Even though the vines are dormant and vineyard work is relatively slow (aside from that little task known as pruning), this marks a busy time for us in the Vineyard Team office as we prepare for our core outreach and education activities. Yes, it’s time for tractors, tailgates, and tritips.
Sure, our Sustinable Ag Expo, Earth Day Food and Wine Festival, and SIP Certification program receive a lot of attention. But underneath all of that, is our core outreach and education programs that connect growers, technical advisors, and researchers to share information on bugs, irrigation, equipment, safety, energy, owls, and whatever sustainability topic might be of interest to folks.
We reach about 1,000 growers every year through our Tailgate Meetings. And we’ve been doing them since 1999. We host meetings in Los Alamos, Santa Maria, Edna Valley, Paso Robles, King City, and Soledad, just to name a few. We typically meet in vineyards. We typically serve donuts in the morning and tritip for lunch. We always have a rockstar farmer to lead the meeting.
I have many fond memories of the tailgates – like the time when the weed steamer effectively and efficiently steamed the beautiful roses on the end of the rows. Or the time that a few of us got a bit squeamish with the tasty little rats fed to the gorgeous falcons.
Our 2013 Season begins this month with meetings on energy, tractors, owls, and biodiversity.
Will we see you there?