Workers in the Vineyard

On a lovely early summer's day I take a drive to admire the farmlands between Malmesbury and Piketberg. The popular crops are wheat, vines, our local herbal Rooibos tea and proteas. It seems on the road that I'm on that most farms have opted for wheat and vines. The result is so pleasing to the eye and one is met by alternating patches of gold and green.

The workers in my painting are pruning the neat rows of vines. We sometimes complain that wine is expensive, but should consider for a moment all the labour and cost that is involved. The cuttings are grafted, cultivated, treated and dusted and then planted in ploughed and fertilised furrows. Take into account the trellising and pruning, protection against pests and diseases, irrigation, picking, sorting, distilling! What a process! The workers are usually part of the large farm "family" and will have homes, salaries, schooling and medical attention..........is wine really that expensive?

Only in Riebeek Kasteel!

The main vegetation of the Swartland area where Riebeek Kasteel is situated is wheat. The area is a fairly new wine-producing region. But of course, the ocean breezes and low-lying position of the region is ideal for vineyards. So do not be surprised by what I am showing you here: town gardens covered in vines! Browse along the main streets of Riebeek Kasteel to admire a quaint clockmaker, a peaceful little village church and restaurants housed in Victorian homes, and suddenly you spot them: the urban vinyards! So, who wants roses?

The key to having such a lovely-looking healthy vineyard is disease control. Young vines are carefully selected and planted in vine nurseries, then uprooted, dusted for disease control and thereafter sold to farmers or any person willing to plant and nurture them. Trellisses support the growing vines which are always planted in symmetrical rows. Thus a growing vineyard will form these eye-catching patterns we love!