Isidro Corona, vineyard manager for Sonoma Creek Land and Farm Vineyard Management instructs 4-H member Ryan Sherwood in the proper way to plant a young grape vine. The pair took part in a planting day at Adele Harrison Middle School where a 120-vine educational Zinfandel vineyard is now part of the landscape. Each vine was planted with two DriWater containers that will keep the plants watered for some 100-plus days, taking the vineyard well into the fall season. Parents and other 4H members joined in the afternoon session along with Adele teacher and garden coordinator Shirley Austin-Peeke and Kathleen Hill, founder and director of the Sonoma School Garden Project. This is the first in a series of vineyards that will be planted at all 12 public schools in the Valley.
Planting for the future
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While I recognize that Sonoma is a company town, I will say aloud what many others think: teaching children to enjoy and appreciate gardening is a wonderful gift. Teaching children to enjoy and appreciate growing wine grapes is not entirely wholesome. Normalizing alcohol use in the minds of children has consequences. We see it in the news all too often. We saw it just last week when a young girl died of alcohol poisoning during a sleep over.