Still Ripening
2007 Harvest (September 7, 2007) Still Ripening The grapes are on the late side this year, and our cool nights are not helping. The mornings are often 48 degrees, even though the days may reach 80 degrees. Yet when I see our Demeter Crop Production reports over the last… Read more »
Venus and the Cosmos
Venus at first light. Venus and the Cosmos What planet rises at first light this early morning and what constellation of stars dances overhead? What relationship do the cells of our bodies, or the tomatoes in the garden, have to the cosmos? Does an awareness of these celestial bodies make any difference?
Vineyard Visitor
Vineyard Visitor These foggy mornings the vultures wait in the trees until the sun burns off the fog. Then they raise their wings to dry. This vulture rests on a dead branch of a Valley Oak in the small pioneer cemetery in the middle of our ranch. I have heard vultures called Mother of the… Read more »
Napa Valley Life Magazine: Harms Vineyards and Lavender Fields
Napa Valley Life Magazine: Harms Vineyards and Lavender Fields This month we are honored to be featured in Napa Valley Life Magazine. The issue is a harvest issue with special emphasis on the diversification of agriculture in the Napa Valley. The publisher Kari Ruel and photographer Lowell Downey chose us because of our own work on… Read more »
Ripening There is a tension this time of year: why are the budded-over vines three brix behind the older vines? What about that forecast for showers ? (They missed us.) How did the deer get into the vines—again! The foreman for the picking crew arrives to survey the size of the crop, to estimate the… Read more »
Goats Honoring Gaia
Gaia and the goats. Goats Honoring Gaia Donald’s daughter Genevieve is a ceramicist who had to move recently to a smaller home. She gave us a Gaia figure to put “in the forest”. When the goats discovered Her, they were very curious, even frightened of something so novel. Now everyday when we walk by they… Read more »
Harvest Season Has Begun
Picking lights across the valley. Harvest Season Has Begun Like constellations in the night sky, the picking lights are on in the late hours of the night across the valley. Harvest time has begun. I know Chardonnay grapes are best picked cool, and these days many of the… Read more »
Fall's Brilliance
Fall’s Brilliance The forest floor is red these days from the poison oak, which has changed color. The air is decidedly cooler on our morning walks. What joy!
The Mystery of the Helichrysum
Inspecting the bloom situation. The Mystery of the Helichrysum Farming has many mysteries. Why did each helichrysum plant bloom a little in late June, some now, with most buds still unopened? At any one time, there are not enough blooms to harvest and distill. These mysteries call us up short, make us look more carefully,… Read more »
Blue Moon Report
Blue Moon Report Walking the labyrinth, offering our prayers, until the orange moon rises over the eastern ridge. Then, earth warming our backs as stories are exchanged, accounts of spirals and dancing stars while oaks nod overhead. For 60,000 years people have lived here, she says. I imagine them also feeling the sun’s heat in… Read more »
© 2024 Patricia Damery.
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