The crew has gone through and completed all the pruning for the upcoming season. What now? What to do with all those clippings? You could A) take all the clippings and throw them into the vine row and chip them down with your mower. B) collect all of the clippings and chip them into a big pile of mulch whereupon you could add some green manure and make a beautiful compost or C) collect all of the clippings, pile them up, throw some diesel on them and 
throw a match…voila! Wicked firestarter!
Since I’ve lived in beautiful Sonoma County for a huge chunk of my life, I vote for option A or B or a combination of the two. Option C bums me out. Here’s why. Most approved burn days happen to be the nicest days in early spring. The skies are usually super clear with miles of visibility…that is until 9am when everyone is allowed to light their piles on fire. Then the county turns into a smoked-out, chokers paradise. The haze settles in the valley and even if it’s a light wind day, it still throws loads of smoke and particulate matter into the sky. I don’t have any respiratory problems. That’s not what’s driving this blog (although I feel sorry for those who do have respiratory issues…the smoke certainly doesn’t help). It has more to do with ecology and resource management.
If you could use these clippings by putting them back into your vineyard/orchard, why wouldn’t you?
They provide a slow release nutrient base that will be there for some time, contributing back what they had taken from the soil in the first place.
In the case of the recently uprooted vineyard, I understand you may need to burn the diseased vines. Certainly wouldn’t want to spread the disease and in most cases it’s a huge pile, but it’s also a once in a 30-year period type action, not every year. Understandable. I do need to point out that I love fire as much as the next guy, don’t question that. But “to defy the laws of tradition is a crusade only of the brave” (thanks Mr. Claypool). So, why not take a look at the practice of brush pile burning and see if there are any other options that would keep the air/atmosphere as clean as it can be while contributing back to your ranch or farm. Just an idea.
