Learning Center
Frequently Asked Questions
Picnics
Pesticides
Used Wine Barrels
Family Outings, Birthday Parties, Gatherings
Do you have picnic areas and tables and can we bring our own food?
Yes, we have about 30 picnic tables that we allow people to use without charge and welcome people to enjoy our scenery and wines with the following guidelines.
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We do allow you to bring your own food and soft drinks. However, we do not allow
any sort of grill or cooking equipment on the premises or any other equipment which we deem
would pose a risk to other customers. We
do not allow tents, pop up tables, signs, flags or banners.
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Our license for onsite consumption of Alcoholic
Beverages only allows for the consumption of alcoholic beverages that are
produced by Nashoba Valley under our Farmer's Winery and Farmer's Brewery
permits. ADDITIONALLY, WHILE WE INVITE YOU TO USE OUR PREMISES, ENJOY OUR
SCENERY AND BRING YOUR OWN SOFT DRINKS AND FOOD, WE UNFORTUNATELY HAVE TO PAY
THE BILLS AND THIS IS DONE THROUGH THE SALE OF OUR BEERS AND WINES SO WE MUST
INSIST THAT YOU DO NOT BRING YOUR OWN ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES.
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We do not allow games that might
impose a risk to others including the throwing or tossing of balls in the picnic
area. We hope that everyone will appreciate that there are many small children
and elderly people enjoying our farm also who might be inadvertently injured by
a missed ball or Frisbee.
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Our grounds are intended to be used
by customers visiting our
farm and
winery and for a peaceful day in the country. It is important for us to
preserve the ambiance and quality of our farm for all of our guests by limiting
the number of tables that we allow to be grouped together to two tables. This
will usually accommodate approximately 16 people.
Additionally, since we often host weddings it is important for us to make
sure that the hosted wedding is the only function on site and will restrict
large groups from gather or undertaking any activity which might detract from
the wedding. We do not allow people to move the tables without requesting
permission as our wedding customers often ask us to restrict tables to a certain
location. We reserve the absolute right to restrict the use of our tables and
to determine the appropriate location of our tables to make the day enjoyable
for everyone. Our goal is to preserve the experience of a farm for all of our
visitors and therefore we do not consider our grounds to be a proper venue for
family outings, re-unions or gathers of more than 15 people. While I appreciate
that this might disappoint some customers, we hope that those customers will
understand how they would feel if they came to our farm for a wedding or for a
quiet day in the country.
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We offer the great picnic lunches that we can prepare for you which will be ready at the time you specify.
For information about our picnic lunch menu please Click Here
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Do you use pesticides and if so what pesticides are used at the winery?
Unfortunately, this is an impossible question to answer
precisely sine we practice IPM and every year is different. Integrated Pest
Management (IPM) is an effective and environmentally sensitive approach to pest
management that relies on a combination of common-sense practices. IPM programs
use current, comprehensive information on the life cycles of pests and their
interaction with the environment. This information, in combination with
available pest control methods, is used to manage pest damage by the most
economical means, and with the least possible hazard to people, property, and
the environment.
In contrast, organic food production applies many of the same
concepts as IPM but limits the use of pesticides to those that are produced from
natural sources, as opposed to synthetic chemicals. IPM is not a single pest
control method but, rather, a series of pest management evaluations, decisions
and controls. In practicing IPM, growers who are aware of the potential for pest
infestation follow a four-tiered approach. The four steps include:
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Set Action
Thresholds Before taking any pest control action, IPM first sets an action
threshold, a point at which pest populations or environmental conditions
indicate that pest control action must be taken. Sighting a single pest does not
always mean control is needed. The level at which pests will either become an
economic threat is critical to guide future pest control decisions. /li>
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Monitor and
Identify Pests Not all insects, weeds, and other living organisms require
control. Many organisms are innocuous, and some are even beneficial. IPM
programs work to monitor for pests and identify them accurately, so that
appropriate control decisions can be made in conjunction with action thresholds.
This monitoring and identification removes the possibility that pesticides will
be used when they are not really needed or that the wrong kind of pesticide will
be used.
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Prevention As a first line of pest control, IPM programs work to manage
the crop, lawn, or indoor space to prevent pests from becoming a threat. In an
agricultural crop, this may mean using cultural methods, such as rotating
between different crops, selecting pest-resistant varieties, and planting
pest-free rootstock. These control methods can be very effective and
cost-efficient and present little to no risk to people or the environment.
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Control Once monitoring, identification, and action thresholds indicate that
pest control is required, and preventive methods are no longer effective or
available, IPM programs then evaluate the proper control method both for
effectiveness and risk. Effective, less risky pest controls are chosen first,
including highly targeted chemicals, such as pheromones to disrupt pest mating,
or mechanical control, such as trapping or weeding. If further monitoring,
identifications and action thresholds indicate that less risky controls are not
working, then additional pest control methods would be employed, such as
targeted spraying of pesticides. Broadcast spraying of non-specific pesticides
is a last resort.
So the long and short of it is that every year is different
depending on the weather.
I am looking for used wine barrels. Do you sell the barrels once you are finished with them?
Unfortunately, we do not ever have used wine barrels for sale as we use them in our distillation operation or for decorations around the winery, restaurant and brewery. By the time we retire them they are usually sawdust
or we use them to make decorative caps to our Whiskey. While I cannot recommend any other winery, a goggle search of used wine barrels for sale will answer your question. Below is a site that I found that seems to be fairly reasonably priced.
Not a recommendation but simply an avenue to pursue.
http://www.usedwinebarrels.com
For small barrels such as 2, 3 and 5 liter - visit
http://www.crosby-baker.com/
We were thinking of having our family
outing at your winery and we would like to use your picnic grounds. Is
this something that we can do?
We would be happy to host your
outing/function and information on outings and functions can be found at
http://www.nashobawinery.com/functions.aspx.
We do not allow our grouns to used our picnic grounds for family outings or
large
gatherings except when they are booked with our function and wedding coordinator
in accordance with the pricing policy that can be seen on the above link.
Please see additional information under our answer regarding picnics detailed
above.
Farms needs revenue to survive and pay our bills and we subsidize our farm with
fees and revenue generated from hosting events. From a business approach,
it is simply not practical to charge some people for an outing or event and the
allow others to simply use the property without paying a fee or having us cater
their event. While this might be disappoint to some of our customers, we
hope that they will understand that a great deal of time and money is required
to keep our property maintained, clean and beautiful and we do this with the
revenue that we generate from all aspects of our business. Thank you for
your understanding and cooperation with our rules.
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