exposure to the developing grape clusters.
So committed to natural process farming
in the vineyards have the partners become
that they established the Green String
Institute – and its namesake farm – to educate the next generation of farmers and
grape growers. The farm hugs the flank
of Sonoma Mountain on the southeastern
outskirts of Petaluma, encompassing 140
acres, of which 60 is planted. An additional
380 acres of vineyards adjoin the property.
Formerly the site of three separate dairies,
the farm now produces seasonal produce
year-round, attracting a steady stream of
customers driving between Sonoma and
Petaluma on busy Adobe Road.
"I'm carrying on what I've been doing
for 30 years," Cannard says. "Growing
good food and sharing it with others."
Fittingly, the name of the farm – and the
institute – succinctly embodies Cannard's
vision: "I'm an abstract student of physics.
This is the green string, stringing humanity
and nature together."
On the opposite side of Sonoma Mountain, above the hamlet of Glen Ellen, the
Benziger clan is promoting farming practices that are "socially equitable, environmentally correct and sustain profitability,"
according to Jeff McBride, vice president of
winemaking.
It wasn't always so. When the family first
purchased their 85-acre property in 1980,
they were advised to follow the traditional
practice at the time: clear out native plants
growing on the land – underbrush and
shrubs – and then plant just grapevines.
"So they pulled out everything before
planting," says McBride. Afterward, "Mike
(Benziger, one of the winery founders) noticed something had changed. Everything
was quiet. There were no insects or birds.
The hillside eroded into the parking lot
that winter."
Convinced that there had to be a better
way, Benziger began exploring biodynamics, a wholistic approach to farming
developed by Austrian Rudolf Steiner in
the 1920s and first brought to the United
States by the Fetzer family.
"Mike met with them and grasped
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FLOURISH • FALL 2013
Top: Natural process farmer Bob Cannard of Cline Vineyards and Green String Institute.
Above: The "woolly weeders" at work in the Cline vineyard.