Dad, who had been curious for a while about the silver bag-like thing, asked,
“What’s that you’re holding?”
“This? Ta-da!”
I opened the thick case, and my parents examined the contents with wide eyes. A blue suitcase-style console, a round lid, even a pressure gauge... To someone who didn’t know, it looked impossible to tell what the equipment was for.
“A pressure chamber. Also called a pressure bomb. It’s equipment used to measure leaf water potential.”
“Water potential? There’s such a thing?”
“Ah, it’s called Stem Water Potential. Usually it’s shortened to SWP. You could say it’s an index of thirst that the tree tells us itself.”
“Ooh—how strange.”
“To measure it, you take this foil bag and do this...”
I unfolded a foil bag and placed it over the petiole where the leaf and stem met.
“You have to choose a mature leaf, and then you wait about ten to fifteen minutes like this.”
“Okay. Then while we’re waiting, let Dad ask one more thing. Anthocyanins and tannins? Why are those important in wine?”
“Oh~ Dad, important question. First of all, anthocyanins basically determine the color of the grapes. The more anthocyanins there are, the deeper the purple becomes.”
Mom asked at that point.
“Is making the color darker all it does?”
“Mom, it might not seem like much, but it’s surprisingly important. Like they say, food that looks good tastes good too—if the color is deep, it raises your expectations even before you drink it. There’s actually something called co-pigmentation, which affects aroma too, but that’s not the important part. Anyway, when anthocyanins increase, the color gets darker and the wine score goes up. That’s the formula.”
“A formula... You have to memorize formulas.”
“Good! My mom has the basic attitude of a student.”
“When Mom was in school, she was pretty good at studying.”
“Hehehe. And tannins are truly essential to wine. They’re the component that creates the texture of the wine. You know when we drink black tea and your mouth gets all... how do I put it?”
“You mean when it gets kind of dry and fuzzy?”
“Ah, well, something like that... That subtle friction is what creates weight and structure in red wines like Cabernet, so they don’t end up tasting like watery wine. But what matters here is appropriate tannin. It’s not always good just because there’s a lot of it.”
Mom looked at me as if she was seeing me anew.
“How do you know so much about wine? Did you learn it at school? But wine is alcohol, isn’t it?”
“...... It’s theory, theory... Wine is the alpha and omega of a vineyard, after all.”
“My, our son is so smart.”
Mom accepted my lie in pure innocence and proudly stroked my shoulder.
As we chatted like that, time passed quickly.
“Now, I’ll take it out. If you cover it with a foil bag like this, it isn’t exposed to sunlight or wind, so the leaf’s water condition comes into balance with the stem. In other words, the stem’s water condition and the leaf’s water condition become the same, so if we cut the leaf and check it, we can confirm the stem’s water condition, right?”
“Oh, I see.”
“Now, in this state, you cut the leaf and insert it into this chamber ring. Did you see?”
Dad filmed it with his camera in case he forgot again. Since it was something he’d have to do later, he wanted to keep studying it on his own.
“From here, you slowly increase the pressure at about 0.3 bar per second. Then, the moment water beads up at the end of the petiole...!”
My hand stopped sharply, and I checked the number.
“See? It’s reading minus nine bars, right?”
“Oh, it is.”
I looked at the pressure reading and tilted my head. Seeing that, Dad asked,
“Why? Is something wrong?”
“Did you not water them much? Minus nine is a borderline level... Once it hits minus ten, it means the vine is under stress. In other words, it’s short on water.”
“Didn’t you say earlier that we should water them less?”
“Ah, that depends on the growth stage. Until early spring, it’s better not to stress them too much. Until... around June?”
I looked at the grapevines and frowned.
“I understand why this farm’s productivity dropped. It’s probably because water was supplied consistently without regard to the growth stage. The farm had been cultivated for a long time, so the soil fertility had weakened too, but they gave too little water during the period when the canopy and photosynthetic engine should have been built first, and then gave a lot of water from veraison to harvest, when they should have been stressing the vines. The fruit condition probably wasn’t good either. Especially with the Cabernet Sauvignon we’re growing, right before harvest, you have to go as far as giving them almost no water... And with pests and diseases hitting on top of that, it had no choice but to fail.”
I immediately opened the drip irrigation lines further, and my parents looked around at the vines on the farm with grave expressions.
“My goodness... We didn’t even know that, and just thought they were growing well...”
Mom kept stroking the vines, clearly upset, and Dad asked worriedly,
“Since we raised it now, it’ll be okay, right?”
“Yes. It’s not too late yet. Increase the amount uniformly across the whole farm. To around minus seven to eight. If you really give them a lot, up to six. You learned how to do it, right?”
“Yeah. I’ll watch what I filmed and learn it on my own, then try it.”
Even after I said that, Mom kept her lips pressed shut, still upset.
“Don’t worry too much. They’ve been given biochar compound fertilizer and even air fertilizer packs, so they’re growing in the best soil in the world. Look, doesn’t the ground feel different?”
At that, my parents checked the soil around the grapevines and said,
“It definitely is different. Even when you step on it, it feels different. It’s like stepping on a sponge.”
Mom’s expression brightened again at the talk of the soil. The guilt she had felt toward the vines had eased.
“When harvest time comes later, the grapes will tell us how much care we put into them. They’re going to grow amazingly well, so don’t worry too much.”
“All right. Mom has her son, so I won’t worry. And Mom will raise them well, just as her son tells her to.”
I thought it had been a good thing that we checked the water potential with the pressure chamber today. If it had been a little later, the harvest volume might have ended up lower than I’d expected because of the water shortage. I suspected that the previous owner, Mr. John Anderson, had heard somewhere that it was good to water a little less, and had done it that way.
After putting all the equipment away and heading down, I suddenly found several people standing at the entrance to the farm. The person at the very front looked familiar, so I looked more closely, and to my surprise, it was Pierce Morgan from the Agricultural Extension Office.
“Mr. Pierce!”
When I ran over and held out my hand, he took it and said,
“Good to see you. These must be your parents?”
“Ah, yes.”
Dad and Mom approached with surprised expressions at the unexpected guests. Pierce smiled, greeted them, and introduced the people accompanying him one by one.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Pierce Morgan, the Regional Agricultural Program Director at the Agricultural Extension Office under the Department of Agriculture. This is Dr. Lewis, a soil scientist. He specializes in soil structure, organic matter content, and residual pesticide testing.”
“Hello.”
“Ah, yes...”
Dr. Lewis shook Dad’s hand with his thick hand while Dad looked bewildered.
“This is Karen Willis, a pest management specialist, and Eliza Lee, who handles water quality analysis. Lastly, this is Mark Evans, who coordinates the organic certification process.”
Dad still looked puzzled.
“What brings you all here today...?”
Pierce slowly looked around the area before getting to the point.
“Right now, we’re selecting pilot sites across California for the ‘Regional Organic Transition Pilot Project.’ Simply put, we’re creating ‘model farms’ that the USDA and the UC Davis Agricultural Extension Office will directly support and manage for the next three years.”
For a moment, my heart began to race.
“Could it be... our farm?”
“That’s right. As it happens, an official notice came down from the Department of Agriculture, and I was wondering which farm to select. After you visited our office, I thought of your farm.”
Then he looked at Dad and continued.
“Redwood Farm has good conditions. You’re already practicing eco-friendly farming, and because you’re in the early stage of transition, it’s easy to establish a plan. Would you be interested in applying?”
Mom glanced at me and cautiously asked,
“If we do that... what changes?”
Pierce grinned, opened the file he had prepared, and explained calmly.
“First, there are subsidies for transition costs. Every year, seventy-five percent of the costs for certification application fees, soil and water quality analysis, organic fertilizers, and purchasing beneficial insects will be subsidized. If you need equipment or facility improvements, low-interest loans are available, and you can also rent equipment from the Agricultural Extension Office.”
Dr. Lewis immediately added,
“We’ll provide soil and water quality testing free of charge every year, and if residual pesticides are found, we’ll set up countermeasures for you right away.”
My parents seemed to have already been won over by the financial support, and they looked at each other while trying hard to keep their expressions under control. Pierce continued explaining.
“Second, there is technical support. A team of experts can be dispatched immediately in the event of disease or pest outbreaks, and we will personally design the Organic System Plan, which will serve as the farm operation manual for the next three years. Of course, since this young man is doing well, if you don’t want that, you’re free to handle it yourselves.”
“I’ll do it myself.”
As if he had expected as much, Pierce twitched his eyebrows and continued explaining again.
“Third, marketing support. You’ll be able to use the title of pilot project farm, and Redwood Farm will be introduced on the USDA and UC Davis websites and in newsletters. We can also host buyer invitation events for you.”
Dad, full of expectation, nodded and asked,
“Then how long will organic certification take?”
“Brian here seems to know very well. The legal thirty-six-month transition period remains the same, but we will provide priority scheduling for reviews and document consulting. Your chances of passing in one go without a re-review will be much higher.”
He immediately looked at me.
“Brian, if you’re ready, I can help you with the paperwork from the start. Would you like to apply?”
I took a brief breath and exchanged glances with my parents. Dad’s expression already showed that he had made up his mind, and Mom smiled faintly.
I nodded.
“All right. Redwood Farm will apply for the pilot project.”
A deep smile spread across Pierce’s lips.
“Excellent. Today will be an important day for this farm.”