Agri-tourism « Ohio Wine and More

Posts Tagged ‘Agri-tourism’

Vineyard Update, #Farm, #Ohio Wines,

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

LaCrescent vines 5 weeks after frost/freeze

Up-close look of our Reisling on VSP

Todd Vaughan training vines

For this vineyard update we are rushing along trying to bring the vineyards to some sort of balance right now. Currently we are still recovering from the frost/freeze event on May 18th and 19th. Most of these videos and post are related to that as that has pretty much set the tone for the vines this season.

A lot of the work we are doing now is in response to dealing with a regrowth and re-set of fruit on the vines, not so much managing a normal crop, if there is such a thing. One thing will be interesting to see is if any of this fruit has enough growing season left to produce a quality product. Another issue is while a great deal these plants were flowering we had just a general rain and we are not sure how much pollination was successful.

We are seeing huge rapid regrowth which we think is a result of a new bacterial agent low input fertilizer product we are trying this year. Another fruit grower has used it on his apple trees with great success. It basically uses soil bacteria to break down nutrients in the soil and make them more avaliable to the plant.

This allows us to better balance what the plant wants at the same time using fewer inputs. It is also supposed to improve the sugar content of the plant which in turn gives you more bricks in the fruit and hopefully better winter hardiness. We hope so as all this growth could be a recipie for disaster going into the winter.

Reisling Vineyard update

LaCrescent French American vines about 5 weeks after killing freeze/frost.

Tags: Agri-tourism, Buy Local, Farm Market, Farmers' Markets, Ohio grapes, Ohio Vineyard, Ohio Wines
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Vineyard update Three weeks after frost/freeze

Friday, June 12th, 2009

LaCrescent vines 23 days after frost

LaCrescent Vines 23 Days after hard frost/freeze

If you have been following along we have had a few entries reporting on the condition of our front vineyard that has the French American Hybrid variety LaCrescent vines. They really got hammered back on May 18th and 19th by an extremely hard frost that actually turned into a freeze before it was over.

I was really heartbreaking because this was this vineyards third year in production and things had really begun to look good and we had good blossom set and the vines looked pretty good considering the winter they had just endured. They just got fried, we lost about 90 percent of the exposed plant tissue, a few blossoms on the inside of the vine that were covered by a leaf or vine escaped but not many.

In the video you can see the secondary fruit set. While it is nice to see the vineyard finally getting a green “cast” to we expect only about half the crop we would have gotten with the original fruit set, but oh well such is life that is why you get rich farming.

Also look for postings on the new alcohol taxes coming down the line. If you voted for change here it comes!!! And hang on to your wallet! http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=90372764563&h=GDvWQ&u=P7S5J&ref=mf

Do you know how you make a million dollars farming?? Start with Two Million!!

Tags: Agri-tourism, Farm Market, Grapes, Ohio Winery, Ohio Wines, Vineyard, Vineyard work
Posted in Vineyard News | No Comments »

Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch 8 Days after planting @ Maize Valley

Saturday, June 6th, 2009

Let's dig a little deeper

Pumpkin sprout 8 Days after planting

Agri-Tourism is a big part of what we do at Maize Valley. The new word on the street, er maybe for us the path, is “Imersion Tourism”. We just know it feels right to help people work toward “Hakuna Matata” or no worries and a relaxing fun day in the country can be just the ticket for that.

But we ARE farmers, really we do grow a ton of stuff yet from Watermelons to Wine we do a lot. But we have to sell it too, otherwise we will not be around to do it again as my wife’s family has done for the last 150 odd years here. So a great deal of my blog deals with what a modern direct market producers deals with and what it takes to both grow the food you need to eat to live, but also provide a quality of life aspect that makes life worth living.

Here are some video updates of where our corn maze and U-pick pumpkin patch is 8 days after planting, hope you enjoy.

Tags: Add new tag, Agri-tourism, Buy Local, Corn Maze, Farm Market, Ohio Winery, Ohio Wines, Pumpkin Patch, Pumpkins
Posted in Farm Stuff | No Comments »

Celtic Beltane Festival @ Maize Valley…Making Great Wine…FUN!!

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

Cabor Toss

Bill Kennedy attending to his family obligations

Frances Acar with the Scottish American Society

It has been said you don’t know where you are going if you don’ know where you have been. This past weekend at Maize Valley the Scottish American Society invited the world to see where their members ancestors came from and all the really cool stuff that made them very unique.

This group of hard working Scotts has been developing this festival for 5 years now and it has begun to really come into its own and get a great feel and flow to it. Every year they add new vendors, displays, entertainment and events for a full day ladies in layers and men in kilts of Tarten and Plaid.

They have developed a real nice “village” atmosphere as you step out of our market and tasting room and move onto the gateway pavilion to find music and dancers, flow down into the grass and check out the clan tents and vendors then make you way up the hill past the Highland Cattle and watch the Heavy Highland Athletic competition.

Oh, Did I mention we sell Wine and More that day too??? Oh well check out some of the videos below to see just how the day unfolded and be sure and visit Maize Valley next year to come and “get your Scott on” and have a meat pie!

Tags: Agri-tourism, Beltane, Celtic, Farm Market, Festival, Ohio Winery, Ohio Wines
Posted in Things to see at Maize Valley | No Comments »

Gold Medal Wines, nice work Todd!! Walkin’ the Walk!!

Friday, May 29th, 2009

Cherry, Traminette, and Family Reserve

2009 Ohio Wine Competition Best of Show Red Wine: Maize Valley Winery, Family Reserve, NV, American

At Ohio Wine and More we show and talk about a lot of different things. When I give talks I always get a laugh when I say we are a Winery with ADHD, well there is some truth in that for those of you who know us personally.

Our saying or motto is “We Make Great Wine…FUN!! Those words have two meanings. We believe if you are going to talk the talk you have to walk the walk so to speak. We grow some of our own fruit, buy local grapes and juices from other growers and the university (OARDC) also. We bring in grapes from the best locations possible to make as high a quality product as we can for our guests.

We focus on the overall experience with friends as well on delivering a quality product. A great wine is no good with lousy service, and I always say you can always find another great wine, but you can never go back and make more time.

We source as local as possible while still meeting the desires of a very diverse customer base, quality IS KING. Our ulitimate goal is the sustainablity of our family farm and to have the biggest positive economic impact on our community possible.

This is not a overgrown hobby for us, it pays all the bills that go along with life, we make the farm payment, we raise our kids here. We look at the big picture and try and adapt to it as best as possible to keep “all the balls in the air” so to speak. People say owning a winery and a vineyard is such hard work, we just laugh. They must have never milked cows for a living!!

In the video below please enjoy seeing our wine maker, my brother-in-law Todd talk about our latests medal winning wines.

And we extend congratulations and thanks to all other medal winners. For a little ole’ winery like us it is an honor to be in such great company!

Tags: Agri-tourism, Farm Market, Ohio Winery, Ohio Wines
Posted in Medal Winning Wines | No Comments »

Watermelon Crawl???? Now that’s an idea!!

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

Watermelon planting at Maize Valley

When I was growing up I have vivid memories of my dad bringing in a watermelon and cutting it in half then slicing it in circular sections that covered the whole plate, then cutting into triangles like you would a slice of pizza. We would sit in our pavilion off the back of the house look at the garden and the animals in the pasture.

That is how my dad cut watermelon and boy it was good. I would always break off the sweet tip and eat back toward the rind first then come back to the “sweet spot”!

I guess I am old enough or maybe since my parents that grew up in the depression that such a thing was a real treat. We didn’t drink pop, and my dad who worked a second job down at the local golf course would now and then bring me home a Milky Way candy bar maybe once every week or two. But my sugar intake was pretty low by today’s standards!!

Anyhow memories like that are something we try and help families create today with our fresh from the field local produce we grow at Maize Valley and special events. I hope you can enjoy one too!

Also look for us at some of the local farmers’ markets listed on the right side of the page under farmers’ markets.

Tags: Agri-tourism, Buy Local, Farm Market, Farmers' Market, Homegrown Produce, Ohio Wines
Posted in Buy Local | No Comments »

Pumpkins, Peppers and a whole lot more.

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

70,000 Peppers waiting for a home

Pumpkin seeds in planter box

Yea, we are much more than just a winery, or a vineyard. We (Actually mostly Kay) still farms about 700 acres +/- a few, that is down from 3,000 acres a few years ago. But now we have crops that are much more intensive to produce and take more time and attention. Peppers and pumpkins are just a few, they planted watermelons last saturday too! They fly really good out of my pumpkin cannon, maybe that is why one variety is called “cannonball”??

The peppers you see above number just under 70,000 plants Kay told me. They are ready to be planted and go in the ground much like the tomatoes I showed in previous posts. We sell wholesale to vendors, to restaurants via Fresh Fork Markets. We also attend farmers’ markets in Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Alliance, and Greentown. Links can be found on the lower right corner of the page for these locations, look under “Farmers’ Markets”.

You can also find them at our own farm Market, and in and on some of our entrees’ in our winery cafe’. New this year will be a line of canned peppers called “Pappy’s Peppers” named after my father-in-law, Kay Vaughan. That way we keep those green pepper flavors in the right glass container.

The videos will show the path a pumpkin seed takes to go from Bag to Jack-o-lantern. Much like the corn maze video I will try and follow this crop from start to finish.

Tags: Agri-tourism, Buy Local, Farm Market, Farmers' Market, Homegrown Produce, Local Produce, Peppers, Pumpkins
Posted in Spring time things to do | No Comments »

Corn Maze/Agri-Tourism & Ohio Civil War History Come together @ Maize Valley

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

Kay making first grid pass for 2009 Corn Maze

Our 2009 Corn Maze Adventure is off and running!! This year’s theme is the Civil War. We are hosting a re-enactment here at Maize Valley on August 15th and 16th. We are even bringing out a limited edition wine for that weekend with a special lable recognizing the two battles that were fought in Ohio and the respective commanders. We plan on having the maze open by that weekend providing the weather cooperates.

I have placed a few videos at the bottom of this post to quickly walk you through how we have gotten started to date. I hope to put together a more edited version for teachers if I can find the time. We get so many questions as to how do you create those corn mazes? I hope this helps answer a few questions our guests might have. We use a GPS guided cutting system as well, more on that later.

We have partnered with Maze Quest this year for a new interactive game inside the maze as well. More details will be coming soon keep an eye on the website or suscribe to our e-mail list for more info.

Wagon rides, pumpkins and so much more make Maize Valley THE Place to Be!! And just one more way we Make Great Wine…FUN!!

Tags: Agri-tourism, Civil War Corn Maze, Conservation Tillage, Corn Maze, Family Time, Farm Market, Maize Valley Corn Maze, No-Till Corn Planting, Ohio Corn Maze, Ohio Winery
Posted in More Fun | No Comments »

Fun with Wine…In the Sunshine!!

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

1957 Chevy's just sort of say it all

Crusin' the Vines Car, Truck and Bike Cruise In

Now I am sorry I can’t put everybodies car pic up or can the video show them all. I shot 17 minutes last night just to take in all the cars and You Tube doesn’t let that much go up!! So the couple pics and short video is just a sample of the way cool rides and drives we have every Thursday night in the summer time, weather permitting.

We offer wagon rides to the vineyard and fields, later in the season the animal train for the little kids, and once we start harvesting melons and such so we have ammo for the pumpkin cannon we bring out the big kids toy too!

We had about 75 cars or so last night have had as many as 300 on others, you just never know who will show. So this is just one more way at Maize Valley We Make Great Wine…FUN!!!

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Tags: Agri-tourism, Car Cruise, Farm Market, Ohio Wine, Ohio Winery
Posted in Fun with Wine | No Comments »

“Going Green”, Agri-Tourism, Wagon rides, Corn Mazes and so much more.

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

Stairway to Corn Maze Heaven

Fresh Paint makes everything look good!

At Maize Valley We Make Great Wine…FUN!!! At least we try! We are a muscular destination for food, fun and friends. Part of that involves our harvest season activities. This year we celebrate our 10th annual corn maze adventure. The preparation for that starts now.

This year we have moved our stair steps back into the maze itself and gave them a fresh coat of paint too. Another new addition this year is we have hired the folks over at Maze Quest to help us upgrade our corn maze experience with new games, activities and a whole new interactive text message game too! Stay tuned for more updates. Here are a few videos below for you to see how to “Go Green”

Wagon Rides, Pumpkins and so much more Make Maize Valley THE Place To BE!!! Where else can you sip a class of award winning wine, watch a pig race, see a pumpkin fly and who knows what else??!!

Come on out a build some memories to last a lifetime and see how at Maize Valley, We Make Great Wine…FUN!!!

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