Harvest has begun
The second bin of Pinot noir.
Much of Anderson Valley has begun harvesting grapes already, especially the sparkling wine growers and growers of white varietals. Most Pinot noir has also come in as well. We on the ridge are a bit behind everyone else and thus started our harvest Friday evening. We grow Pinot noir and Zinfandel and the Pinot is what we were picking.
A quick selfie with Pinot noir grapes early in the evening Saturday.
I was informed early in the day that we would start picking and that my services were required as a leaf picker and possible tractor driver. I’m used to doing the former, but we often have help from a friend who is a seasoned tractor driver so I gave up that role a couple of years ago. Friday evening was no different - our friend said he’d drive the tractor (whew) and I set about picking leaves out of the bins. That didn’t last long - my stepson arrived and was put to that work and I was given a set of clippers and a bin. We spent the next four hours filling two bins. It’s hard work and I’m not fast like the professional workers. There is a lot of up and down and my shoulder hurt from reaching up. We ended up picking with headlamps, which I actually like - the grapes fluoresce a little and it’s easier to find them amongst the leaves. While we picked my husband cooked and when we finished we set down to a yummy dinner of salmon, grilled zucchini and eggplant, grilled steak and tortillas and fresh made salsa.
Saturday I got in a bike ride, then spent most of the morning doing stuff around the house.
Some of the cans of tomatoes.
Sunday my husband and stepson delivered to me four lugs of tomatoes. One was mostly cherry tomatoes so those I turned into sauce. The rest were big, beautiful Romas and those I canned whole. I spent all day and part of the evening prepping and canning. It’s the main thing I can - I don’t like canned fruits, so I don’t do those. I like to make jam, but we eat so little of it that a one year’s worth can last several. I also am mostly a water bath canner, so that doesn’t leave much besides tomatoes for me to can. When I finished I had about 30 pints of tomatoes with another 7 to 14 cans worth that I put into the fridge for another evening. There is also about a lug of not quite ripe enough to can tomatoes that I set aside for now.
Sunday ended with another small pick - this time we had a small crew of friends and I wasn’t enlisted to help. We made dinner for everyone and all sat down under the oaks in the vineyard to enjoy another feast, this time chicken with salmon, salsa, tortillas, a large salad and steamed broccoli. We popped a couple of bottles of Champagne as well as some Tremor beer and enjoyed the mild evening.
We still have some Pinot left to pick, but this is for a customer who wants his fruit more ripe than we pick for ourselves. Then we wait for the Zinfandel to finish ripening and we will have one big pick for that. I haven’t ventured to see how many more tomatoes are still on the vine - at some point I’ll have to give up on that. But harvest has definitely begun, just in time for the autumnal change in the air, and my favorite season is just around the corner.