the colder weather will grow slower and leaves will be lost and thus the plants doesn't need that much water anymore. A good irrigation will probably take place in the end of June - beginning July to get water in the rootzone before the first root growth of the summer. <br />
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Well I will be back ....soonerFanie Geyserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858669621877124934noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509632741300461703.post-87140011083307834352011-11-26T03:43:00.000-08:002011-11-26T03:43:51.201-08:00Death of MonsterAs most of you that might be traveling past Calitzdorp know, the apricots is a bit late this year. About nearly 6 to 8 days. Which is surpising is the earlier cultivars was on time. The waite won't go without any benefit. The sizes looks promising. I would guess they would be about 20% larger than usual. Not a bumper of a harvest but with bigger sizes it certainly will make up for the less fruit. Quality also very good and it seems to have a lot of substance. I did fertilize with a lot of potasium which enhance size and quality but the rest of the Calitzdorp farmers observe the same - so maybe just a 2011 thing. <br />
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This week a Rhodesian Ridgeback called Monster passed away. Every body knew the late Monster. Especially us that visited 'The naked Lady' for a breakfast or just a drink. Now Monster was to put it mildly a straying dog. Had probably as many masters as meals. Well known in town where he went to visit everyone and the neighbour. Hope you have enough space up there Monster.<br />
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The weather in Calitzdorp is also playing games with really cool nights and very mild days. Seems like spring is going to continue forever. In combination with the extreme dry conditions with not a lot of rain coming down we really have excellent fruiting weather. The fruit all seems healthy and the vineyards are all in excellent condition. The yields of the apricots look average while the plums are at a alltime low. Only 3 tonnes a hectare. Not at all viable. The vineyards looks excellent with a good harvest hanging. If the weather plays with this might end up being a great season. <br />
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As most of you heard the Port Festival is happening this next year. I think most of us is very excited about this new developement. The Festival has really made a turn for the good with more emphasis on lifestyle. This is really a story about less is more. <br />
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Well I have to leave to go and have a look at those apricots ripening.Fanie Geyserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858669621877124934noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509632741300461703.post-62610200413537478342011-09-29T05:03:00.000-07:002011-09-29T05:03:40.178-07:00Cycles of lifeIt has really being a long time since the last post. I don't really have an excuse but if I have to make an attempt just walk pass the new orchards and vineyards planted. <br />
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All is in the soil and the first buds already showing. The new plants are really looking healthy and very happy in their new enviroment. Our new irrigation system out of the VanDerMerwe dam is working well.<br />
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The new harvest for apricots really looks promising with the orchards which didn't produce any fruit last year trying to make up for it. Lots of fruit on the dried apricots cultivars and the Bullida orchard maybe less fruit but nothing to complain about. We will be hammering them with fertilizers the next three weeks to enhance size and quality to make this a succesful season. <br />
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The peaches a lot less fruit than the promising flowering period. Not a bad thing because you have to thin peaches. This means nice big peaches. The people that know tell me that you don't always loose that much yield if you thin effective and early. We will be finishing the thining process this week. The rule of thumb for the guys with peach trees in the garden is a peach every 15cm with not more than 4 peaches per cane. <br />
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We also started our spraying with mostly attention keeping down the primary population of fungi and insects. For those in town you can really help your local friendly farmers by also supporting it by spraying the necessary Mercaptithion with sugar mix. Buy it at the local AgriVillage or just putting out a mixture of Petrol, Diesel and water. Put this in a plastic holder with a hole in. The fruit flies are attracted to the smell of the mixture and will drown in it. But it out under all those citrus, peach and apricot trees in your garden and remember to refill it once every two weeks. <br />
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It really is funny thinking it is 5 weeks and we will be harvesting our first apricots and plums. The year that just passed really flew by.<br />
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I must also comment on the beautiful veld. The Calitzdorp succulent plants really contributed to a very nice introduction into the new season. Our veld is really thankful. <br />
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I will try and keep you up to date with the growth and ripening of the fruit this summer.Fanie Geyserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858669621877124934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509632741300461703.post-3532404703548821102011-07-26T01:40:00.000-07:002011-07-26T01:40:33.810-07:00Micro Ice AgeJust as we thought or rather say I and my peach trees thought summer was on its way the winter extends its visit. Yes my peach trees is just about to flower and the colder weather should not have any effect. Peaches are more resistant to frost and cold. More so than the apricots and vines. <br />
The Little Karoo and especially Calitzdorp really keeps you humble. A year ago we didn't know when the water is going to come. Now our dam is overflowing since 17 June and we don't know what to do with the water. For the not so agricultural involved the water is harmless at this stage. More structural damage because of erosion. So we enjoy this with everybody. We allready had three overflow 'beurte' and here at Withoek we flood irrigated all possible lands we could. We even sewn some lucern and oats. We don't have any livestock to speak of but at least we will some for if we want some. <br />
With our new plantings planning it goes well. All the irrigation is in where we could put it in so far. Just two blocks remain. One of the blocks next to the Groenfontein road we have to put in drainage. It seems like one of my own dams are leaking. First things first is to secure at least about a 1,2m of dry soil for the new plantings. We are doing this by doing a cut off drain pipe on the northern side. With the drain pipe we put in old building rubble with a cover of plastic. The plastic will see to it that the soil does not stop the drain pipes holes. The system will the function for a longer period and the rubble will actually enhance the effecitvity of the drain system. <br />
You can also see in the middle of the new plantings a drainage. This is for the water that slip by or enter the land from the eastern side. THis water will be relayed to the river via a channel which is running west. <br />
We also started with pruning last week. With Calitzdorp's unreliable weather we want to avoid the late frost and by pruning late we sort of limit the period the vines will or can be exposed to frost. Further by pruning later the new eyes/ buds on the shoots bearing the fruit for next year will be exposed to more sunlight and thus be more fertile. <br />
Well they will be tasting the Platter wines tomorrow in Barrydale. And Withoek will be there. I am also lucky to be asked again to taste on the National Young Wine Show's panel for Port. This will be also happening tomorrow. You must keep you fingers crossed for a nice cold day in Paarl. <br />
Wines I have tasted recently is my own Shiraz 2009. Really drinking well. The alcohol has integrated well with the wine. Had a dinner at Alex Fick. He makes marvelous curries. It tasted nearly sweet from the fruit with the curry. A real winner. The curry that is. Ya and the Shiraz. My Cabernet was bottled and is being tasted at the Wine Board this week. Labels was ordered and it will be releases soon. A young fruitful wine with lower alcohol level. Typical Cab it needs time. <br />
Axehill also released a red blend which is really excellent. Don't expect anything ordinary. This is wine made of port cultivars and the spices combinates excellent with the fruit. A really beauty. Machado is the name I think. THis wine now joins III from Peter Bayly as one of the 'Calitzdorp' blend wines. Wines made from Port Cultivars. BOth of them is highly recommended.<br />
So take out a port or Calitzdorp blend and enjoy the last bit of the winter or so I think.Fanie Geyserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858669621877124934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509632741300461703.post-11529705815971520292011-07-01T04:47:00.000-07:002011-07-01T04:47:59.587-07:00Post PortAfter the Festival I really start enjoying what is great living in this Capital of ours. The quiet sunny days - sometimes a bit misty - and cold evenings. A glass of red wine and the more daring Port to end it off with. Sounds bad - probably have to call the AA but please waite till the end of the winter. <br />
The feedback on the festival has been good and it seems that we are going to make an annual event of this. I think the town really needs it and it is good to showcase what we have to offer once a year. <br />
This last week also seen a little newspaper: Calitzdorp Focus hit the streets. Very informative and well planned. Something to read for everyone in the community as well as visitors who wants to get to know our little village a bit better. Look out for an article on Port in the next issue.<br />
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On Withoek the big bulldozer is doing its bit to really break the soils deep. We want to break the soil as deep as possible. By doing this we create a bigger tank and volume of soil which can be used by the plant to gather the necessary nutrients and water. The deeper the better. We are also busy putting up the trellis systems for vineyards planted last year. This goes on well and we should be finished by the end of this week. <br />
With the Calitzdorp Dam overflowing the farmers all got some extra water. With this all the storage water stored behind the dam wall is lost and the farmers must each use as much as they can. At Withoek we flood irrigated some of our outside vineyards and orchards. Mostly to wash out some of the salts building up because of the drip and micro irrigation. We also help the soils to become moist and so the water will be there when the soil temperatures rise again and the early root growth burst happens. This will help with the adsorption of minerals and nutrients for the plant and leads to better growth and hopefully and excellent harvest. <br />
We also will be bottling our Cabernet Sauvignon next week. It is very fruity style with not high alcohol 13%. Again in the softer style typical of Withoek. So keep your eyes peeled for the first ones. Fanie Geyserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858669621877124934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509632741300461703.post-8558199884922823092011-06-20T06:42:00.000-07:002011-06-20T06:42:30.443-07:00What a FestivalThe Port festival of 2011 was a huge success. Thanks to all participating cellars and an organizer like Nita Bailey and the Husband of the Year and sort of headmaster of the festival Tony Bailey. Thanks to both of them for hours and hours of phoning, printing, talking and driving this ended up being one of the most successful festivals and also the best organized. <br />
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As most of you know by now nearly all the little food shows - Cheese and Port, Chocolate and Port, Francois Ferreira Bollywood version of South African cuisine, Mysteries of Port, etc. - were sold out. And everybody enjoyed each of these encounters with the food and port pairings. Thanks here to presenters and all the staff envolved with these little 'productions'. <br />
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Withoek did really well. Our wines were not sold out so please do still support us but we did a lot of marketing and new faces were introduced to our little cellar. Thanks for those that helped us. <br />
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The idea of the port at the different restaurants also helped a lot. I think it really created a sort of town festival feeling.<br />
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Thank you also to all the visitors which took the time to come to the festival and enjoy our lovely local drink. There was a great atmosphere around the festival grounds and good quality people enjoying themselves without any overcrowding. <br />
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Now the greatest mystery of all: WHEN IS THE NEXT FESTIVAL? Keep your eyes on this space. <br />
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Thanks again to the whole community contributing to the successful festival. Fanie Geyserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858669621877124934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509632741300461703.post-75664952629887469712011-06-15T07:54:00.000-07:002011-06-15T07:54:22.226-07:00The Festival kicks off!!It finally arrives. Before anything I want to thank my good neighbour Nita and Tony Bailey for an excellent festival. I can predict that with more certainty than the weather of this little town of ours. It just started to drip again. I am not complaining because nature really played a big role in making this festival a success. The veld is just green with new growth and looks lifely again. The dam will overflow in this weekend after last weeks good rain. (by the way Withoek measured 65mm).<br />
This afternoon I attended the lunch which was part of the ABSA sponsorship for this festival. It really was an eye opener with lots of info. The short and sweet of the story is: Invest in Agriculture - it is the golden era for agriculture world wide. Aparently our net income is 41bn rand the last year. A big amount. I haven't pocket in but think the wheel must turn. The sad news is that the rand will get stronger and it will end at about R6,30 at the end of the year. It will aparently never go over R7,00 again. VIVA MALEMA. I must try and help it if I can.<br />
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Withoek spend some time on the cosmetics this winter. We painted the old 'waenhuis', tasting room. You must come and have a look. The interior also got a bit of a lift. Our new port: The Geyser Vintage 2010 will soon be on the market. It will be sold in the smaller version 375ml bottle and is a great gift. It will be sold for R40 a bottle. <br />
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Well Chrissie will be enjoying the Cheese, Chocolate and Bollywood shows tomorrow. I will be presenting the Mystery of Port also tomorrow. On the three days we will run a blindtasting competition which will be free and you can win an Calitzdorp port and wine hamper. So do come and try and be a expert. Also will be on show some of the great Port from outside our area. Some of the members of the SA Port Producers association.<br />
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See you at the stationFanie Geyserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858669621877124934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509632741300461703.post-62263111048008502862011-06-07T01:43:00.000-07:002011-06-07T01:43:39.895-07:00Winter arrives!!The colder weather really hit us this week with temperatures dropping. This is excellent for the trees and vineyards. The buds need enough cold units to go through their rest period and be ready to bud for the next season. To work it out the rule of thumb is usually the average of the days temperature (Min add Max divide by two) to be under 9 degrees Celsius. This must continue for 5 or more consecutive days. If it does not happen we will see uneven budding in Spring and this leads usually to uneven ripening of the fruit and thus lesser quality and difficult season. <br />
The other excellent thing about the cold and more precise the frost. It helps to keep down the insect numbers. Some of the insects die and or the eggs not being protected does not hatch. Leading to a lesser concentration of insects. <br />
I also want to encourage neighbours to any farmer with a few nice fruit trees in their town garden to try and spray for fruit flies this winter. The population of fruit flies in the Calitzdorp region was exceptionally high. The flies usually goes to hide in trees with leaves and other hide outs in the winter because of the lack of protection in the cultivated orchards. Their is a lot of different products that can be used and the best is to get the advice of the nearest Landmark. <br />
Well at Withoek we are not going to have an auction. We are just cleaning up our act a bit. Oom Apie is buys repairing the tractors one by one and it seem to go well. In the process we also spray them so that they also feels a bit better. <br />
The tasting room also got a new coat of paint to be ready for the Port festival and we are looking ahead to another successful one. Thanks to Nita and Tony in particular for their hard work and dedication to this local festival. We are hoping that the success of this one might lead to it being held annually again. I thing the direction of lifestyle with a lot of emphasis on food type of entertainment.Fanie Geyserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858669621877124934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509632741300461703.post-25791510821194224612011-05-24T23:13:00.000-07:002011-05-24T23:13:15.580-07:00WINTER ARRIVES!This year sort of was a very good example of when our summer changes into autumn and then winter. It seems to me the weather changed around the beginning of April with temperatures dropping to high twenties and lows into the high to mid tens. With May arriving the temperatures sort of - with the help of wetter weather dropped into the low to mid twenties and the minimum temperatures low teens. <br />
Out of the farmers perspective it means that the soil temperatures also drop accordingly and the plants will go into rest. The roots stop its growth burst which usually happens in early autumn but with our sometimes high temperatures in autumn and early winter this growth phase can go on very much longer. You sometimes see especially peach and apricot trees having a big new growth spur which is an indication of this happening. <br />
I happen also to notice some of the younger peach trees having some blossoms. Totally the wrong time and usaully an indication of the weather patterns. I find that the young peach trees are not always sure when to bloom and not. The older the get the fall into pattern and go into rest and come out of it at the right time. Something like children. <br />
As most of you see we are busy taking out apricot and vineyards. We are now busy putting in the first of the irrigation extensions. We are busy repacing the flood irrigation system at Herminashof with a micro irrigation. Also making ready to plant some apricots in the Muscadel and Sultana's place.<br />
Withoek will also be bottling their 2010 Withoek Vintage and 2010 Ficks Ruby Port - sorry EU Cape - next week and if we rush it it might be ready for the upcoming Port Festival. The system of getting a wine approved is actually a long process and a lot depends on the Department of Agriculture for chemical analysis where they determine your alcohol levels which you may put on the label. Further it has to go through a tasting panel deciding if the product is what you say it is. In this case a Vintage and Ruby Port. <br />
To finish it off you can only print the labels when you know the precise alcohol levels. So hold your thumbs for the 16th of June for tasting the new Vintage and Ruby ports.Fanie Geyserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858669621877124934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509632741300461703.post-91054837707059539102011-05-05T01:52:00.000-07:002011-05-05T01:52:33.654-07:00Warm, Cooler, PortThe temperatures are slowly falling and you want to have something to warm you up in the cold evenings. Have a port. And while you at it support the local guys. Withoek released this week its' 2009 Cape Ruby. Yes we may not use that 'P' word anymore. It is and will stay in the future just a plain old Cape. Withoek uses the vintage indication for the Port even though you are not suppose to use it. For us it is an indication of a certain batch of this style of Cape. <br />
We are selling it in a 375ml package under the Geyser label and a 750ml under the Withoek one. It is a more traditional style of Port with typical spices with a good balance between the sugar and alcohol. A real must for this colder weather. <br />
In the next three weeks we also going to bottle the Fick's Ruby and a vintage port from the Kairos range. Both promise to warm the heart and body in this suppose to be colder winter. <br />
With taking out of orchards and vineyards it is going well. We still have about three ha to take out and then the finally preparations will start. <br />
Withoek is also selling the wood from the vineyards so do contact if you are interested in a nice braai with vines.Fanie Geyserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858669621877124934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509632741300461703.post-21080672283638524102011-04-18T01:43:00.000-07:002011-04-18T01:43:02.719-07:00Change of seasonWith the night temperatures dropping and the days becoming the usual autumn bright sunshine days Withoek is starting to prepare for the new blocks to be planted. <br />
As usual we will have as part of our job creation the seasonal workers to cut down vineyards and orchards and the wood sold in the local market. So do come we still have some very dry wood from last year and some newer ones from this year. <br />
Withoek is busy taking out some vineyards at Herminashof and replacing it with Apricot cultivars Soldonne and Bebeco. Both the apricot cultivars is drying cultivars. With this we will have more drying options and higher volumes.<br />
At the Besemkop farm we are planting the Apriums - Apricot and plum hybrid - which is for the fresh market but actually developed for the dried fruit markets. On the eastern side of the road we will be planting some Chenin blanc. <br />
The table grape block next to the Calitzdorp Country Lodge will be replaced by an extension of the Chenin block that was planted there last year. This making the block over 2 ha. On the Wesoewer side of the the same farm we are taking out some old Apricot - Bullida - orchard and Hanepoot vineyard and putting in African Rose an new plum cultivar suppose to be very early. This is quite a new variety and only available the last two years commercially.<br />
For those who sometimes wander passed Jakkalskop will notice we are also taking out another vineyard which was an old experimental block with a white variety, Souzao and Peach trees on it. This will be replaced with Chenin blanc block. We will also develope a 2 ha block of Chenin blanc next to our red vineyard blocks. <br />
The total replanting and replacing project will be 7 ha of which two is total new plantings. <br />
As if we don't keep ourselves busy enough we will also have 2ha of flood irrigation being replaced by micro irrigation and a Peach orchard's drip irrigation getting the second line. <br />
Withoek will be closed over the week with all the holidays. I am available if you want to buy any wines so do contact if necceasary. <br />
Maybe a bit of promotion for a new establishment in Calitzdorp. Erica and Hans Calitz of the Donkey Trail opened a restaurant, Aloe Aloe, in Groenfontein on their property. They serve a Sunday afternoon spread which really is excellent. Do make reservations though. It really is worht while with one of the most beautiful Karoo drives.Fanie Geyserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858669621877124934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509632741300461703.post-29361372953473547342011-03-11T00:07:00.000-08:002011-03-11T00:07:42.765-08:00Herminashof CottageIn small villages like our own things do take time. Nothing happens like overnight. It is sometimes makes you love this place and also can lead to some frustration. <br /><br />Our cottage renovation took more than a year and is now ready for old and new friends to enjoy. With older buildings the facelift takes longer and usually there is some surprises underleath the layers of cement. You might also find that some small problems can easily esculate into something major. <br /><br />The cottage can sleep 4 and does have an bathroom which is shared. Bath and shower. Small self catering kitchen with microwave, frigerator and small stove. A must is the small braai area and wood will be provided. Less than 300 m from the centre of the town and still on a farm. Something everybody will like. <br /><br />Do come and enjoy the Calitzdorp scenery with coffee at Handelshuis. Lunch at The Red Coffee Pot and dinner at Lorenzo's. Or order in pizza from the Pizza Place. Have a farmers night out at Bosvarkie or a quiet night / day in with a good book. <br /><br />As I said nothing happens overnight and that is why you might as well stay the weekend and something might happen.<br /><br />On the farm we are busy cleaning up like that great song of the rock group Barney states 'Clean up'. It will probably take a few weeks and we still have to take out some of the vineyards / orchards for the new plantings. Also finishing off the last years vineyards with the necessary anchors to keep the cordons in position. <br /><br />The renovation of the old tasting room is also coming along and I must say not many buildings beats the view on Swartberg and Besemkop from the stoep. A real stoep to sit and chat and have good coffee. Hope to do that within a year.Fanie Geyserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858669621877124934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509632741300461703.post-86535838713917517752011-03-07T07:40:00.000-08:002011-03-07T07:40:11.890-08:00Withoek fermentingWithoek decided this year to make a Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot with the purpose of ending up with a Bordeaux blend. We are a small cellar and don't get as much chance as the bigger cellars to experiment especially with blends. <br /><br />Our Cab finished it's fermentation after a week and was basket pressed today. The Merlot was crushed at 25 degrees Balling and really looks good. Our Petit we will only harvest tomorrow and keep in cool storage until the it's time arrives to crush. <br /><br />With all the wines we try and keep the fermenting temperature between 24 and 26 degrees for slower fermentation. Because of the cold storage of 4 days we do have a maceration period of about 48 hours before fermentation starts. Enough time for a lot of extraction of the flavours. Usually most of your colour is extracted within the first 72 hours of the fermentation process and with it most of your tannins as well. With the lower temperature I believe this happens at a slower rate but more controled. <br /><br />News from our winemaker, Ronnie van der Walt. He liked Calitzdorp so much and decided to come more regurarly to keep watch as the Nederburg ad states to 'keep an eye on Mother Nature'. He asked to renovate the Withoek old tasting room into a 'bachelors flat'. I must add this must be the flat with the most beautiful view on the town and the Swartberg. Certainly nice having a new face on the Wesoewer road and certainly a big plus for Calitzdorp. Go and have a look. <br /><br />On our more comercial agricultural side we are busy finishing off the Colombar and later this week the Petit, Ruby Cab and Tinta Barocca will get their turn. Then it is back to cleaning up and making ready for the new plantings for this year.Fanie Geyserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858669621877124934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509632741300461703.post-48284897776625478632011-02-22T04:23:00.000-08:002011-02-22T04:23:21.331-08:00Cabernet is ReadyToday we started to pick the Cabernet Sauvignon. This morning its sugar tested 25 degrees balling. The Petit Verdot and Merlot is still not ready and tested 23.0 and 23.6 degrees balling. <br /><br />After picking we will cool the Cabernet down to 5 degrees Celsius. Two reason for this. The grapes usually will measure about the same temperature as the air or micro climate around the berries. When this happens in the Calitzdorp that temperature can be around 25 - 35 degrees Celsius. The fermentation will go quickly and put a lot of stress on my allready shaky cooling system. I also feel that a longer fermentation period under less stressful enviroment will lead to a better wine. In winemaking terms we are talking about a cold maceration before the fermentation. <br /><br />The Merlot and Petit will probably be ready next week. And as with most things they will be probably be ready the same day.<br /><br />Ronnie van der Walt one of the guys of last years wine school flew in on Saturday. He is planning to make a Merlot based blend. Ronnie previously also involved in restaurant business and an artist by training, works this year with Withoek Cellar to also master the art of winemaking. He allready had to take the samples for sugars and were busy cleaning and preparing the cellar for the grapes today. <br /><br />We will report on Ronnie's status during this years harvest.Fanie Geyserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858669621877124934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509632741300461703.post-27222667704138941672011-02-14T03:53:00.000-08:002011-02-14T03:53:10.359-08:00Final CountdownThe 2010/11 season now slowly going into the final phases. Our peach harvest was good and even though the prices weren't the best they still paid their dues. <br />As with our plums we went straight to the market with the table grapes. The prices weren't that high but we can't really complain. Because of our dry weather in the beginning we had excellent quality fruit in December but with the continuos short spells of rain combinating with humid warm days the fungi attacked big time. The table grapes is usually thinner and thus the fungi get easier hold on them. Further they are mostly planted on strong rootstocks with big vigourous growth which contributes to good fungi growth climates within the canopy. <br />Even though the weather didn't play along our harvest was good. But we are now reaching a phase in which we started deliver it to the Calitzdorp Cellar. This week we actually starting to do the harvest all grapes very seriously.<br />Our red wine cultivars sugars are still very low. I think the 40mm of thunder storm contributed more than we think. The table grapes sugar funny enough tends to a higher value than previous seasons. <br />Our wine making weekend seems to change from the coming weekend to the following weekend because of the low sugars. The quality of the grapes really looks good and I think this might be a good season.Fanie Geyserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858669621877124934noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509632741300461703.post-59287900343561044902011-01-18T05:38:00.000-08:002011-01-18T05:38:11.291-08:00School of WineTrying to predict the ripening process of grapes especially if you want to time it to perfection is usually the wrong way of producing great wines. But sometimes situations calls for a little daring. Selma contacted me the other day for another Kairos wine weekend. And it seems after a bottle or what of wine that the time was put on the third weekend of February. With peaches and early grapes ripening 7 days earlier it seems to be a good guess that we might have a little earlier ripening. <br />The School of Wine - Kairos version - is a weekend in which a few people get around and try and do the whole process of wine making in a weekend. Now a good winemaker or informed wine drinker might tell you quickly this is impossible. Well it is. <br />This weekend will contain a tasting and welcoming braai in the House of Straw at Zelma's country estate. The tasting will be an introduction into wine styles of the region - Calitzdorp. It will be very informal. <br />The Saturday is started with a grape pick. After last years heat wave we decided to pick the bulk of the grapes earlier the week and cold store it. This will be followed by Zelma's country breakfast. Something to strengthen the muscles for the day to follow. <br />The first real action in winemaking is the crushing of the grapes. After which we must inoculate it with the yeast. Do the necessary additions. This will all be shown and the more confident can actually get the chance of doing it themselves. The midday program consist of punch throughs and later pressings. Doing the necessary tasting of the juice and maturing wine will also be part of the midday program. <br />Towards the end of the day we will be doing a pressing. Yes here we will need all the muscle we can get. The press is an 60 year old basket press. <br />The Saturday evening will be a quiet one with a wine movie.<br />The Sunday morning another pressing. This time the grapes harvested the previous day - Muscadel will be pressed and fortified. This will be the wine of the year for the students. Everyone will receive after bottling which take place later the year three bottles of the product as proof of their total commitment to producing quality wine. <br />The weekend will end with a brunch at Selma's. <br />If your are interested do contact the lady of the hour - Selma at 0825765855 and join us.<br />The wine which you will also be part of making will be a Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Withoek are planning to make a Bordeaux blend.Fanie Geyserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858669621877124934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509632741300461703.post-70771383850679653812011-01-03T08:08:00.000-08:002011-01-03T08:08:43.259-08:002011!!For Withoek Boerdery the new year arrived silently. Because of the smaller apricot harvest we had a very quiet start to the year. We actually had a bit of spare time to clean up the farm and do some very much needed vineyard work. <br /><br />Our young vines needed to be trained. We removed the extra young shoots and only the strongest survive. This strong shoot was also cut at the cordon wire and the top three buds left. From those three buds we will choose later the season the two strongest for the the cordons of the vine. The rest is all removed to limit the competition. In the old days this process will only take place after a years growth but with correct irrigation and fertilization we get enough growth to train it very much sooner. This means also sooner harvest and thus more economical vineyard. <br /><br />The apricots will soon go through the summer pruning. This is needed to initiate new growth and wood. Keeps your trees healthier and more consistant in production. <br /><br />We also look into the possible grafting of some of our plum trees to another cultivar. This process involves the cut down of the trees to creat new shoots and the grafting on this new shoots. I have personally never done this and looking forward to the experience. <br /><br />The grape harvest looks good and we just hope the weather plays in our favour. It can rain but must just clear up quickly so that we don't get a wet humid climate which will promote fungi growth.Fanie Geyserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858669621877124934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509632741300461703.post-64200473214514745062010-12-13T17:31:00.000-08:002010-12-13T17:31:26.434-08:00The History of 2010 ApricotsYes it really came with a bang and our harvest of the apricots is finished. Withoeks production of apricots is much lower than last season. The contributing factors is because of the frost in August - bloom time. <br />Some of the lower orchards didn't even reach a tonne per ha. After everything added and done our harvest seems to be down by about 40%. <br />The dried fruit prices also gone south and so we decided to cut our losses and dry much less. The quality of the fruit which we did dry was much better than previous seasons and it shows in the dried fruit quality. The colour is really good and because of the early finish we could do the right thing and get it of the stellations much quicker which means higher water content in the fruit - thus it would be heavier and fuller. Much more attractive product. <br /><br />Because of the dry weather our vineyards is very healthy and we sprayed this week which might be our last one. Our young vines need some attention and we plan to get to it in the next week or two. <br /><br />The peaches we are also selling to the canner because of the world wide overproduction of dried peaches. We are lucky when one of the canners closed their depot in Calitzdorp another opened one. The prices is also lower than last year but atleast we do have a buyer. The peach size is a bit disappointing but could be contributed to micro element shortages. I picked it way to late and are spraying like mad to get it back but I think I might have lost this season fruit. In Calitzdorp we usually don't spray to much of the micro element but with peaches you must actually be very aware of it. The peach is a plant which easily shows such shortages and or toxic highs of micro elements.Fanie Geyserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858669621877124934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509632741300461703.post-14282209979751580552010-11-28T21:00:00.000-08:002010-11-28T21:00:29.324-08:00Apricots!!This time of year it usually the only time you might get a traffic jam in Calitzdorp. With all the farmers trying to get the apricots down and to the canners it really is a rush time. <br />At Withoek we haven't finish yet. There is still block we must pick and the time doesn't seem to be enough. We finished with one canner Langeberg & Ashton last week. Rhodes Fruit Farms still need a small amount of tonnes to finish that contract and then the last is Boland Pulp.<br />While we are picking the apricots the other things like spray program for the vineyards and training of the younger vines fall behind. Every week I catch myself saying next week. Well next it will be.Fanie Geyserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858669621877124934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509632741300461703.post-44136303383110480992010-11-16T02:21:00.000-08:002010-11-16T02:21:09.207-08:00First PickingsWithoek started to pick fruit last week. So far the fresh market prices were good and quality and size of fruit also. Withoek's Super Gold was finished harvest this week and the plums look as if they will also be gone by the end of the week. <br />I looked today at the Bullida orchards and got a bit of a scare. The fruit size is good but it seems that the fruit is ripening at a alarming rate. So we are going to start picking the Bullida's allready tomorrow. The bullida is the apricot mostly found in the Calitzdorp region and is used for drying and canning. You can also use it for making jam. <br />The next variety which is also a packing variety will be the Palsteyn. It is a beautiful apricot but unfortunately can only be used for fresh use. It's jam will turn dark soon after making and pitch black after a month. Nothing wrong with the taste though. <br />The prices of the dried fruit has gone down dramatically. The push in the markets seems to force us the producers into larger fruit.<br />It looks like we at Withoek will in future have to start spraying to get still larger fruit. <br />We are hoping also to plant a new type of Plum / Apricot cultivar which is marketed as a fruit for drying. SAD is very excited about this new product. We will plant about a half a hectare to just see how it grows and how the fruit reacts to our enviroment.Fanie Geyserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858669621877124934noreply@blogger.com0