Thesis Grade and Reserve Your 2023 Bottle
Fast forward to 18 June 2024 and in a flash it’s over. Last week I successfully defended my thesis titled “Organic Banana Peel Compost as a Sustainable Source of Minerals for Young V. Vinifera”. In brief, my thesis experimentally demonstrated that solid banana peel compost can increase the availability of potassium in soil and increase vine vigor, specifically trunk thickness and shoot length, when compared to the control. Since I uploaded it on ResearchGate last week it already has 176 reads — not bad for a thesis. I hope the results give farmers and vignerons the motivation and confidence to source local fruit peel waste from any fruit and compost it for fertilizer, instead of using soil-killing mined chemical fertilizers.
The Big Reveal
School’s out for summer! 🥳 I just received my final grades for the semester — I passed all my classes and received positive feedback on my thesis paper proposal. It’s tentatively titled, “Organic Banana Peel Compost as a Sustainable Source of Minerals for V. Vinifera.” Fourth semester - done and dusted.
Exams, Pruning and Progress
Today is the first day of the second semester at IMC Krems University, which means I survived the first semester. To the amazement of myself and my tutors I passed algebra with a 74 percent on my final exam. I had less trouble with my other classes averaging a mix of A’s and B’s or as they are known in Austria “sehr gut” and “gut”. This semester I am super excited for “Wine Processing I”, “Viticulture II” and “Wine Tasting and Description II” and less excited about “Macroeconomics”, “Statistics” and “Accounting II”. Wish me luck.
Soil Test, Labels and Varietals
Before the year wraps up I thought I would give you a little update on the latest from Kapitel Zwei Wine with newsletter deux.
Drumroll…My En Primeur Newsletter
Willkommen! This is my first Kapitel Zwei Wine newsletter - a rare collectors item - thank you so much for reading.