REDWOOD NEEDLES
REDWOOD NEEDLESPresented by the Sierra Club Redwood Chapter Newsletter, The REDWOOD NEEDLES
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By Lucy Kenyon, Sonoma Group ExCom Member
"It all starts with the dirt, so let's get with it." Michael Topolos, of Topolos Winery, started explaining his farming methods on a short tour of his vineyard operations. "I welcome the Glassy-winged Sharpshooter; my beneficials (insects that eat plant pests) are hungry," he said.
Topolos has been in the wine grape business for 30 years, has been a certified organic grower for 12, and has been using biodynamics for the last five. Biodynamics uses composting, companion plantings, herbal sprays and methods that are considered spiritual by its followers. It is a revival of ancient farming methods combined by Rudolph Steiner with other methods he invented in the 1920's through his professed ability as a seer.
We were looking at a small section of vines next to Highway 116, and Topolos explained that for several reasons, he had reversed the direction of the rows in that section. One consideration was soil conservation (all his vineyards are on sloping ground) and another was access to the sun. Since making that change, he has been able to plant two new vines between each existing pair. Plantings of maple and Chryptomeria along the highway protect the vines by absorbing traffic toxins. Due to these and other organic and biodynamic changes, the yield on that two-acre plot has increased from two-and-a-half tons to nine tons per year. Topolos explained that the biodynamic method is more labor intensive, but at the same time more profitable, partly because chemicals are so expensive.
"Nature goes to complexity" is a phase Topolos uses often, and in his effort to work with nature, he has planted a complex cover crop of clover, legumes, Shasta daisy, and mustard. The cover grows in the winter with the vines, creating good soil texture, breaking up the old plow pan, adding humus and reconditioning the soil. The cover crop and the vines blooming together form a magnet for complexity, bringing in the beneficial lacewing, anagris, and others that prey on insects that harm the vines. (Spiders are also important, because they kill eight to nine times as many insects as they actually eat.) The cover crop is mowed and left to lie on the soil, which it protects as it draws earthworms closer to the surface, where they can be of more benefit to the plants. His soil is five percent organic as a result of the cover crops and composting, compared to an average of one-half percent in most vineyards.
The vineyards are not disked, as disking bakes off the topsoil and lowers viability. The land is hand-hoed after new vines have been planted and never disturbed again. Ideally, there is no bare space in the vineyards &endash; except for the areas of new planting, the entire ground is covered with mown cover crops or compost, giving a "messy" look. Topolos says it's only in a vineyard where chemicals are used that there is neatness and order. "A tidy appearance is illness…just drive down Highway 5 and you'll notice there's not one insect on your windshield," he said. "It's a dead zone."
Only new plants are irrigated (by the drip method), and Topolos rides his horse through the vineyards listening to the water, checking for problem areas. With a tractor, he wouldn't be able to hear the water. The horse has been trained not to eat the vines when left alone in the vineyard &endash; "That took some doing!" he says.
The exotic pheromones of the sandalwood he plants in riparian areas confuse and repel the sharpshooter. Topolos leaves 100 to 300 foot setbacks in riparian areas and respects wildlife corridors by not fencing where the movement of animals would be disrupted. As we passed the buildings that house wine barrels, he pointed to the roof, which, he said, shelters thousands of bats. They've been driven out of nearby farms where insects have been poisoned chemically. He's wondering now how he can repair the old roof without disturbing the bats; they're fantastic allies in keeping harmful insects under control.
Topolos stresses the importance of the Rural Heritage Initiative because he doesn't "want to live in San Jose", saying he is willing to sacrifice his right to subdivide in order to keep what he has developed. He doesn't want to be big or have more &endash; he just wants to do what he does better. He partly defines spirituality as "the thrill of doing the right thing", and says that his farming methods affect people as well as plants.
When he needs to find peace, he goes into the vineyards. It's clear that Michael Topolos has found spirituality in his particular form of work with nature. "I don't know where I'm going, but I know I'm going in the right direction", he says. "I'd go to jail before I'd let them spray on my property and kill any of my animals."
It's good to know there are farmers like Michael Topolos. It's good to know we have the choice of buying our products from people like him.
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