March was almost over, and April was approaching. I had simply let time pass until now, but there was one place I had continued to keep an eye on—the section of Silver Oak Farm we had purchased for a large sum.
Several months had passed since the wildfire swept through, but that section of Silver Oak Farm still held its ashen memories. Blackened tree stumps remained here and there, and some had crumbled in the wind, scattering into the soil.
But thanks to the rye and barley we had sown over the winter, the fresh green shoots rising from the ground had begun to erase the traces of flame from the desolate land.
“When I bought this land that had turned to ashes, I was full of anxiety, but seeing it now feels different. It’s really amazing.”
“Right?”
As Dad looked out over the vast stretch of land, anticipation now lingered in his expression. The sight of the vineyard burned to ash was still vivid before our eyes, but now the land was creating a green landscape, as if to show that it could change. It was enough to make him feel proud of it.
I bent down on one knee and pulled up a stalk of rye. When the fresh, vigorous roots touched my palm, a smile came to my face on its own.
“Look. This is proof that the soil is alive.”
Dad looked at me and chuckled.
“You’re right. It’s healthy. It feels like the land is coming back to life.”
“This is just the beginning. I don’t think the To Kalon land was perfect from the start either. In the end, someone managed it, and time built up to make it what it is. We can do it too.”
“My son is right. We can do it too.”
Dad soon climbed onto the tractor fitted with the disc harrow he had brought over.
“Don’t go too deep! Make sure it doesn’t go deeper than twenty centimeters!”
“Got it!”
With a heavy roar, the tractor began moving along the field ridges. The implement plowed the rye and barley under as if cutting them down, and the leaves and stalks gradually disappeared as they mixed with the soil. From afar, it looked as though the green field were undulating like waves as it changed into brown earth.
Plowing the land with a tractor might look simple, but it requires careful standards. Cover crops decompose underground and supply organic matter, but if they are buried too deep, there is not enough oxygen, and instead of breaking down properly, they produce decomposition gases. That can end up harming the roots.
“You need to watch the path and height Dad uses while plowing and make sure you follow it exactly!”
When I explained the method to the workers who had come along, they nodded.
I moved along the path the tractor had passed over, scooped up some soil with a shovel, and placed it on my palm. The soil that had once been mixed with black ash had now turned a soft brown, and crushed rye roots and barley stalks were mixed throughout. When I rubbed it lightly with my fingers, I could feel the moisture in it.
“Good. The basics are in place.”
After Dad made one circuit on the tractor, a worker took his place. Smiling at the soft, springy feel of the tilled earth, Dad picked up a handful of soil and let it run through his fingers. A brief flash of surprise passed through his eyes.
“This definitely... doesn’t feel like the old Silver Oak land that was nothing but ashes. It feels like land ready to be planted.”
I opened my bag and took out the simple soil test kit I had prepared, and Dad watched it intently.
“Is that the equipment for testing it?”
“Yes. It’s best to collect samples right away while we’re working today. We need to know what condition the soil is in before we artificially alter it.”
I scooped up soil with the shovel and placed it on a sheet of plastic. The workers stopped what they were doing and looked over with curiosity. Their eyes plainly showed that they were wondering what this young Asian man was trying to do.
Dad asked with his arms crossed.
“Can you tell right away?”
“Yes. At least the acidity, the pH, can be checked immediately. A precise analysis has to be sent to a lab, but this is enough in the field.”
I put a handful of soil into a plastic cup and poured in distilled water. Then I slowly stirred it with a spoon so the soil and water would mix evenly. Once the muddy water spread throughout and turned cloudy, I took out a litmus strip and carefully dipped it in. A few seconds later, the end of the paper slowly began to change color.
“Oh...”
One of the workers watching from the side let out an exclamation. The litmus paper was shifting subtly between green and yellow. I compared it to the color chart and read the number.
“It’s coming out to about pH 5.8.”
When I said that, Dad’s eyes widened.
“5.8? Doesn’t that mean it’s on the acidic side?”
“That’s right. If we were talking about grapes, they would have been very sensitive to it. Fortunately, instead of grapes, we grew green manure for now, and if we apply compost and lime together, we can bring it close to neutral. You don’t need to go out of your way to teach the workers, Dad. Just have them adjust the acidity with lime and silicate.”
“I was planning to do that anyway. Even if I tried to explain, it’s not like they’d understand, and they keep trying to teach me instead, so just ordering them around is a hundred times better.”
“I figured as much.”
I collected soil from another section and tested it the same way. This time, the color appeared a little different.
“This area is about pH 6.2. Still, it’s close to acidic, so if we take the overall average, it’s around 6.0.”
Dad looked down at the land with a worried face.
“Then... this land still has a long way to go.”
“No. It’s actually in good condition. If it had fallen below 5.5, it might have taken years to recover. At this point, if we manage it for just one year, it’ll come back up quickly. As far as soil improvement goes, this is lucky.”
“Then the soil can keep going like this... What else?”
“Once April passes, we’ll start by reinforcing the drainage. When it rains, the water shouldn’t pool. It needs to soak in quickly and drain downward. That’s the foundation of the To Kalon AVA. After that, we’ll add gravel to the sections where the gravel layer is weak.”
“The whole area?”
Dad looked startled, and I shook my head.
“No. Along the rows where we’ll plant the vines, about fifty centimeters wide. We need to dig fifty to eighty centimeters deep and lay down thirty to forty centimeters of gravel from a river or stream, around one to three centimeters in size, mixed with coarse sand at a seven-to-three ratio.”
“Wait, let me write this down.”
After confirming that he had diligently written down what I said, I continued explaining.
“On top of that, we need to cover it with ten to twenty centimeters of the original loam and fully matured compost to create a buffer layer. If we laid this over the entire soil profile here, it would become too large a construction project and cost far too much, so partial construction only along the planting lines is the best option.”
“Then this place will become like To Kalon, right?”
“There’s one more thing we need to add. Fully matured compost, biochar compound fertilizer, and mycorrhizae, so the soil becomes packed with organic matter and microorganisms. Once that happens, the land here will change completely.”
“With this much money going into it, I really hope we get good results.”
“It’ll get better. We’re following scientific principles, after all. As long as there isn’t another wildfire or something...”
“That’s exactly what I’m worried about! Farming can go the way you want, but wildfires don’t!”
“Haha, this place already got hit once. And we have no choice but to always prepare for wildfires.”
“We do. But wildfires are terrifying.”
“I feel the same way.”
I knew that, even after this, wildfires that would sweep widely through Napa and Sonoma were coming. What I could do was prevent as much wildfire damage as possible while saving money so I could buy land that came out on the market after being damaged then.
Just then, a rough voice came from far off.
“Going well?”
When I turned my head, Elowen Pike was waving from beyond the fence as he watched us. When Dad and I approached, his face looked much better than before.
“You’re looking well.”
When Dad mentioned it straight away, Elowen shrugged.
“You’ve got to forget hard times quickly.”
Now that he had gotten his hands on a large sum of 1.1 million dollars, the financial pressure that had been weighing down his shoulders seemed to have disappeared, changing his face like this.
“Anyway, you’re working hard. Planting cover crops in winter was an excellent choice. I was going to tell you about it, but it looks like you figured it out on your own.”
“Our son is pretty smart, you see.”
Dad wrapped an arm around my shoulder and smiled proudly.
“Haha, very nice to see. Good. Work hard. Another wildfire might break out, but that’s the fate of us farmers. Overcoming it is our job too.”
It felt like he was teasing us, as if saying, “If another wildfire breaks out, the land you bought will act as our shield.” Dad must have felt it too, but he let it pass as if it were nothing.
“That’s right. In that sense, maybe because we’ve already gotten through it once, I don’t feel that afraid of it.”
Even though he had just said it was terrifying...
Perhaps because Dad had brought up the fact that we had gotten through last year’s fire unharmed, Elowen’s face stiffened slightly.
“Well... do your best. I’m curious to see how this land changes too.”
Leaving behind the solidly built fence, he turned and walked away.
---
April arrived, and by the time the occasional rain had completely stopped and the ground began to dry out, I visited Jacob’s farm in Sacramento again.
I slapped Jacob on the back as he stood on the field ridge, staring blankly at the rice paddies.
“How’s it going?”
Startled, Jacob burst into hearty laughter.
“Hahaha! You’re here? We’re doing great!”
Ever since we decided to build a distillery, Jacob had been full of hope.
“You’re really excited.”
“Of course. My heart’s been pounding like crazy.”
Hearing that huge guy say his heart was pounding sounded completely out of place.
“Don’t get too excited already. Once you actually take out a loan, you might start losing hair.”
“Hahaha, my dad’s bald. Even if I don’t take out a loan, I’m going to go bald anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”
“......”
Just as my expression sank into sorrow at Jacob’s sudden confession,
“I’m fine with it, though. It’s manly. Later, I’m going to grow a cool mustache and beard like my dad. I’ll look totally tough, right?”
I think I understood why Jacob was already so elated. If he could joyfully accept even going bald, then anxiety about the future over a distillery would be nothing to him.
“... I think so too. It’ll suit you. What about the permits?”
“First, I submitted the DSP permit application to the TTB. And like you said, I applied for the USDA VAPG grant and the SBA loan review is underway too.”
Since loan reviews alone can take several months, it’s better to get the review done in advance. And generally, the loan is executed once the permit comes through.
“Good job. Who helped you with the design drawings?”
“I didn’t know anyone, so I asked the design department. They recommended a firm called Aether & Ground Architects, so I commissioned them. Since the school recommended them and I’m a student, they said they’d only charge three percent of the construction cost for the design fee.”
“Oh, that’s fortunate.”
“This is why they say connections are important!”
It was a relief that, for now at least, things were going smoothly.
“I’m glad it’s going well. What about seeding?”
Jacob’s face immediately turned serious. He scrunched up his pale face and pointed at the rice paddies.
“As you can see, when we induced weed germination like you said, only the weeds came up first. So we’re killing them with herbicide.”
What I had taught Jacob was called the stale seedbed method, a technique where you induce weeds to germinate before sowing. If you flood the paddy shallowly with only about two to three centimeters of water to raise the temperature, the sunlight causes weeds to sprout quickly. Then you kill the weeds preemptively.
This method reduces weed pressure by thirty to forty percent by removing the first flush of weeds in advance, and instead of using the same herbicide every year, it lowers the initial density and reduces the burden on herbicides, which has the long-term effect of suppressing herbicide-resistant weeds.
“What about the seed?”
“I did that the way you told me too. I soaked the seed in water at sixty degrees Celsius for about ten minutes, then cooled it. And I disinfected it with Captan too.”
This method was also the concept of seed disinfection I had taught him.
It was meant to prevent bakanae disease, which causes seedlings to grow abnormally tall and leads to large yield losses, as well as kernel smut and black spot disease, which reduce grain quality and lower milling yield. Back in 2005, only some farms used hot water treatment or chemical disinfection, but I had told him that disinfecting all seeds thoroughly could prevent more than eighty percent of early-stage diseases.
Jacob’s strength was that, contrary to appearances, he followed the methods I taught him exactly without the slightest doubt.
“Good job. It looks like things are going well, so I’ll get going.”
“What? You came and you’re leaving right away?”
“I just stopped by on my way home from school. And I need to get going quickly.”
“Why?”
“I have to start preparing the vinegar for shipment.”
That’s right. The vinegar I had started immediately after harvesting last year’s Cabernet Sauvignon was finally ready to come out into the world. Should I call it Redwood Vinegar Season Two?
“I’ve spent a lot of money so far, so it’s about time to bring some in.”
With light steps, I got into the car and set off for home when my phone rang. I answered without much thought, and an unexpected voice came through.
“Brian? You know the alumni wine showcase is in a week, right?”
At Department Chair Thomas’s gentle voice, I tilted my head.
“Yes?”
“I was wondering if you might introduce your winery’s products too.”
“Sorry? They’re not... finished yet...”
“Ah, I know that too. Just think of it as an opportunity to introduce the winery. And this has to stay between us, but... everyone is curious about your winery.”
“Really?”
“Yes. So why not show it to them?”
I bit my lip lightly, then soon spoke in a low voice.
“Understood. I’ll do it.”
“I’ll be looking forward to it, then.”
The call ended, and I put more strength into the leg pressing the accelerator.
Since I was going to participate in the showcase anyway, I didn’t want to present a wine that looked half-finished.
“Looks like I’ll have a lot more to do...”