The Mouse Festival

Dear grapelovers,

Nature has its own way of creating balance - at least most of the time. In my work I try to work with nature rather than against her and that is the reason why we are implementing agroforestry. For us, this means planting a variety of trees, bushes and other plants - as well as leaving a lot of dead wood in the vines - in order to create a diverse and resistant ecosystem in the vines.

But as in any good story, there are some unexpected turns and twists: The mice are loving this change.

The Big Mouse Festival

Our tiny furry neighbors feel extremely comfortable in our vineyards. The additional plants and dead wood offer them perfect shelter and food, and before we long we had a proper mouse invasion on our hands. We of course love nature, but must admit that our current mouse-to-vines ratio has gone a bit out of control.

Enter Lotka-Volterra

Nature has a built in balancing system that frequently has been described by the mathematical model of the Lotka-Volterra Equations. I remember only so well when I first learned about this system at the University of Iceland in Reykjavík many moons ago. But do not worry - I will not drag you into complicated mathematics. We explain it very simply:

1. The mouse population grows, due to the plentiful food and shelter.

2. The predators arrive: Owls, weasels and other mouse hunters crash the party

3. The big feast begins: More mice lead to more predators and ultimately the mouse population declines.

4. Balance is restored: At some point the predators don't have enough to eat and so their population declines too and the original balance is restored.

Currently we are in phase 1, but we patiently await phase 2 with the arrival of the predators.

So Now What?

Until then we do everything we can to support our future mouse hunters, for example by creating nesting boxes for owls and wood piles for our weasel friends. Nature will ultimately balance it self out, but until then we need to look out for where we step down.

Wine farming in balance with nature is truly an adventure, and I am happy to have you readers along for the ride. Thank you for supporting our wines.

All the best, Hoss