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Written by Doug Fabbioli
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A few months ago, I found myself volunteering to take on another project that I felt was important to be involved in. The project was through George Washington University called Teachers in the Workplace. I hosted 3 teachers and their advisors this past week at the farm here in Lucketts, VA.
The goal of the program is to familiarize teachers with a workplace environment so they can better prepare students to do the work needed when the time comes. My goals were to educate the teachers about the rural economy and how we need students to want to be farmers and local business people. My bigger effort is to encourage use of our beautiful farmland to produce high value crops as well as value added products that can support local businesses and keep the land from turning into more suburbs and schools. I know this is a crazy pie in the sky concept but I am fortunate to share this idea with some very smart people that think this is not only possible but vital to our sustainability.
So Helen, Tammy, Jean and Janet came out to Fabbioli Cellars to experience a little “life on the farm”. We had lots of activity in many areas of the farm. Everything from crushing some experimental fruit, weeding, painting to customer tastings and lots of cleaning. They got to dive into some early raspberry harvest in the 100F+ heat index weather. I wanted them to experience a bit of the multitasking, a lot of the harmony with nature stuff and a huge amount of the problem solving and adaptability needed to operate a farm like ours. I guess the biggest take away message that we sent was the idea of cooperation and collaboration. I have worked for many years with many different organizations. The other wineries, the other farmers, the government agencies, the customers, the neighbors and the conservation groups all recognize that by working together we will achieve a lot more than spending the energy battling each other. There is no method in our current Standard of Learning testing to grade children on how well they work with others.
I have learned to avoid people and groups that do not play well with each other. Political agendas, greed and ego often get in the way of progress. We need to teach our children about working together if we ever hope to make the world a better place for them. Living on a farm and running my own business keeps me insulated from a lot of the junk that happens in offices and boardrooms. I have been there and I see the results of it. If we can teach our kids to work together, they will pass it on to the next generation.
What about the wine??? Bottling this month! We did some great blending and will be bottling 5 different wines in 2 different bottling runs this month. I am starting to find the plateau I have been seeking. I produced a lot of wine over the last few years and now we are starting to bottle wines that can age in the bottle for longer than a week. The hot month that we have had has not been great for the vines. The plants stop working in the heat of the day and in turn that slows the progress and adds unnecessary stress to the vine. Dry without the oppressive heat is great but we need the rain to survive the heat. Harvest is looking earlier this year than last. Remember to visit your local winery this harvest season to see and experience the crush.
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