Podcast: Play in new window
| Download
An owl box overlooks the vineyard to encourage natural predators of rodents. Photo: Amy West
Dynamic Views
Bonny Doon Winemaker Randall Grahm doesn’t just have a vision for his vineyard. He actually dreamt about the San Juan Bautista property before he saw it.
“It’s a very ambitious project. God only knows how long it will take,” said Grahm. “I need to move it forward at least for my own spiritual advancement and psychological well-being. The thought is to actually plant a vineyard that doesn’t really look like a vineyard,” he said.
Grahm describes it in his blog as an “untamed, feral garden of one’s dreams that happens to grow some grapes.” Usually a vineyard is covered in acres of a single species. Lining Grahm’s property, however, are olive trees and black raspberries. Garden veggies grow for his restaurant. Aside from owl boxes, flowering crops, beginnings of jojoba, and fruit trees for wind breaks, are also black rows of composted manure mixed with soil-enhancing biochar.
