Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/196125
Pragmatism trumps pears for Kate Moser and her father. come to terms with the reality that consumers aren't willing to pay a price for pears and apples that would translate into adequate compensation for backbreaking, even dangerous, work. As I struggle with the realities of farming, the vines in our first planting of Petite Sirah are growing rapidly, and I'm learning the tricks to finding balance in operating a ranch. It seems to me it could take years before I've acquired enough knowledge and experience to call myself a farmer. But, in the meantime, the seasons are flying by. The Redwings my dad gave me in a symbolic gesture last fall have gotten more scuffed and less obviously brand new. The back of my neck is dark brown from the sun. Things are progressing. It's a little scary to be part of this venture of moving toward grapes, but I think it's the right decision. Pragmatism I asked my dad recently if he was sad about ripping out the pear trees. He said no. "In farming, you have to be pragmatic," he told me, standing and squinting in the field where we are anxiously set to plant our first 24 acres of grapes. It's a strategic move. The state of California is poised to undertake a multibillion-dollar, multiyear project to install two gigantic tunnels to divert water from the Delta. Between escalating water demands and climate change—the Sierra snowpack is at 17 percent of its normal level—it seems smart to transition to a crop that takes half the water that pears do. Even more pressingly, the agricultural labor market continues to tighten. "A really good picker or pruner in the pears is really skilled, and having skilled workers is what allows us to be competitive," Dad said. "We don't have them anymore." During this past pear harvest, I've witnessed yet again—for however many years I've been out in the orchards during pear harvest since I was a teenager driving tractors—that exceptionally skilled work in action. My dad is no stranger to taking risks at the ranch. People in the area thought he was crazy when he first planted Granny Smiths in 1980, the year after I was born, and when he planted on a Tatura trellis. And he literally has given his blood, sweat, and tears to this land and to the attempt to make a good living farming. A year before I was born, in fact, he survived a farming accident in which he fell on a harrow. My mom and grandfather sped him, close to bleeding out, in the back of my grandfather's car to the hospital, where he was kept for months recovering. Dad has hoped that the pears will have a good crop in their last harvest, and it appears that it will be one of our best ever. We'll begin to pull them out after the last pick. The veteran ranch foreman, Alfonso Casillas, with whom I spend most of my time these days learning the ranch inside and out, is dreading the thought of ripping out the pears. He knows every tree like a parent knows a child. He said he might have to miss work that day. • www.goodfruit.com Consider for your next planting: Brand Dwarfing Cherry Rootstock Krymsk®5 BENEFITS: [cv. VSL-2, USPP 15,723] • Disease tolerant • Cold hardy • Adapts well to all cherry-growing districts • Forms flower buds and comes into bearing quicker than Mazzard with a better distribution of flower buds Krymsk®6 [cv. LC-52, USPP 16,114] Roots available for SPRING DELIVERY Call Tree Connection: 800-421-4001 "Krymsk® 5 and Krymsk® 6 cherry rootstocks have proven to be the best rootstock for our orchards. They are yield efficient, grow and adapt well, and are cold hardy." —John Morton The Dalles, Oregon 503-538-2131 • FAX: 503-538-7616 info@treeconnect.com • BRUCE PONDER • SUSAN WILKINSON www.treeconnect.com • ADAM WEIL • DAVE WEIL Good Fruit Grower NOVEMBER 2013 29