Local winery uses fire to save crops from cold temperatures
Local winery uses fire to save crops from the cold
FOX 5's Jacqueline Matter explains why a Maryland winery is setting its fields on fire in an effort to save its crops.
POOLESVILLE, Md. - With temperatures dipping near freezing the Spring cold snap is nipping at local vineyards. Rocklands Farm Winery in Poolesville, Maryland is quite literally setting fire to the fields to save their crop.
Why you ask? Well if the buds freeze from the Spring frost there’s no grapes, and if there’s no grapes then there’s no wine! Small fires stretching across the hillside were seen from Sky FOX as a temperature swing in the DMV threatens fruit crop in our area.
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"If get you frost on your buds those will die off and then you won’t have any fruit during the year. You’ll have plant growth but not fruit growth," said Greg Glenn, the CEO of Rocklands Farm Winery.
Winemakers have different methods to warm the vines, from spraying water and potassium to protect them from the frost to small bonfires in the wee hours of the night to help get a temperature bump.
"There’s a lot of green plant growth dew and frost and so as these fires are burning it doesn’t really spread just burn the dry grape vines and last about 15 minutes and burn really quick and really fast," Glenn said.
These spring frosts post serious threats to business.
The current fruits, as long as they don’t freeze, would be harvested between August and October. Then depending on the aging process, the earliest this wine would be bottled would be January.
But if the crop were to freeze it would be damaging to next year’s production.
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"We would lose a portion of our grapes for the fall harvest so it would set us back," Glenn said. "We do partner with other growers so hopefully they don’t get affected by the frost. If we don’t do this we could have a really big set back in our own personal production."
A few years ago there was actually a Mother’s Day frost that was devastating to the area. It's a vineyards worst nightmare, and a result, many of these local farmers are still on edge.
Here’s to hoping the vines make it through!