Huichica Creek Sustainable Demonstration Vineyard is managed and owned by Napa County Resource Conservation District. Miguel Garcia, NCRCD Sustainable Agriculture Program Manager manages the vineyard. Starting early 2022, the vineyard started undergoing a redevelopment planning phase with only 3 acres remaining planted with Chardonnay grapes. The vineyard is also home to 85 cider apple trees. From the beginning, the goals for the vineyard were to demonstrate conservation practices including those to promote soil health, carbon sequestration, erosion control, water conservation, and irrigation scheduling. Before the redevelopment phase the vineyard included multiple cover cropping systems, vegetated avenues, large compost applications, a small biochar experiment, hedgerows, and multistory cropping (with apple trees). RCD has actively and passively restored the riparian corridor that runs through the vineyard. As one of the field trial and demonstration sites for the North Coast Soil Health Hub, RCD staff conducted soil sampling to measure carbon content, performed a Soil Health Assessment, and implemented the property’s Carbon Farm Plan. The site also serves as a location for public demonstration workshops and tours.
Silvopasture at SoMar Farms in Northwest Marin county was designed to increase biological and structural diversity by installing clusters of native trees in a rangeland system.
The Gamble Ranch Field Trial, located in the Oakville AVA in the middle of Napa Valley, incorporates the Mainardi plow with compost application and green manure cover cropping, and monitors the effects on soil properties and vineyard productivity.
This Sonoma County Vineyard trial seeks to investigate the economic and soil health tradeoffs of compost application in combination with common tillage practices.
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