{"id":629,"date":"2015-08-11T14:10:09","date_gmt":"2015-08-11T21:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.timvandergrift.com\/?p=629"},"modified":"2015-08-11T14:10:09","modified_gmt":"2015-08-11T21:10:09","slug":"catching-up-up-and-awaaaay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.timvandergrift.com\/?p=629","title":{"rendered":"Catching Up, Up, and Awaaaay!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Anyone?<\/a>
Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It’s been a long radio silence from me for reasons varied and sundry, the principle of which is that I’ve been rascally busy for the last two months, with matters professional and personal. I know that professional technically includes ‘keeping my blog updated’, but that’s one of those important-but-not-urgent things that gets pushed back enough that it sometimes disappears altogether.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A few berries short of a sundae<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Part of my occupation was my community\u00a0garden plot. We’ve had an extraordinarily good spring and summer–come to think of it, we basically skipped winter as well, with a long, warm period extending from November through to the middle of April, when suddenly it was summer–no spring, no tentative sprouting of plants, just a drop-kick right into full-on heat and sunshine.<\/p>\n

\"That'd<\/a>
That’d be a pretty short elephant<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is a pretty big contrast to past years when we were joking about ‘Juneuary’, and bemoaning the endless grey rains, conveniently forgetting the fact that we choose to live in an actual rainforest. Normally I’d plant my garden on the May long weekend (the Monday before May 25th) but this year I had a lot of work to do and got it in on the last week of April.<\/p>\n

Part of the work was building five new boxes. I have a community garden located on the site of a reclaimed marsh. While it may have been fertile one hundred years ago, the soil is pretty much hardpan clay, with a few inches of topsoil to cover. For a decade I rototilled, added sand, peat moss, compost and other amendments, but the soil quickly ate that up and returned to its peevish ways.<\/p>\n

Two years ago I gave up and built some garden boxes. I make them deeper than is usual, and it seemed to work out really well–the results have been beyond what I could have expected. I expanded from three big boxes and three smaller ones, adding four big boxes and one broad but shallow one for vines like zucchini and squash.<\/p>\n

\"Pay<\/a>
Pay no mind to the man behind the kilt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was quite a bit of work, between pounding stakes, screwing boxes together and then filling them, wheelbarrow by\u00a0back-breaking wheelbarrow with soil. As I usually claim, I’m in it for the fresh air and exercise: tasty vegetables are just a by-product. But what a by-product! Between top-quality soil and an early, hot and extended growing season, things have been going crazy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Gardens<\/a>
Gardens gone wild<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Unfortunately, the garden is a bit disruptive: it’s on an old farm site, but it borders a nesting sanctuary and a marsh. As such, there are marshy-type creatures there, including some that love fresh garden produce. The worst are beavers: you wouldn’t believe the damage a couple of beavers can do to a garden in only a few hours, especially to grape vines (I’ve lost four over the years) and fruit trees–a decade of growing and poof! It’s part of a dam.<\/p>\n

\"Download<\/a>
Download these raspberries<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When the beavers get bad, the wildlife service comes and hauls them away, relocating them. One doesn’t bother beavers without the help of a professional. First, they’re protected and only licensed hunters and trappers can harvest beavers. Second, they’re incredibly dangerous, and routinely kill people who try to interfere with them.<\/p>\n

Beavers aren’t the worst, though, as they’re a once in a while animal. I save most of my ire for rats. Sadly, it’s my fault they’re trouble. If you think about it, the average rat is a timid riverbank rodent eating seeds and the occasional bird’s egg. Plunk down eighty or a hundred garden plots next to that riparian paradise and all the rats see is about a trillion calories of easy-to-get deliciousness. They multiply out of proportion to the natural landscape and start raiding. This year I finally took action, netting my corn and setting traps for them. While\u00a0it worked<\/a>, I’m not happy with having to murder rodents whose only crime was to recognise an easy meal. Thus is ever the life of an ethical omnivore.<\/p>\n

Aside from the garden, I’ve been busy other ways. The building next to me (as in, right up against my suite) burnt to the ground.<\/p>\n

\"fire\"<\/a>
Gelato is not supposed to be served hot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That was exciting, especially the part where the flames shot up over the garden wall and incinerated my magnolia tree.<\/p>\n

\"Ashes<\/a>
Ashes are good for trees, right?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sheesh. Not something you want to see out your bedroom window.<\/p>\n

Also, there was the Winemaker Magazine conference<\/a> in Portland, a delight as always.<\/p>\n

\"workin<\/a>
Master Vintner! The best winemaking stuff ever!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This year I did a day long boot camp seminar, teaching a class full of people advanced techniques for making wine, demo’ing equipment and doing things like post-fermentation elevage, as well as four other lectures, an author’s round table, and a couple more.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The folks at Winemaker Portland were a happy bunch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The early bird winemakers get the wormy old teacher.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Those people at Winemaker beat me like the family mule sometimes.<\/p>\n

\"Catching<\/a>
Catching up with Gi–always a delight<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fortunately there was time to hang out with old friends, enjoy a few noshes<\/p>\n

\"If<\/a>
If you’re in Portland, I recommend Ox<\/a>. They have meat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Winemaker was fun, if a bit of a whirlwind. It was really nice to catch up with my pal Wes Hagen. We just don’t get to see each other often enough. As a consequence, we tend to act like ninnies when we do, which is always fun.<\/p>\n

\"In<\/a>
In which I corrupt Wes with hoppy hopulence. Photo courtesy of the delightful JT Matherly, a fine new Portland friend.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After Winemaker it was time to gear up for the AHA national conference<\/a> in San Diego. I’ve wanted to go to an AHA conference for at least 20 years, but always had some corporate drudgery\u00a0that made it impossible to attend. This year I went under the auspices of my good friends at Northern Brewer<\/a>, which got me in everywhere and helped me make some new friends.<\/p>\n

\"Yes,<\/a>
Yes, that’s Wil Wheaton: Tabletop, Titansgrave, Star Trek, Stand By Me and zounds of other things. I felt pretty cool, hanging with such a chill dude.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Not only did I get to hang out at the NB booth, I got to do some backstagey stuff, like drink a whole keg of Russian Imperial Stout at an afterparty, plus hang out with a thousand-odd homebrewers and taste some of the best dang beers in the whole world, all in one convenient place.<\/p>\n

\"Sessioning<\/a>
Sessioning the Woot Stout. Whose idea was that?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Hanging<\/a>
Hanging at the Northern Brewer booth with Todd and Chris. Good times!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Pro<\/a>
Pro night at the AHA–so much good beer, so little liver capacity!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As part of the trip I rented a car and drove down the Pacific Coast Highway. If you’ve never done this, I highly recommend it. It’s the most beautiful drive you can imagine–and just when you think it can’t possibly get any more gorgeous, it does.<\/p>\n

\"Yawn.<\/a>
Yawn. Yet another spectacular view.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I even got in a little whale-watching, when I decided to pull over for the first time in 2 hours and picked the only spot on the coast with a deceased mammal washed up.<\/p>\n

\"Not<\/a>
Not very lively, but it was easy to keep track of.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I also made my traditional stop at the Tonga Room. It’s the finest Tiki Bar on earth, located in the basement of the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. There’s something about a restaurant that serves drinks the size of punchbowls, and has a boat floating in the middle of the room, the better to facilitate the occasional indoor rainstorm.<\/p>\n

\"tonga<\/a>
Great drinks, excellent food–that really floats my boat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Returning home, I had a load of projects to get to. First up, a 4th of July barbecue. No, not grilling: a real barbecue.<\/p>\n

\"home<\/a>
Ribs, for your pleasure. Along with brisket, chicken and sausage.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Also, there was a seafood boil.<\/p>\n

\"Spot<\/a>
Spot prawns, dungeness crab, white prawns, chorizo, with corn and potatoes from my garden.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I was also part of the Tri-Cities Cask Festival<\/a>, and we really had a great time doing our first beers-from-outside-of-Vancouver-city tasting. I was media man, but managed to get in on the keg tapping action (note: all pictures courtesy of Vancouver Photoworks<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\"First,<\/a>
First, drive in the spile.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Next,<\/a>
Next, drive in the tap.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\".<\/a>
. . . and then the gushing and the shouting and the glayvin!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I did a little brewing as well, trying to keep my skills sharp.<\/p>\n

\"My<\/a>
My ISA with Caliente hops. Fruity yum-yums.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Let’s see, what else have I been doing . . . oh yes, I conducted a Scotch tasting.<\/p>\n

\"Scotchy<\/a>
Scotchy Scotch Scotch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Made some epic sandwiches . . .<\/p>\n

\"Garden<\/a>
Garden tomato, home-smoked pork belly, Muenster cheese, double-grilled.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Spent some time with my now very old gentleman cat.<\/p>\n

\"He's<\/a>
He’s a very good boy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And I worked on my winemaking.<\/p>\n

\"Beards<\/a>
Beards help you taste.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Speaking of which, lots of good things coming up in the Master Vintner <\/a>winemaking world! But this post is long enough with the catching up already. Tune in soon yet more\u00a0will be revealed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s been a long radio silence from me for reasons varied and sundry, the principle of which is that I’ve been rascally busy for the last two months, with matters professional and personal. I know that professional technically includes ‘keeping my blog updated’, but that’s one of those important-but-not-urgent things that gets pushed back enough … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Catching Up, Up, and Awaaaay!”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,84,29,30,87,83,73,74,31,65,75,96,98,38,48,56,55,54],"tags":[103,102,104],"class_list":["post-629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alcohol","category-barbecue","category-beer","category-brewing","category-cooking","category-food","category-garden","category-gardening","category-homebrew","category-homemade-wine","category-lifestyle","category-master-vintner","category-northern-brewer","category-personal","category-travel","category-winemaker-conference","category-winemaker-magazine","category-winemaking","tag-catching-up","tag-lifestyle","tag-personal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.timvandergrift.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.timvandergrift.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.timvandergrift.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.timvandergrift.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.timvandergrift.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=629"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/www.timvandergrift.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":671,"href":"http:\/\/www.timvandergrift.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629\/revisions\/671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.timvandergrift.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.timvandergrift.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.timvandergrift.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}