July {Vineyard}

Did you know that America’s first commercial winery was in 
Kentucky? Jean Jacques Dufour purchased land on the Kentucky 
River in 1798 and formed the Kentucky Vineyard Society. In 
1803, Dufour’s first vintage went to Thomas Jefferson.
The heirloom tomato is easily Nathan's favorite crop to grow, 
but there will always be a special place in our hearts for the 
vineyard. When Nathan and I decided to take the plunge 
into full-time farming, we were blessed to have a transitional 
opportunity as Nathan was contracted to plant the vineyard at 
the Western Kentucky University farm. 

We had also planted a small vineyard on our two acres in 
Bowling Green a few years before, and they were starting to 
fruit. Nathan would leave some of the low lying branches so 
the kids could pick them right off the vine. One of my favorite 
memories is sitting outside on a blanket with Lilah and Adaline 
while Elizabeth brought us grapes from the vine, one at a time. 
Our bodies were hydrated and nourished from each of those 
refreshing grapes.

There's something sacred and meaningful about the pruning 
away of branches--the symbolic cutting away of those things 
that no longer serve us so we can experience something even 
better.

”I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard. My 
Father examines every branch in Me and cuts away those who do 
not bear fruit. He leaves those bearing fruit and carefully prunes 
them so that they will bear more fruit.”  John 15:1-2

Moving farms was that kind of pruning for us, leaving behind 
our beginnings in order to embrace possibility. And of course, 
we started over with a new vineyard--the first thing Nathan 
planted--and he made sure to leave low lying branches, this 
time for Adaline and Sterling. We focus on table grapes that will 
soon be in production for our farm members, schools, sales at 
Community Farmers Market and for HOTEL INC.

Nathan's favorite table grape varieties: 
Reliance, Jupiter, Mars, Neptune, Vanessa