Round Pond may have ~350 acres of vineyards planted, but since those are no where near ready for harvest, our current focus is on our organic and biodynamic gardens! Jeff Dawson planted our sensory garden behind the winery in February of 2009. When you enter the garden, you are greeted by 4 quadrants, each designated to a different set of characteristics. The front two are Cabernet Sauvignon descriptors and Sauvignon Blanc descriptors. These are planted with fruits and vegetables that have the attributes of flavors or smells you would find in the wine. The back two are affiliates, foods you would pair with each of the the wines. The garden sprawls from these center qauds in each direction, overflowing with leafy greens, flowering buds and ripening fruits.
This time of year is just the beginning of the incredible growing season ahead of us. The melons are just starting to form and the tomatoes are still bright green. But the plants, birds, and buzzing bees are hard at work, and so are the gardeners! Jeff Dawson and his son Marley work in the garden every day to make sure our winery , olive mill and the estate homes are supplied with the freshest vegetables and fruits they can offer. They practice biodynamic gardening which is a unique practice that is based on the lunar cycle. While there are several other eccentricities to this gardening practice that I do not fully understand, suffice it to say that whatever they are doing works!
The gardeners also work closely with our in-house chef to communicate what they plan to expect for harvest that week. This allows chef Hannah to prepare food and wine pairings, and our educational, interactive Garden to Table brunch that takes place on Sundays. If you are looking for an opportunity to get your hands dirty in the garden and learn to prepare a fresh meal straight from the bounty that the ground provides you, this is a great opportunity! Check out more about that on our website.
This week the garden is providing us with fresh baby lettuces, strawberries, peaches and cucumbers! I had a little sampling of warm strawberries yesterday afternoon, just to check that they were good enough for others to eat. The winery staff gave their nod of approval as well!
We hope that if you are ever in the area you will come by our winery and take a stroll through our gardens. No appointment is needed for this visit, and we encourage you to stop by multiple times throughout the year to watch as the plantings change and different items come into season. For a detailed look at our growing season on the property, you can check out our facebook page.
