Clay was recently asked to submit a bio for his company newsletter that focused on him as a winegrower. The rest of us loved this snapshot of him, so we voted to post it here. Enjoy!

My interest in wine began during my freshman year in the dorms at UCSB, where our standing Friday night jam sessions were enlivened by Gallo Hearty Burgundy. I later learned that Gallo Hearty Burgundy had, in fact, nothing to do with Burgundy, but I did like it anyway.

It never occurred to me that one could make wine at home until I ran into a guy pressing grapes in his driveway to make wine for his restaurant while walking my dog in the Berkeley Hills. Celeste and I later wandered down to the local winemaking supply store (there are such things) and left with a five gallon carboy. One thing led to another and after about ten years of making wine successfully (believe it or not I won a silver medal at an international wine competition), I found myself enrolled in a UC Davis three year, science-oriented enology program for individuals employed in the wine industry, which I finished in 2010.

In the Fall of 2009, on a lark, Celeste and I drove up to Sonoma County to meet a broker specializing in rural properties. We bought the first property he showed us, four days later. It felt right, and it has turned out to be right for us. With the help of one of my Davis professors, we assembled a team and planted a vineyard to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. One step at a time, and we are now in our ninth year of farming. We have sold each crop to Kosta Browne Winery. For those who aren't familiar with the wine industry, they are among the top two or three Pinot Noir producers in the Russian River Valley, which (in my opinion) makes them among the top Pinot Noir producers in the world. I tell people who don't know the business that our journey is like graduating from high school and becoming the starting shortstop for the New York Yankees. No pressure! But, it keeps us on our toes.

Along the way, I was privileged to be elected to be the president of the Russian River Valley Winegrowers, which is our association of winemakers and grape growers. It was a crash course on the wine industry and very challenging. Having served as managing shareholder of the Steefel firm during the period culminating with our combination with Manatt, I think I am in a unique position to compare the legal world with the wine world. Believe it or not, I think lawyers are probably easier to manage (though they talk a lot more than farmers or winemakers, as a rule)!

These days, as far as my wine industry life is concerned, I really consider myself a farmer. My winemaking is limited to small batches for our friends and my family that I make in my well equipped home winery and lab. As strange as it may sound, it really is a way for me to communicate my love for all of them and it also satisfies some of my creative urges. Working in the vineyard gives me peace, and there is something humbling about farming--mother nature sets the schedule, and you have to take it as it comes. You can't rush things, and you can't slow them down--not at all like practicing law. I call it "tractor therapy."

All of us were saddened to hear that Ulises Valdez passed yesterday.

Ulises was one of the first people I met in the wine industry and he had a huge impact on me. When we were doing preliminary soils testing in our vineyard in 2009, our soil scientist rented a backhoe to dig pits. As we were in the field digging, a guy in jeans and a straw cowboy hat walked up and introduced himself—it was Ulises. Turns out we had rented the backhoe from him (unbeknownst to me) and he was curious as to what the heck we were up to! Coincidentally, my teacher and mentor Kristin Lowe had, the day before, mentioned Ulises’ name as one of the top farmers in the Russian River Valley and someone we should seek out if we went forward to develop our vineyard. The next day, there he was standing in front of me. Some things are meant to be, I guess.

Ulises’ story has been told many times and by many people. What strikes me is that it is, in my view, a uniquely American story. No Mayflower involved--Ulises immigrated here from Mexico, raised himself up, became a citizen, and started a family and a farming business which now employs over 100 people. His Chardonnay was served at the White House to the Presidents of the United States and Mexico, which always struck me as fitting. When we were last in DC visiting our daughter we were pleased to see he was featured in a Smithsonian exhibit on Hispanic winemakers. Though hard work, determination and the opportunity that America offered, he had made the leap from farm laborer to a winemaker whose wine was served in the White House.

From that first meeting, Ulises went on to become our advisor and mentor. He helped us develop our vineyard, was our first vineyard manager and, I’m sure, his involvement in our little vineyard gave our customers the confidence to give us a shot. Along the way, he transferred some of his passion for quality and exacting farming standards to us through his example.

My “Ulises” story is this: One day, I was irrigating the vines and I noticed that an animal had chewed through the drip line along Laguna Road, creating a “geyser.” I saw it, grumbled and started walking back to the barn to get the supplies to fix it, turned around and walked back. I arrived in time to see Ulises’ truck pulling away. In the time it had taken me, he spotted the problem while driving by at 45 miles per hour, jumped out, fixed it and was off about his day.

I’m grateful to have known Ulises, and all of us here in the Russian River Valley will miss him. He was a true icon. Our hearts go out to his wife and kids.

Learn more about Ulises Valdez in the Wine Spectator…

The labor concern has been a topic in Russian River Valley for a while. Lately, it’s been a pressing issue due to the aging of the existing labor force, Mexico’s improved economy, and the current political climate. We're hearing stories about crews being overbooked and having to leave a field before it's completely picked. In other circumstances, the harvest takes longer and the crew isn’t available at the time the next field is scheduled.

We attended the Russian River Valley Winegrowers annual Paulée dinner last week (which was super fun!) and everyone's talking about the current heat wave, which is rushing harvest, and the lack of labor. Winemakers are saying "pick now" and there can be up to a week delay before it actually gets done. That can dramatically change the ripeness and amount of sugar built up in the grapes, as you can expect. Plus the danger of sunburn and predation is higher once you've raised the bird netting and leafed to make picking more efficient. All those ripe grapes are exposed to weather, birds, raccoons, opossums, turkeys and whoever is interested in eating the delicious fruit of our labor.  

Clay and I are lucky with our small space, but even four acres is more than the two of us could do in a night. We'll be out there with the crew at any rate. They work so quickly and methodically, but don’t have the time to get every single available cluster, many which are hiding behind leaves. Remember, it’s dark out at 2:00 a.m.! We follow behind them to pick up what they missed.  

This year we might end up doing even more, leaving the talented crews to do the most important job. We might be lifting the bird netting and leafing by ourselves. That was fun last year and I think I have a pretty good handle on it, but it’s still a lot of work for two people who haven’t seen our 20’s for a long while. We just need to be prepared to work quickly and efficiently to prepare the vineyard for harvesting. Too bad all the grandkids are in school!  

There is more talk in the local industry about mechanical harvesters. People are discussing the possibilities of co-ops, leasing from vineyard managers and other creative ways of sharing one of these very expensive pieces of equipment. Of course, they still need operators and obviously can only do one vineyard at a time. If three vineyards are all told to harvest at the same time by three different winemakers…well, you can see the problem. Owners of smaller vineyards like ours may find mechanical harvesting a real challenge and most people would prefer to harvest by hand, but in the current climate, we may not have any options.

We don’t talk about politics much in these blogs, but we encourage the federal government to get its act together and pass reasonable immigration reform that allows for the workforce that we in the agricultural community rely on. Putting politics before practicality is a recipe for disaster. Some states have tried to farm without immigrant labor and it’s been a calamity.

In an LA Times piece written by Russ Parsons, he states "According to the latest statistics compiled by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the state produces almost half of all the fruits, nuts and vegetables grown in the country, as well as a whopping share of the livestock and dairy.” It’s not realistic, in fact virtually impossible, to farm it without immigrant labor. These are not just strong back and willing hands, but individuals with the knowledge, expertise and experience base upon which we so strongly rely.

We need to set aside partisan politics to come up with a solution that works.

Oh, how young we were... The above is a line from a blog we wrote in 2014 about bird netting. A year later, we started using netting ourselves.  

And now, we’ve learned wine-grape predators are out at night and early, early morning, long before Jake rouses himself. In fact, there’s so much activity that when we take Jake out at night for his last “walk”, we have him on a leash. Otherwise he would chase after anything in the vineyard, with some occasionally unhappy results (Skunk!).

Last year, the 4 to 5 rows closest to a long wall of cyprus trees were decimated by local fauna whose little hands picked fruit out between the small openings of the bird netting. We’re guessing primarily possums and raccoons. They don’t range further in, as it leaves them too exposed to other predators. But then, they didn’t need to, feeding on the ripening fruit closest to their hideout. So this year we draped those rows with a different style of netting that hopefully will discourage their nighttime raids. Of course, Jake had to check it out to be sure it was going to work. We’ll keep our fingers crossed!

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2016

• We grafted over Naomi’s block to a new clone called Mariafeld. 2016 was a year for that clone to grab hold and get some growth, which it has been doing incredibly well!
• Our son, Michael, graduated from school as a Physical Therapy Assistant. This wasn’t that far from his career as a hip-hop dancer and instructor, so we expect to have him keep us in shape in the years to come.
• Before his graduation, our grandson, Gabriel, spent his last week of school working on the vineyard for his externship requirement. Yeah, he really worked. He decided he preferred physics over farming.

• Sadly, Celeste’s mom, Mary Hedge, left us at the end of July. She was a strong, vital woman who loved her family and her career as a nurse almost as much as she the loved the road.  She was a force of nature and is sorely missed by her family and friends.

• Celeste became a master leafer, clearing space for the crews to come through and harvest. 

• We harvested in September but first, the two of us got up in the middle of the night and harvested and crushed our own little block of Chardonnay. Clay will be making his own wine from this block. We will all be beneficiaries of this endeavor!

• Our vineyard manager, Jim Pratt, hosted a harvest party in October. He personally handed a bonus check and thanked each and every employee in front of the growers for whom they work so hard. Jim is an inspiring employer as well as a terrific manager.

• …and then it rained.  A lot.

• We had our biggest olive harvest so far, ending up with 3.5 gallons of some of the nicest olive oil you could want. Every year we come up with a new development to ease the process. Great Christmas gifts!
• In November, we went to New York City to participate in a Russian River Valley Winegrowers Neighborhoods Master Class, hosted by Full Circle Wine Solution, pouring wines indicative of the unique and diverse qualities of the RR wine region.

• …and then it rained some more.

2017

• In January, Celeste participated in the Women’s March, in support of the Graton Day Labor Center, a worker-led day labor center that organizes with domestic workers and day laborers in West Sonoma County, CA for the advancement of their rights and dignity as workers, as immigrants, and as members of the broader community.
• Clay handed over the presidential responsibilities of the Russian River Valley Winegrowers to his successor, Gio Balistreri of Russian River Vineyards.

• …more rain
• In March, our granddaughter, Naomi and her friend, Isaac, opted to spend their Spring Break working at the ranch to get a feel for what winegrape farming is all about. They found out it’s mostly about a lot of work but also can be a lot of fun and very rewarding.

• …and it continued to rain

• April and the growing season begins all over again.

• Celeste hosted her first Russian River Vally Girls luncheon in June with the help of her good friends, Kathy Klopp and Anne Giere.
• These same lovely ladies are spending time volunteering at the Redwood Empire Food Bank, giving back for all the plenty we’ve received.

• A bit more rain, bloom and set.
• Jake helped Celeste run irrigation to Bailey’s spot. Creating and irrigating this area was a first for her. Seems there’s never a time when there isn’t something new to learn.
• The pears are harvested, donating 6 grocery bags to the food bank. I owe Clay a pear tart.
•  We returned from vacation to find that we were at 75%+ veraison and have scheduled the bird netting installation for mid-August. We’re expecting harvest about the same time, September 10ish. We’ll see.

There now…we’re all caught up.

Fish Friendly Farming obtained a grant to make soil moisture sensors available to farmers in the Russian River and Navarro River watersheds. The sensors allow farmers to actually see below the soil surface to determine the water content of the soil. It thus provides additional data which is useful in determining when an irrigation is required and whether the amount of irrigation provided is the right amount. We applied for and were grateful to receive a soil sensor, which was installed by Melina and Cody.

We’ve traditionally used several technologies to insure that we give our vines the water they need when they need it and no more.

Drip irrigation: Our drip irrigation system and dual drip lines allow us to precisely meter water to plants that need it, while minimizing evaporative loss.

Leaf water potential: Using a “pressure bomb” (unfortunate name) allows us to determine the water status of individual plants. We use this data primarily to determine when to begin irrigation—we wait until the plants reach a predetermined level of water stress (i.e., we wait until they are thirsty) before starting irrigation. Secondarily, we use the data to monitor the effect of irrigations we make during the growing season.

California irrigation management information system (CIMIS) data: The CIMIS system is a network of climate sensors developed by the State of California and the University of California, Davis that allows farmers throughout the state to calculate how much water is lost by plants on a daily basis to evaporation and transpiration. Transpiration is the process where plants absorb water through their root system and respire it to the atmosphere through their leaves. The CIMIS data allows us to determine how much water we need to provide the vines to replace what they’ve lost.

Visual observation: You can also tell a lot about vine water status just by looking, if you know what to look for. These signs include shortened and sagging shoot tip tendrils, leaves turned away from the sun, leaf petioles sagging, and leaves in the fruiting zone starting to yellow.

One of the things that really encouraged me about working with Fish Friendly Farming is that it was an example of a member of the environmental community working with farmers in a constructive way to achieve a common goal: resource conservation. 

Ask clay gantz, co-owner/grower

Why aren't more grapes "dry farmed" (grown without irrigation)? 

After all, they dry farm in Europe, right? It is possible to dry farm grapes in some vineyards in California. However, in most it is not. The reason why they can in Europe, but not universally in California is simple: While in Northern California we actually get a little more annual rainfall (31.5 inches) than in Burgundy (30.5 inches), in Europe it consistently and regularly rains (about 2 inches a month) during the summer growing season. In Northern California, we get virtually no rain from May to October. The rain we get in the winter recharges our groundwater basins and is stored and used in summer when needed. This is why agricultural and other open space uses are so important—water that falls on a urban area is diverted from the groundwater basins and runs to the sea through storm drains.

Click below to learn more: 

In April, we replaced a 1-acre block of underperforming Calera with clone 23 "Mariafeld," a Pinot Noir clone that we hope resists the shatter that caused the Calera to be a pain in our behinds.

The new buds on the Mariafeld are breaking nicely. But the root stock -- which the Mariafeld clone is grafted to to create a phylloxera-resistant base -- is putting out a lot of suckers. These suckers steal energy necessary for the survival of the little buds, so it’s our job to remove them.

The only way to remove them is by hand. Very, very carefully. The buds are very fragile and removing the suckers with a rough hand could easily brush the Mariafeld bud off. That means a new graft and waiting another year for the new clone to come into production.

So, Clay and I spent three days in the vineyard, carefully removing the suckers from 1,862 plants. To save our backs from all the stooping, we wear a back brace and I have a small stool to sit on at each plant. It's not fun work, especially as the days warmed each afternoon. But it is fun to think of the potential of the Mariafeld when it matures in 2017.

To that end, I’ve come to grips with the fact that one of our early decisions to plant the Calera clone of Pinot Noir might have been the wrong one. While we like the quality of the wine made from our Calera blocks (it has found its way into Kosta Browne’s Russian River Valley blend from the first 2013 harvest), the clone is highly prone to shatter because of the grapes' failure to properly self-pollinate. Yields have been ridiculously low--while our Pommard blocks reliably produce three tons per acre, the best we’ve managed in our Calera blocks is one ton per acre.

So, last year we began to consider changing some portion of our Calera blocks to another clone, which will hopefully perform better on our site. The process was fun and informative.

We began with conceptual discussions with our team, including Jim Pratt, Kris Lowe and our winery partner, Kosta Browne. Each contributed different thoughts and opinions and answers to the question, “Should we change and, if so, to what?” Based on these conversations, we decided that if we were going to make a change, we should consider one of three clones: clone 2A “Wadenswil,” from Switzerland, clone 23, “Mariafeld,” also from Switzerland, and clone 37, “Mount Eden,” a California heritage clone selected from the historic Mount Eden Winery. Then, we retired to the Kosta Browne Winery, where they generously walked us through a tasting of many (more than 10, I think) wines in process, each made from one or another of these clones. Based on this tasting, Celeste and I had a decided preference for clone 23, which had a distinctive rich flavor that we could consistently identify.  Coincidentally, it is a also favorite of Kosta Browne.

The next step was to consider how much of our vineyard to switch. Our goal has always been to create a vineyard worthy of a “vineyard designate” wine (i.e., a bottling that consisted solely of our grapes). To achieve this, our grapes must be of the highest quality, but also combine to create a distinctive wine of unique character and interest. In that sense, each clone is like the players in a great band—unique and distinguishable, but harmonious and creating a whole bigger than the sum of the parts. Mariafeld definitely will add to the mix, but too much might overwhelm the Pommard, which we love.

In the end, we decided to graft one block (Naomi’s block, approximately one acre) to Mariafeld. We’ll keep blocks 4 and 5 to Calera for the time being. Jim Pratt and his team are not as frustrated with it as Kris and I, and he has some ideas to improve production in those blocks.

I sourced the budwood from UC Davis over the winter. The grafting was accomplished on April 9, and already I am seeing the newly grafted buds beginning to push. We’ll have our first crop of Mariafeld next year, and we will let you know how things go!

Read more about the Evolution of Gantz Family Vineyards

On Monday we began the pruning process for a new growing season. The talented crew from Cornerstone Certified Vineyard did an initial pass through the vineyard, cutting off the longer lengths of last year’s canes. This makes it easier for them to view the vine and select the canes they want to keep for this year’s production. Then they select two canes to keep on our Pommard vines and three on the more vigorous Calera vines. The rest of the canes are removed and left in the center of the row to be ground up by the mower and returned to the soil as nutrients. 

After the canes are selected and pruned, they are tied to the fruiting wires, supporting them in preparation for the buds to swell, break, and begin to extend new shoots from which the fruit will develop.

In one block, we have decided to graft the existing Pommard to a new grape clone. Decisions are still being made, and we will talk about that more when the grafting happens in April. The crew will wait to rough-prune these vines until a couple of weeks before the grafting work is done to release water pressure on the plant. Then they will cut the tops off and graft on the new grape clone.

Because there’s always a chance of frost in March, pruning as late as we do can actually slow down bud break as it releases water pressure from inside the vine. A frost can kill brand-new open buds, leaving us fewer shoots that grow fruit.

We were excited Monday to see women working on the crew. Pruning decisions set the stage for all that comes this year and next, so the pruning team is made up of only the most talented individuals with the experience necessary to visualize how their decisions will affect the vines’ future.

This year marks our fourth growing season. Check out how pruning went in previous years.

My continuing war on the gophers is one of those activities. We like to re-visit this topic every year on this blog because, well, the gophers like to re-visit every year.

One issue that we have is that while our gopher traps, called The Gophinator, are quite hardy, they do disappear as predators drag them away with the dead gophers. Attaching a length of cable to our traps and connecting them to the ground with a flag or stake allow us to identify where they are and keep the predators from taking off with them.

You’ll need some cable, cable ferrules and a pair of wire cutters. I like the Speedy Sharp tool to help with cutting; if your cut is sharp, the wire won’t separate and it will be easier to run through the holes in the cable ferrule. 

Cut the length of wire you want, thread on a couple of cable ferrules and loop one end behind the spring at the back of the trap. Clay prefers a shorter wire so they don’t tangle. I like a longer wire so I can stick it further in the hole. Thread the end of the cable back through the ferrule and crimp it to hold the cables in place. They actually make crimping tools for this purpose, but what’s more fun than just smacking it with a hammer?

Now make a loop on the other end the same way. You want to make sure the loop is large enough to accommodate a flag or stake. Nothing is more irritating than finding out your loop is too small and you have to redo the wire.

I've created a "gopher trap kit" in a bucket to get everything out to the vineyard. I use a square U-bolt to hang my traps to keep them from getting tangled and a small PVC pipe duct-taped to the side to keep my flags accessible and neat. 

Okay, gophers.  It’s on!

On Wednesday, January 13, 2016, Clay Gantz was honored to become president of the Russian River Valley Winegrowers. Clay gave the following speech to members at Wednesday's annual meeting (check out our Facebook page to see pictures):

This summer I attended the VIP Barbeque that was part of the Russian River Valley Passport weekend, and heard Mel Sanchetti, Gail Dutton, Christine DeLoach and Helen Bacigalupi, describe how things had changed in the RRV during their careers. Each started before the Russian River Valley was an AVA. They painted an eye-opening picture: There was no differentiation between grapes grown in the various parts of Sonoma County, most of the fruit went into bulk wines and the premium market was small. Grapes sold for a few hundred dollars a ton, and you got paid when you got paid. What a long way we’ve come as an AVA. 

Since the formation of the RRVW and the establishment of the Russian River Valley AVA in 1984, things have changed very much for the better. 

Vineyards and wineries have proliferated. In the years since 1984, District 3 Chardonnay grape prices have increased from $961 to $1990 per ton (107%), District 3 Pinot Noir grape prices have increased from $461 to $3251 per ton (605%), and vineyard values in Russian River have risen from $30,000 per acre to $150,000 per acre (400%). Of course, those are just D3 averages. We asked grape buyers, sellers and brokers to opine as to the premium associated with RRV fruit, and they said RRV Chardonnay and Pinot noir commanded a premium of 10-25 percent to the rest of the county. All stated the demand for RRV fruit was higher than the county in general. In fact, I’m confident that most growers are paid a higher premium, and sometimes a much higher premium.

I can’t give you bottled wine prices because I’m a simple grower, but judging by the fancy cars all you winemakers drive, I think bottle prices are pretty good as well. In fact, our wineries go toe-to-toe with wineries all over the world in all market tiers, including the premium categories, and should be a source of pride to all of us.

None of this happened by accident. Our land didn’t change in 1984 and neither did our winemakers. Instead, our RRVW predecessors worked hard, innovated and took risks. AVA signs, Grape-to-Glass and much more, and it worked because they made it work! They created a brand which is of value to all of us.

The fact is, now our RRV brand is second only to Napa Valley. I think we should take a little credit as growers and winemakers, but let’s also acknowledge the contributions of the RRVW and its members. Our founders pointed us in the right direction, our members pulled on the oars and together we created a powerful brand! That brand translates into demand for our products and money in our pockets. When people ask me what the RRVW does for them—that is my answer.  Demand for your product and money in your pocket. Our success is the legacy of Warren Dutton, Sara Lee Kunde, Lee Martinelli, Bob Cabral, Merry Edwards, Nick Leras, Randy Luginbill, Rod Berglund and many others. They worked hard to create the environment we succeed in.

So, that’s it, right? Mission accomplished? We’re on track and it should be OK to rest on our laurels. Sip a nice chardonnay. 

Not by a long shot.

As Paul Novak told me the other day, when you’re on track, you better be moving faster than the train behind you or you’ll be run over. There are lots of trains behind us, and every other AVA or wanna-be AVA is focused on passing us by. If we become complacent, stop innovating and shy away from taking risk, we will be run over. 

To maintain our position at the front of the pack, we must work still harder to tell our story in new and compelling ways. We need to remind the public that our beloved Russian River Valley is unique, complex, diverse and worth exploring. We need to remind them of how good we are as growers and what great wines are made by our winemakers. That is what we, as an organization, are about—constantly reminding the public and trade that we are the best. We need to elevate our game.

Your board, an engaged and creative group, has worked hard to put together a strategic plan that we think will take the RRVW to the next level. Over the next half hour, or so, you will hear about what we have planned for the coming year. I hope that, at the end, you will agree that it is an exciting plan.

But I hope you will do more than simply listen. I hope you will give thought to how you can contribute. We are an organization with big ideas and not much capital. Our real strength is our human capital—you. You are the story we are trying to tell, and who can tell it better than you? No one. 

So I have a simple request. Don’t sit on your butt. Get involved. Join a committee, create a fundraiser, sell some tickets to an event, help us work an event, lend us your ideas, recruit a new member, recruit two new members. You owe it to yourself to get involved. If that doesn’t move you, you owe it to the people who came before you and created this organization and our powerful brand. You owe it to Warren, Sara Lee and Rod, among others. If that doesn’t work, Rod is going to come and pay you a visit with his pitchfork.

Seriously, pitch in. I guarantee you will have fun, you’ll be glad you did it, and you’ll probably also get to sip that chardonnay.

Thanks a lot. I’m excited to be a part of the RRVW and I’m looking forward to having a fun, productive year together with all of you.

Are you a member of the Russian River Valley wine community? Interested in taking part in the exciting things to come for the AVA? Consider joining the Russian River Valley Winegrowers.

The Russian River Valley: Once You've Been Here, You Know

One of our favorite walks is the Santa Rosa Creek trail in the Laguna de Santa Rosa. It is a spectacular trail that allows bikers, walkers and dog owners a peek of the characteristics that make Sonoma County a wonderful place to live: vineyards, horse and cattle pastures, corn fields and ponds full of ducks and geese.

We have the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation to thank for this trail and for preserving this important ecological area. The Laguna de Santa Rosa, covering 30,000 acres and serving as the watershed for a 254-square-mile area, is the most biologically diverse region of Sonoma County (which is the second-most biologically diverse county in the state). By Dec. 31, the Foundation hopes to raise the last $150,000 of their $500,000 goal to accelerate the conservation of this internationally-recognized wetland.

With the $500,000, the Foundation plans to:

• Improve water quality by removing pollutants, trash and woody debris.
• Remove invasive species and restore wildlife habitat.
• Expand recreational and education opportunities.
• Increase community stewardship and public engagement.

The Foundation has already done such a terrific job of maintaining the Laguna so that nature can flourish and visitors can enjoy. When we walk through the wetlands along the river, it's a thrill to see the great blue herons perching high up in the trees that are hanging over the water. They're so still that it's a little eerie. The Laguna becomes a lake during the rainy season, and we're always jealous of people enjoying it from a kayak. 

The Foundation has already raised $250,000. And three amazing people -- Julie Atwood, Raini Sugg and one anonymous donor -- have promised to donate the final $100,000 if $150,000 can be raised. The health of the Laguna is imperative to the health of the Russian River Valley and Sonoma County. Please help them reach their goal!

They say that necessity is the mother of invention. Well, we were in desperate need to find a better way to harvest our seven olive trees in time for Trattore Farms' Community Milling Day last Sunday. For the past years of olive harvest, we've shaken the limbs or stripped the olives by hand, and then chased the ones that rolled or bounced off the tarp we'd laid down to collect them.

There had to be a better way.

While there are many tools for large-scale olive farming, we were finding it difficult to find anything to help our little operation. One tool that we did pick up this year, an olive rake that allowed us to rake the olives out of the trees, did make the process go faster.

But we still wanted to prevent the raked-down olives from rolling or bouncing off the tarp into surrounding dirt and grass. This year I decided to try a better method. I strung a rope through the grommets of the tarp to create a bit of a lip, which prevented the olives from rolling away. Then I laid weed barrier cloth on the tarp, taped up the overlap and stapled the perimeter to keep it in place. The softer cloth successfully cut down the bouncing when the olives fell from the trees.

Clay had his own invention inspiration. A lot of small leaves and twigs fall with the olives. In the past, we took hours separating bucket after bucket of the fruit from unwanted debris. This year, Clay made a screened frame. We dumped the olives and greenery on the screen and placed it over a large fan set on just the right level. Because the leaves and twigs are lighter than the olives, the fan blew them off, leaving us a clean batch of olives ready for the press.

Our inventions worked like a charm. It took just 12 hours for the two of us to pick and clean the olives from two large trees and five small ones.

On Sunday we drove to Trattore Farms to participate in the Community Milling Day they host every year. We had some long-awaited rain, but it didn’t deter us or our neighbors from bringing our olive harvest in for pressing. This year, as in recent years past, the olive fruit fly has been a big challenge in our area. Due to Clay’s determined efforts to control the infestation in our trees, all our olives were accepted for pressing. In a week, we’ll have over 2.5 gallons of lovely olive oil. Our friends and family will see something special in their stockings this year!  

Trattore Farms and Dry Creek Olive Company will sponsor another Community Milling Day Nov. 22. Click here for details.