Archive for July, 2009

Pod Cast Wine Education Series, Ohio Canal Country Wine Trail, #wine,#agritourism

Monday, July 27th, 2009
Pod Cast Display in Winery Tasting Area

Pod Cast Display in Winery Tasting Area

Pod Cast Display in Winery Tasting Area

Pod Cast Display in Winery Tasting Area

Cat saying to itself, "Here he goes again"
Brett hitting the road last night

Brett hitting the road last night

People are hungry for wine nowadays and just as hungry for information and being “in the know” about the process and what all it takes to bring that product to their lips.

The Ohio Wine Producers Association (OWPA) has put together a series of educational pod casts that talk about many of the different processes, equipment and skills that go into producing wine. When you participate in the Canal Country Wine Trail Pod Cast tour you can end up with cool stuff and other Ohio Wine SWAG, check it out!

You can visit the (OWPA) web site to learn specifically about this educational opportunity by following the link posted on the lower right corner of this blog.

At Maize Valley we have the pleasure to host the barrel display courtesy of Canton Wood Products of Lebannon Ky. They were generous enough to put together a great display and provide super information for the pod cast which you can listen to by following this link;

http://www.ohiowines.org/podcasts.shtml or go to the OWPA link on the blog page and get all the info. And while you are there you can get the digg on Vintage Ohio too!!

We even have barrel here you can come see, touch, feel, smell, whatever pops your cork! (Oh I am soooo funny), er… LOL.

With the idea being you come to our location and buy truckloads of wine to get you through the winter or maybe this Ohio summer, anybody else notice how cold it is? Hey Al what’s up?? Anyhow……..

I just put in two other pics above as well. Mostly because I have a Blackberry and when I see something I think is cool I snap a pic. The cat just gets tired of hearing my voice and Brett loves to ride his trike!

No video this post, check out the Pod Casts!!

Later

FT

Haunted Corn/Sorghum Maze getting started for 2009, #Agritourism, #farm

Friday, July 24th, 2009
No-tilling sorghum

No-tilling sorghum

Galen and Tim planting sorghum

Galen and Tim planting sorghum

Back in the day we ran a haunted corn maze attraction. We started it because people asked us and we thought it would be fun to chase people around in the dark with a chain saw over our heads screaming at them till some of them peeeed their pants. Well yes that was fun for a while, then we got older the winery business started taking off and I lost my brother-in-laws help managing it as he was off making wine and taking care of customers. Whatever……

So a few years ago I was up there in the dark by myself and I felt like the whole place was just spinning out of control. People running everywhere, the main maze was getting torn apart, and I was dead tired. It seems it is harder to pull 18-20 hour days when you get older and plus my chain saws were wearing out, or maybe it was me. So we pulled the plug on the haunted business.

Boy did we hear about it the next year. From who you ask??? Church groups, families, Mom and Dads and kids and teens too. You see when I do something I give it my all and do 150% or more and people loved our haunted attraction. I always focused on not just scareing people but entertaining them too. We would have entire families go through our haunted event and the kids came out scared Mom a bit shaken and Dad laughing sometime crying and a time or two even sacred much to his suprise.

So we are reloading the event this season wtih the help from Terry’s Tire Town to help get the word out. Anyhow you can get and up close look at how a John Deere No-Till grain drill works too!

At Maize Valley We Make Great Wine…FUN!!

Corn Maze Update and how we do it too.

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
First pic of maze one week after cutting

First pic of maze one week after cutting

View of Corn Maze Paths after Roto-tilling

View of Corn Maze Paths after Roto-tilling

View of Corn Maze Paths before Roto-tilling

View of Corn Maze Paths before Roto-tilling

In an ongoing attempt to let people know what and how we do things at Maize Valley I keep letting out a little bit of info here and there about how it is we keep making Great Wine…FUN!

You can do corn maze a bunch of different ways but what I am showing is just how we roll. This year will be our tenth corn maze and the system we use works for us, it may not for you but such is the case in many things agritourism.

Like making wine you cannot make just what you like, such is also the case in a corn maze. People come out to buy some of our fresh produce, maybe drink some award winning wine, but in the fall especially to have fun. The maze helps folks do that. So we cannot create something that just makes people nuts but rather is an enjoyable experience while on the farm.

So part of that is first a foremost safety. That is why I roto-till the paths so it reduces the chance anyone can fall and if they do so they don’t land on something that could injure them. I know it will happen but I try my best to see that it doesn’t. We try and get the paths like road before we open so a stroller or power chair can go through weather permitting.

So check out how we roto-till our corn maze paths and see some of what goes into your admission price too. And remember if you do come STAY ON THE PATHS OR WE WILL ASK YOU TO LEAVE, for the pleasure of all guests that come after you.

At Maize Valley, We Make Great Wine…FUN!!

Crop Progress/Update, Time to start Harvesting!!

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009
Sweeeaaat Onion

Sweeeaaat Onion

Green Maters,

Green Maters,

Yellow Squash

Yellow Squash

Green Bell Peppers

Green Bell Peppers

A Trio of Cabbage

A Trio of Cabbage

Baby Watermellon on a bed of leaves

Baby Watermellon on a bed of leaves

Broccoli lookin' fine

Broccoli lookin' fine

Well it feels like it has been a long time coming but we are finally starting to pull some measurable product out of the fields. Sweet Corn started July 20th and about a dozen other crops are starting to fill in the gaps too. This is a long post, why because it rained today!!! It was a MONEY rain for us as it has been dry and we needed it. So I will cram a bunch into one day. Lots of words, lots of pics, lots of video. Hope you enjoy what’s comin’ up down on the farm.

The growing season has been strange this year. It has been much cooler and cloudy than usual especially for July. Great to be a human but not so much to be a corn plant. We have been using some new crop fertility products that go along the lines of natural I suppose you might say.

Basically they reduce the amounts of chemical based fertilizers and crop protection products we would use and stimulate the bacteria in the soil to breakdown the nutrients already present making them avaliable for plant uptake. We will see how it works, so far things seem to be working well as we have very good growth especially in our curcurbites with not so great weather. Our watermellons are about two weeks ahead of past years, just sort of strange, maybe this “snake oil” actually works??!! Go figure!

You see people always talk about “organic” and I just have to laugh knowing what I know about soil chemistry and plant fertility. You see EVERYTHING is a chemical or made up of elements in different combinations. Organic chemistry is powerful stuff and just to think you can simplify things and that will make all things all better is naive at best. Good crops come from healthy soil and that takes a balanced approach to how you treat them. You can just as easily mess things up going the “organic route” as you can mess things up by getting soils out of balance by going the “commercial” route.

All in all most of us eat pretty well in this country. It is mostly a matter of choices what we put in our mouths. It is mostly a matter of balance. It is still better to eat a piece of food that our bodies evolved on that has a part per billion of something that if hunderds of tons of it were eaten in a given period of time may be harmful, than not to eat it at all.

We have a marvolus food system despite some of its faults. It’s development and use has allowed we as a people to do things today we take for granted like only work 5-6 days a week, only 40-60 hours a week, take vacations, days off, run and exercise for fun or “health”, eat out, the list goes on and on.

All I am saying is thank you very much for supporting us at farmers’ markets and the like, thank you very much for appreciating the simple things in life that give a family farmer an edge but also remember you can hardly think of the last time you went hungry in this country.

BB

Maize Valley Hitting Farmers’ Markets Soon!! #farm, #farmers’s markets

Monday, July 20th, 2009

Ready to sell some produce!!

Ready to sell some produce!!

It was warm and wet, now it’s cool and dry but the hearty little crops at Maize Valley are coming thru for you!

We hope to start pulling sweet corn TODAY July 20th, FINALLY!!! Then tons of other stuff is on the way too! We are hitting several farmers’ markets in the area.

Chagrin Falls on Sunday http://www.northunionfarmersmarket.org/index.html

Canton on Saturday’s http://www.cantonfarmersmarket.com/

Alliance on Saturday’s http://www.alliancefarmersmarket.com/

Cleveland Clinic on Wed. http://www.northunionfarmersmarket.org/index.html

Green on Tuesday’s http://www.cityofgreen.org/farmers-market-at-boettler-park-on-tuesdays-beginning-june-23

Akron on Thursday’s http://www.cvcountryside.org/

Plus EVERYDAY at our home market in Hartville.

We have so many new items growing this year I can’t list them all so come check them out!

Sorry no video on this one, just gotta get out from behind this desk Today!!!

Later

Bill

Vines, Wines, and Pines 5K Went AWESOME!! #Agritourism, #Farm

Friday, July 17th, 2009
Great food from Subway, and cool awards from Maize Valley

Great food from Subway, and cool awards from Maize Valley

On your mark!

On your mark!

It's not like your getting married or anything...Uh maybe it is??

It's not like your getting married or anything...Uh maybe it is??

What an awesome day! Our Third 5K race went off without a hitch and to the raves of the participants. It is really ALL about them anyway because without runners….we don’t have a race! Thanks to Cope Equipment for providing the Gator to lead the race, and Terry, Sally and crew of R&S racing who time the race and make it all go sssoooooo smooth!

The entire race takes place on our property and our next door neighbors, Moore Christmas Tree Farm thanks to them too!

Part of what we are working at is branding Maize Valley as “Destination Health” if ya get my drift. You see we grow all these healthy veggies, sell all this good for you locally grown food, have all this open space to exercise in I mean hey, how could you not get healthier hangin’ with us?

As part of creating a first class agritourism destination we had mostly been focused on the “Fall Season” with pumpkins, corn mazes, wagon rides etc. But you see I maintain all the trails and fields all year long just because we like to keep things looking neat.

Well I got to thinking why don’t we have more events and get more use out of the grounds? So we have events more often now and we are even working at developing walking trails in partnership with local health care businesses to promote an over all healthy lifestyle that is FUN and rewarding.

Come join us for the “Stomp The Grapes” half marathon on October 3rd if you are ready for the challenge!!

And if ya just want to have fun….get married!! We had a bridal party run in the race, come back for the shower, then regroup and close the place down too!!

At Maize Valley, We Make Great Wine…FUN!!!

Corn Maze Update, “It’s in the Field”!

Thursday, July 16th, 2009
Carving the "Circle MV"
Fresh Cut Pathway

Fresh Cut Pathway

Corn Maze Paths just after cutting

Corn Maze Paths just after cutting

Getting started cutting the corn maze

Getting started cutting the corn maze

This is our Tenth Anniversary Corn Maze, wow has it been that long??!! Well we are getting started and combining the maze with our new Civil War Re-enactment set to go on August 15th and 16th. Corn looks kinda short we will see, just not enough sun and heat so far. If we don’t make Aug. it will be Labor Day Weekend.

I have been getting several inquiries as to how we do our mazes and why we do things certain ways. Keep in mind this agritourism thing is a process of evolution. Not all things work at all locations. You can learn by seeing what others do and then trying certain aspects on your own place. But most of all keep asking questions. I don’t think “outside the box”, I crawl up on top of it, pick it up, & turn it over. I look at agritourism from all sides now!

We hire Rob Stoffer with Precision Mazes to handle the cut and Hugh McPherson of Maize Quest for the design and activity content. We have done it all in-house over the years but we just have too much going on now and have created such an expectation of excellence with our guests that it is now time to rely on the professionals. My brain just ain’t big enough to get it all done anymore, I don’t know if it ever was, I think I was just lucky. We have done NASCAR/NAPA, Bridgestone/Bigfoot, Formula One Racing and more. It has been a fun ride and a great way to make money while bringing such fun to families!

Keep in touch as we install the games, trivia, and all the other stuff that makes a Maize Valley an Adventure, not just a walk in a corn field. Check out the links under “Agritourism” to learn more about the great partners we have!

Baleing Hay, and breakdowns, Now I remember why I like farming so much!

Monday, July 13th, 2009
Lookin' in the sideview mirror

Lookin' in the sideview mirror

Raking ahead of the baler

Raking ahead of the baler

Main Drive Shaft...Now we have Two Oh Boy!

Main Drive Shaft...Now we have Two Oh Boy!

Breakdown and shop time

Breakdown and shop time

Phillips Machine, saves the day

Phillips Machine, saves the day

Making Hay while the sun shines

Making Hay while the sun shines

On our farm we as a family help each other out. My father in law Kay has helped make much of what has become Maize Valley Market and Winery possible. This past week he needed help baleing hay so I chipped in. I thought I was just going to be towing wagons. I spend most of my time at the market and winery and marketing etc.

I was there about an hour till we had a major breakdown. Just like back in the day I thought. This happens a lot especially when you use your equipment hard. We maintain the heck out of it but it still happens. I suppose if farm folks read and watch this stuff you just have to laugh. But we are just putting this blog up for ALL to see and learn so I am not trying to come across like something special, just report on what goes on down on our farm.

I guess it was a good thing I was there as I was able to help out in the repair, via cell phone and google searches from my blackberry in the field I discovered the shaft that broke was a day away and almost $200.00. The cool thing was we were able to tap into our local machine shop and find the same part for about $30.00 and I was able to run over and get it and we were back in business about four hours later. That is a cool part about living near in an area that was once a very heavy steel production center. I love buying steel “buy the pound” vs. covered in green paint!

I don’t know if you have ever “timed” a baler before but I learned how this day, I also used a whole bunch of my vocabulary skills too! After a while I threw the book away and just figured it out. If you ever have to time a John Deere Baler, start with the book then throw it away and use your head.

Last year Kay and crew made about 48,000 little square bales, this year looks like they might close in on 60,000 if the weather cooperates. We got these field done and got about 12,000 bales off of about 45 acres.

Now next week start second cutting, farmers markets, wine pours, vegi harvest, you know life!

Crop Progess, Vineyard Update, Raspberries TOO!

Saturday, July 11th, 2009
Todd in Air Blast Sprayer

Todd in Air Blast Sprayer

Pumpkins starting to form

Pumpkins starting to form

Baby Rasperries

Baby Rasperries

Raspberry Patch

Raspberry Patch

WoW is stuff growing fast now, from Raspberries to pumpkins to corn we got it going on here are a few pics and video of what growing up down on the farm at Maize Valley.

Japanese Beatles Attack!

Sunday, July 5th, 2009
Looking down the rows

Looking down the rows

Japanese Beatles are Attacking

Japanese Beatles are Attacking

Well here we go again our annual battle the dreaded Japanese beatles. Like many of you who have these nasty pests invade your yard we get them in spades in the vineyard. They really like grapes, really really well.

This is the Traminette vineyard from earlier posts when Thad has been uncovering the vines, and pruning and training. Now we have to defend his work and the plants themselves from this annual pest.

Here are a few videos showing how we deal with them, I need to edit the first two to flow together better but till I do just watch the first two together as one to make sense. Thanks for stopping by.

Close up view of Japanese Beatles

A close up look at the sprayer itself and how it works