By Joyce Kryszak
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wbfo/local-wbfo-847683.mp3
Buffalo, NY –
Wine makers are changing things up in their vineyards. Some of them use natural and organic methods to control pests and weeds instead of using pesticides. Now, one winery has discovered a unique, natural way to prune their grape vines.
In a report that airs nationally on the Environment Report, WBFO's Joyce Kryszak traveled to Southern Ontario to find out more.
Click the audio player above to hear the story now or use your podcasting software to download it to your computer or iPod.
At the Featherstone Winery in Southern Ontario there are twenty acres of perfectly manicured grape vines . They stretch out in neatly groomed rows across rolling green hills. But no man or machine maintains this vineyard. There are forty cute, little wooly lambs on duty pruning the grape vines into tip top shape.
David Johnson says he knows the idea of using lambs on his vineyard is a bit odd. Johnson thought so too when he first heard the idea. He found out about it visiting wineries in New Zealand.
"I didn't believe them at the time. I thought they were having fun with a tourist and that this would be a big joke, some Canadian when he went back home, telling a story. So, yeah, I've taken a ribbing on the lamb thing, for sure."
But Johnson ignored the jokes and decided to try it out.
His wife Louise Engel admits they were a little nervous at first setting the lambs lose in their valuable vineyard.
"We watched these lambs like hawks. I mean, all the staff were sitting out there and following them around...did they eat any grapes, did they eat any grapes? But they didn't. They've got very nimble little mouths and little teeths and little lips and they just eat around them."
You see, pruning grape vines is delicate business. Only a targeted area of leaves is removed from the lower part of the vines to help the fruit grow better.
But Engel and Johnson say the lambs are perfectly designed to handle the job. The young, spring lambs aren't tall enough and their necks can't stretch up to reach the grapes. And since they only weigh about 50 pounds, they don't trample the soil. And, yes, their droppings do make excellent organic fertilizer.
Three years and three flocks of sheep later nobody's laughing. Area vintners even have copied them. And for good reason. It would cost about 300 dollars an acre to hire seasonal workers to come in for seven weeks in the summer to hand prune the vines. The lambs cost a fraction of that. And when the pruning is done in August, off they go to the butcher.
Johnson says it turns out that free-range lambs fed a diet of grape leaves end up being pretty tasty.
"We sold them off last year to some caterers and some pretty nice restaurants and they got back to us and said, wow, these lambs are really special. They're different, they're almost veal-like in color and flavor and very, very lean. And they're going to do lamb specials all month and pair it with our wines all month."
But he admits there are some drawbacks. They had a tough time finding enough lambs to do the job. There's about fifty million of them in New Zealand. But it turns out they're kind of sparse in Ontario. Johnson says there are some logistical problems too. Even some organic pesticides are toxic to lambs. And there's all that fence building and moving around to limit the lambs' access so they don't over prune.
Still, they think it's worth the hassle. . Engel says the lambs fit in beautifully with their philosophy of sustainable farming and diversity in the vineyard.
"They're lovely, tranquil, placid things and there's something almost biblical about having lambs roaming the place and wine here. And it's just, I don't know, there's just some itch that scratches that's quite fulfilling."
People visiting the vineyard enjoy watching the lambs too. Customers enjoy lunch on the veranda as they look out on the pastoral scene. And of course they have a little wine. And one of the top selling wines is Black Sheep Reisling.