In the photo: Let's hope this rain depletes itself before cherry ripening season. Above, a look at how the crops were coming along in the Okanagan Valley's Naramata region as of last week. Left: Pinot Gris grapes in bud; Right: cherries at their green marble stage.
GRAPES VERSUS OTHER FRUIT
If there was one thing that was truly noticeable in the south Okanagan this spring, it was the lack of flowering fruit trees and the increase in rooted up acreage now sporting row upon row of skinny, wooden staves and empty milk cartons, the standard paraphernalia needed to protect baby grape vines. Oh, to live in the Okanagan and be the owner of a heavy equipment rental company, because if wasn't a new million dollar residence being constructed over some vista point, it was yet another fruit orchard getting the yank in favour of a vineyard planting. Apples trees in particular were making the sacrifice, and it wasn't difficult to predict that any land well suited to grape growing will soon be making the conversion from agriculture to viticulture.
"What else can we do?", says orchard owner Robert Van Westen. "Thanks to competition on the market from imported apples from Washington and China, we can't sell our Okanagan apple crops anymore."
A third generation Naramatan of Dutch extraction (he was actually born in the house that is now home to Joie), Van Westen is intimately familiar with the Okanagan Valley's past and can see which way the winds be a 'blowin' for the future. Consequently, over the last few years he has been working hard to adapt to the Valley's changing economic profile. Although many of the cherry trees on his property are still standing, a substantial portion of his land is now planted with Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Merlot, Gewurztraminer and Cabernet Franc grapes. Recently he started producing wine under his own label of Van Westen Vineyards, but he is also a major supplier to the Quail's Gate Winery and could easily find a buyer for any grapes he could produce, if only he could get his way with more of the family-owned land.
"I know my Dad (a longtime orchard man) is skeptical", said Van Weston, "but look what happened to my brother. He had some of the most beautiful, prolific Johnagold apple trees in the valley and he had to rip them out because he couldn't afford to maintain them. Whereas, with the current demand for grapes from all the new wineries in the Okanagan, a farmer needs only to replace one acre of fruit trees with grapes to see a $30,000 increase in annual income. Cherries are still good earners but they are unpredictable. If the weather is good, you make money. If the weather turns bad just before harvest (lots of rain), you see all your hard work and investment go down the toilet. Grapes on the other hand, represent a long, steady increase in earnings."
The anxieties of cherry growers are bound to improve with the planting of the new split-resistant strains of "Sweethearts", "Staccatos" and "Skeenas". The trees are now coming into bearing age and are due to replace the more weather-vulnerable Bings and Lapins. However in the future, the sight of cotton candy pink fruit orchards, like all fruit growing enterprises, may become a feature of the east and north Okanagan only. What this will mean for those well-loved and traditional symbols of the Okanagan, the roadside fruit stands, will remain to seen. We suspect that as tourist items, they won't disappear, however it would be a shame if the apples they sold all bore "grown in Washington" stickers.
