Hard Work Creates a Farm

Rome was not built in a day and neither was the family farm. Lillian and George continued to make improvements to their homestead over time. Between 1918 and 1919 they were able to build a barn, which allowed them to keep more livestock. They started to raise a small herd of dairy cows which proved to be helpful. Like with most start-up farms, money was tight so Lilly and George sold their surplus milk and cream. We suspect having fresh cream for their morning coffee was an added perk too!

 

Lilly and George didn’t live lavish lives but they loved their land and they were willing to make the most of it. They experimented with raising different crops. They were the first family to plant apples in the area and continued to plant various fruit trees over the years. Surprisingly one of their first crops that brought them some financial windfall was a bumper crop of tomatoes! You can see (below) a picture of the field of young tomato vines, they covered in white paper tents to protect the plants until the danger of frost was past. 


Williamson Sangiovese stands out among Idaho wine according to the Chicago Tribune!

Williamson Sangiovese stands out among Idaho wine according to the Chicago Tribune!

uppervineyardrowAny Idaho agricultural story, even a story about wine, has to begin with potatoes. The state turns out 13 billion pounds of spuds a year. Go ahead, read it again if you have to: 13 billion pounds.

Idaho aggies are big on barley, plums, onions, beets and mint too. They don’t call it the Gem State for nothing; the place has good growing soil, and for close to 50 years, a small portion of it has been dedicated to growing commercial wine grapes. Idaho’s climate is well suited for such a crop, and most of it grows at relatively high elevation, somewhere between 2,500 and 3,000 feet. The state enjoys long, sunny days (for ripening) and cool high-altitude nights (for retaining acidity). Daily temperature shifts of 40 degrees are not out of the question in some vineyard locations.

Idaho vineyards date to the 1860s, even before grapes were planted next door in Washington and Oregon. (If you don’t have a map in front of you, Idaho’s western edge forms the entire eastern borders of both of those coastal states.) Prohibition put an end to the first phase of the Idaho wine industry, and it was not until the 1970s that it picked up where it left off. So Idaho has a young and small wine industry, with many miles to go before it achieves the success of its neighbors. But the state known for potatoes is also turning out some good wines these days.

There are three overall wine regions in Idaho (North, Southwest and Southeast), and in 2007, the state’s first official appellation, the Snake River Valley AVA (American Viticultural Area), was established. It stretches across 8,000 square miles, even crossing the state line and creeping into Oregon, and is home to 1,125 acres of Idaho vineyards. Idaho’s second appellation, Eagle Foothills AVA, was established in 2015, and the third, Lewis-Clark Valley AVA, came into being in May 2016. About three-fourths of that appellation is in Idaho, and the rest lies across the border in eastern Washington.

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