Archive for May, 2009

Gold Medal Wines, nice work Todd!! Walkin’ the Walk!!

Friday, May 29th, 2009
Cherry, Traminette, and Family Reserve

Cherry, Traminette, and Family Reserve

2009 Ohio Wine Competition Best of Show Red Wine: Maize Valley Winery, Family Reserve, NV, American

At Ohio Wine and More we show and talk about a lot of different things. When I give talks I always get a laugh when I say we are a Winery with ADHD, well there is some truth in that for those of you who know us personally.

Our saying or motto is “We Make Great Wine…FUN!! Those words have two meanings. We believe if you are going to talk the talk you have to walk the walk so to speak. We grow some of our own fruit, buy local grapes and juices from other growers and the university (OARDC) also. We bring in grapes from the best locations possible to make as high a quality product as we can for our guests.

We focus on the overall experience with friends as well on delivering a quality product. A great wine is no good with lousy service, and I always say you can always find another great wine, but you can never go back and make more time.

We source as local as possible while still meeting the desires of a very diverse customer base, quality IS KING. Our ulitimate goal is the sustainablity of our family farm and to have the biggest positive economic impact on our community possible.

This is not a overgrown hobby for us, it pays all the bills that go along with life, we make the farm payment, we raise our kids here. We look at the big picture and try and adapt to it as best as possible to keep “all the balls in the air” so to speak. People say owning a winery and a vineyard is such hard work, we just laugh. They must have never milked cows for a living!!

In the video below please enjoy seeing our wine maker, my brother-in-law Todd talk about our latests medal winning wines.

And we extend congratulations and thanks to all other medal winners. For a little ole’ winery like us it is an honor to be in such great company!

Watermelon Crawl???? Now that’s an idea!!

Thursday, May 28th, 2009
Watermelon planting at Maize Valley

Watermelon planting at Maize Valley

When I was growing up I have vivid memories of my dad bringing in a watermelon and cutting it in half then slicing it in circular sections that covered the whole plate, then cutting into triangles like you would a slice of pizza. We would sit in our pavilion off the back of the house look at the garden and the animals in the pasture.

That is how my dad cut watermelon and boy it was good. I would always break off the sweet tip and eat back toward the rind first then come back to the “sweet spot”!

I guess I am old enough or maybe since my parents that grew up in the depression that such a thing was a real treat. We didn’t drink pop, and my dad who worked a second job down at the local golf course would now and then bring me home a Milky Way candy bar maybe once every week or two. But my sugar intake was pretty low by today’s standards!!

Anyhow memories like that are something we try and help families create today with our fresh from the field local produce we grow at Maize Valley and special events. I hope you can enjoy one too!

Also look for us at some of the local farmers’ markets listed on the right side of the page under farmers’ markets.

Pumpkins, Peppers and a whole lot more.

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
70,000 Peppers waiting for a home

70,000 Peppers waiting for a home

Pumpkin seeds in planter box

Pumpkin seeds in planter box

Yea, we are much more than just a winery, or a vineyard. We (Actually mostly Kay) still farms about 700 acres +/- a few, that is down from 3,000 acres a few years ago. But now we have crops that are much more intensive to produce and take more time and attention. Peppers and pumpkins are just a few, they planted watermelons last saturday too! They fly really good out of my pumpkin cannon, maybe that is why one variety is called “cannonball”??

The peppers you see above number just under 70,000 plants Kay told me. They are ready to be planted and go in the ground much like the tomatoes I showed in previous posts. We sell wholesale to vendors, to restaurants via Fresh Fork Markets. We also attend farmers’ markets in Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Alliance, and Greentown. Links can be found on the lower right corner of the page for these locations, look under “Farmers’ Markets”.

You can also find them at our own farm Market, and in and on some of our entrees’ in our winery cafe’. New this year will be a line of canned peppers called “Pappy’s Peppers” named after my father-in-law, Kay Vaughan. That way we keep those green pepper flavors in the right glass container.

The videos will show the path a pumpkin seed takes to go from Bag to Jack-o-lantern. Much like the corn maze video I will try and follow this crop from start to finish.

Vineyard update, 8 days after Frost/Freeze Ohio Grapes

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
Frost on the Ground and Grapes

Frost on the Ground and Grapes

Well it has been a bit over a week since we had that cold snap in from Canada and here is an update video of how the vines look at 8 days after the frost. When you look across the field from a distance you can start to see some new growth and a hint of green is starting to emerge. Looks like we will get some secondary buds coming along and a few did survive that were not as exposed. But all in all it is still rather depressing to go out there.

Corn Maze/Agri-Tourism & Ohio Civil War History Come together @ Maize Valley

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009
Kay making first grid pass for 2009 Corn Maze

Kay making first grid pass for 2009 Corn Maze

Our 2009 Corn Maze Adventure is off and running!! This year’s theme is the Civil War. We are hosting a re-enactment here at Maize Valley on August 15th and 16th. We are even bringing out a limited edition wine for that weekend with a special lable recognizing the two battles that were fought in Ohio and the respective commanders. We plan on having the maze open by that weekend providing the weather cooperates.

I have placed a few videos at the bottom of this post to quickly walk you through how we have gotten started to date. I hope to put together a more edited version for teachers if I can find the time. We get so many questions as to how do you create those corn mazes? I hope this helps answer a few questions our guests might have. We use a GPS guided cutting system as well, more on that later.

We have partnered with Maze Quest this year for a new interactive game inside the maze as well. More details will be coming soon keep an eye on the website or suscribe to our e-mail list for more info.

Wagon rides, pumpkins and so much more make Maize Valley THE Place to Be!! And just one more way we Make Great Wine…FUN!!

a p90x client, a farmer, and a biker walk into a bar….

Monday, May 25th, 2009
p90x Yoga, will absolutly kick your butt!!  "Let's get busier"

Well it sounds like a joke right? No it is just me. I guess this is sort of an “about the author blog post“. On a personal note but a business one too because for me those worlds are hopelessly intertwined.

All my life I have had a decent build without working at it much, you know like a lot guys, sort of an athlete but not really. I work a lot and don’t make a ton of cash but I pretty much call the shots how my days go. I figured I can’t afford unecessary “health care” and it is my responsibilty to maintain what god gave me to my best ability.

So last winter I bought the p90x set of DVD’s. My wife and I started in Jan. and love it. It will end up being more like p forever x but that is ok. I try and eat as right as I can but we don’t follow the plan, but again that is ok I am in the best shape of my life anyhow. We found we needed and liked the structure that we got with the p90x workouts and Tony Horton has the same weird sense of humor I do so “it’s all good” I guess.

Another big reason for the fitness plan is I am trying to develop Maize Valley as not only an Agri-Tourism destination but sort of a “destination health” with our homegrown produce and other “good for you” things we grow and sell. We have walking trails in the vineyard and fields too. So if I am going to talk the talk I better Walk the Walk!

Getting off you butt and doing it is probably the hardest part but if you do, you won’t regret it!

Besides I just might be around longer to irritate my kids too!! Sweeeeeeat!!!

Fun with Wine…In the Sunshine!!

Friday, May 22nd, 2009
1957 Chevy's just sort of say it all

1957 Chevy's just sort of say it all

Crusin' the Vines Car, Truck and Bike Cruise In

Crusin' the Vines Car, Truck and Bike Cruise In

Now I am sorry I can’t put everybodies car pic up or can the video show them all. I shot 17 minutes last night just to take in all the cars and You Tube doesn’t let that much go up!! So the couple pics and short video is just a sample of the way cool rides and drives we have every Thursday night in the summer time, weather permitting.

We offer wagon rides to the vineyard and fields, later in the season the animal train for the little kids, and once we start harvesting melons and such so we have ammo for the pumpkin cannon we bring out the big kids toy too!

We had about 75 cars or so last night have had as many as 300 on others, you just never know who will show. So this is just one more way at Maize Valley We Make Great Wine…FUN!!!

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“Going Green”, Agri-Tourism, Wagon rides, Corn Mazes and so much more.

Friday, May 22nd, 2009
Stairway to Corn Maze Heaven

Stairway to Corn Maze Heaven

Fresh Paint makes everything look good!

Fresh Paint makes everything look good!

At Maize Valley We Make Great Wine…FUN!!! At least we try! We are a muscular destination for food, fun and friends. Part of that involves our harvest season activities. This year we celebrate our 10th annual corn maze adventure. The preparation for that starts now.

This year we have moved our stair steps back into the maze itself and gave them a fresh coat of paint too. Another new addition this year is we have hired the folks over at Maze Quest to help us upgrade our corn maze experience with new games, activities and a whole new interactive text message game too! Stay tuned for more updates. Here are a few videos below for you to see how to “Go Green”

Wagon Rides, Pumpkins and so much more Make Maize Valley THE Place To BE!!! Where else can you sip a class of award winning wine, watch a pig race, see a pumpkin fly and who knows what else??!!

Come on out a build some memories to last a lifetime and see how at Maize Valley, We Make Great Wine…FUN!!!

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Homegrown, Local, planting as fast as we can.

Thursday, May 21st, 2009

Plastic mulched beds waiting on the "Maters"

Raised potatoe bed

Raised potatoe bed

They don't care about no stinkin' frost!!

They don't care about no stinkin' frost!!

As I have said we are much more than just Ohio Wine! As you can see by my posts on Monday the vineyard took a hit with the frost Monday morning, then another slight one on Tuesday too! Oh well to quote the famous philospher “Draphiki” in the Lion King, “It’s in the Past”. And I am trying to get on with that whole Hakuna Matata thing now. I will give update on the vineyard in about a week, it is too depressing to go out there right now with a camera.

In today’s pics and vids check out our other things we grow I have a couple of shots of what is going on “down on the farm” this week. Yesterday Kay, my father-in-law picked up our watermelon sets, today he is planting sweet corn, and “decorative Corn” before P.C. we called it “Indian Corn”. I painted the maze stairs/tower and myself. Transfering the planter over to plant the corn maze and pumpkins tomorrow.

Sorry for the short posts just really struggling to get time to do the work and get the posts up too.

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FT

Heavy Frost in the Vineyard Today

Monday, May 18th, 2009
Frost in the Vineyard

Frost in the Vineyard

This morning we got hit with a pretty heavy frost. Looks like most of the row crops are okay, but as if this afternoon the vines are not looking too good. I just have to ignore them now or I get too depressed and see how hard it was and how much damage we took.

Here are a couple of videos from first thing this morning. I was in better mood then, I guess ignorance is bliss!!

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