"My general view is that people who meddle with politics usually meet a miserable end, and indeed they deserve to. I never bother with what is going on at the capital; I only worry about sending off to it the fruits of the garden that I cultivate."
From Candide, by Voltaire
I will continue to grow melons. I enjoy planting, weeding, and harvesting them. I am adding a new crop, grapes.
I have eight acres that are hard to farm in the traditional alfalfa/grain rotation, so I am converting that land into a vineyard. Today I share photographs of that process, which is underway right now.
To come: Mid-posts every 18 feet along each row to hold up the trellis wires. Install the trellis wires. Planting in May. Then tend the vineyard, keep it weeded, pruned, trained, and watered for four years. First real harvest is in the fifth year.
Expected variety: Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. They bloom two weeks later than some other varieties, and my vineyard is a cold site for frost. Cold, therefore dense, air settles off the Table Rocks and drifts along the ground past my farm toward the Rogue River at the edge of the farm. The vineyard risks frost damage to young buds, so a late-blooming variety is better.
The vineyard is planted in cooperation with Valley View Vineyards, one of Oregon's first vineyards and wineries, founded in 1972.
That's some serious infrastructure! Cab is worth it.
Almost 15 years ago, we laid out our irrigation pipes; days and days of glueing up PVC and installing valves, etc. Everything still works great. We installed it for watering pastures with a K-Line system, but we could adapt it readily for higher-value crops like you envision.
Have you considered installing a bit of agrivoltaic? That is, ground-mounted PV panels that shade lettuces and other tender crops. Your melons and grapes thrive in intense sun, but even tomatoes benefit from a bit of shade (slightly lower yield, but fewer blemishes that turn off overly-fussy consumers). OSU has some agrivoltaic projects, and maybe there are some financial incentives right now.
That quote from the Turk has long been one of my favorites--but I certainly don't live by it! It's up to us to make this the best of all possible worlds.
Best of luck to you in this project.
Do you think they might make better decisions after a bottle or two of fine Cabernet?