Sustainability has become a bit of a buzz word in recent years, wikipedia defines it as “the capacity to maintain a certain process or state indefinitely.” It really just means making sure our kids can enjoy what we did. I suspect that long before government initiatives and the Green party, farming families have had this in mind. The vineyard my folks currently own has been in the Gifford family for five generations before them. Not one family has sold out and sold up, something I imagine must be tempting in times when the land is either very unproductive or very valuable.
I know Dad is always planting trees around the property so that they can be enjoyed in the future. I now find myself going for walks with my kids and thinking about what it will be like here for them in time to come. I think it’s natural to think in a sustainable way when land stays in families.
The family vineyard (Stembridge) is accredited with Sustainable Wine Growers New Zealand (not sure when it changed from grape growing to wine growing 🙂 ) It is also a focus vineyard for the research being done by SWNZ.
The good thing is that once harvested from the sustainable vineyard, Fiasco grapes are made into wine at a sustainable winery, Indevin.
Warning (for Rachel 🙂 ) :contains graphic scenes
This video shows grandkids and grandparents enjoying falcon feeding time as part of the falcons project. This falcon is Tony, he has arrived to court Jenny. Jenny doesn’t arrive tonight, hopefully because she is nesting. We have to feed Tony heaps of chicks as he is taking them back to Jenny and this will help her accept him. He’s a handsome chap but she also wants a decent bloke who can hunt & provide 😉 It feels a bit like he’s cheating at the drive through! I think Tony is convinced he is hunting though, he still breaks the necks of the chicks once he has ‘caught’ them even though they are already dead. He then has a nibble and whisks them away to save for Jenny… the things a male will do for sex love 🙂 .
Fiasco! 
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