As 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.
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.
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.
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.
Well I have to leave to go and have a look at those apricots ripening.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Cycles of life
It 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I will try and keep you up to date with the growth and ripening of the fruit this summer.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I will try and keep you up to date with the growth and ripening of the fruit this summer.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Micro Ice Age
Just 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
So take out a port or Calitzdorp blend and enjoy the last bit of the winter or so I think.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
So take out a port or Calitzdorp blend and enjoy the last bit of the winter or so I think.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Post Port
After 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Monday, June 20, 2011
What a Festival
The 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.
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'.
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.
The idea of the port at the different restaurants also helped a lot. I think it really created a sort of town festival feeling.
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.
Now the greatest mystery of all: WHEN IS THE NEXT FESTIVAL? Keep your eyes on this space.
Thanks again to the whole community contributing to the successful festival.
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'.
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.
The idea of the port at the different restaurants also helped a lot. I think it really created a sort of town festival feeling.
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.
Now the greatest mystery of all: WHEN IS THE NEXT FESTIVAL? Keep your eyes on this space.
Thanks again to the whole community contributing to the successful festival.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
The 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).
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.
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.
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.
See you at the station
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.
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.
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.
See you at the station
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Winter 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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