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In Praise of Fermentation

This past weekend was certainly a celebration of fermentation as well. On Saturday evening beginning on the ridge, Dan Sullivan, winemaker at Rosehall Run shared his story of local provenance of wine to a sold out crowd at our summer dinner series. Even though I have known Dan and Lynn Sullivan for many years, I still learned new things as Dan stood and spoke to the wines.

The Shimmering Heat of Summer

The shimmering heat of summer in Southern Ontario is back. The vines feel it. They love it, but they could do without the humidity that comes with it. Humans and vines are alike in this way. Along with the shimmering heat comes the hypnotic drone of the cicadas. Listen for a few moments and you will also hear the bluesy drawl of the mourning dove. You are outdoors with your hands submerged in cool water moving the just harvested leaves of lettuce around allowing the grit to fall to the bottom of the sink, when you hear the dove. You skim the fresh leaves out of the sink and into the spinner to pull the moisture away and now the salad is ready to dress and serve with the cheeses.

The Evolution of the Garden

The weeds are out of control. I remember years ago, when I first planted my vineyard how fascinated I was by the diversity and vigour of all the plant life competing with my fledgling grapevines. I naively thought that the vines would grow in and soon begin producing grapes. Au contraire. When one looked at the vineyard fro a distance, one could not distinguish the vines from the weeds. It looked like a wild meadow. The weeds in fact dominated the vineyard.

A Cane Raising in the Vineyard

Prince Edward County is a unique place in so many ways. I am reminded of its farming history every time I walk around outside and re-examine the older buildings on my property. Along the creek, near the highway and close to the village road, there is the crumbling ruins of a blacksmith shop and a mill powered at one time by the water flowing in the creek. I also see remnants of the tomato canning factory that was once active here; blanching baskets and labels that read, “Taylor Made” Taylor, the family name of the cannery owners more than 60 years ago.