Harvest activity is waning as October draws to an end, but some of the grapes for the most full-bodied reds are yet to be picked, and until they are, migrant workers will stay on to finish the job. They know their homecoming is close, but the ripening of the last berries will dictate the day they can head home. The Lake Report returned to two of the wineries we featured at the beginning of the series Heartbeat of the Harvest to sit down with some of the workers for their perspectives. Today we meet Oral Walters and Wayne Blake, at Stratus Vineyards.Â
They are farmers first and last.
Oral Walters has been applying his agricultural expertise to the vineyards at Stratus for more than 20 years. Wayne Blake is winding up his first year at Stratus, but he brings 20-plus years of experience working in tobacco fields.
Both men have extensive gardens back home in Jamaica, growing yams, cabbages, sweet peppers, plantains, sugar cane, pumpkins and bananas. Blake has a goat as well.
They sell their produce either right from the farm or at a market and export some of their yams. Their proficiency with growing things is easily adapted to tending vineyards.
When Walters arrives in Niagara-on-the-Lake in April, he and his coworkers do all the pruning.
They will go through a row full of wood, with a riot of canes on each vine, and then it’ll just be two sticks by the time they’re done.
They’ll decide how many of the buds to leave on the vine for the best growth, and which ones.
On a sunny day in October, Walters’ experienced eye assesses the Malbec grapes he’s picking and sees they have excellent colour.
Both he and Blake clip the bunches, skillfully flicking out any damaged berries, and move down the row briskly.
Walters says he likes to see the grapes ripening to perfection at harvest time, after months of caring for the vines.
Harvest may be nearing a close, but they won’t be going home until the last grapes are picked and sorted.
Walters’ home is in Clarendon, Jamaica, and Blake’s is in Manchester — two of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Beryl in July.
It was a category four storm, and one of the most powerful ever to hit Jamaica, knocking out power and wreaking havoc in its wake.
It was scary for them, but luckily, their families were not severely affected and their homes escaped serious damage.
They connect with their loved ones every day, Blake talking with his common-law wife, his mom and his 21-year-old daughter, who is studying at agricultural school.
Walters is on the phone with his girlfriend every night and he’s looking forward to being reunited.
Both Walters and Blake say things are not easy in Jamaica and the money they earn here makes things much better.
Blake is in the process of building a house and he’s also able to pay for his daughter’s school expenses.
While they are working here in NOTL, a few things help bring them some of the comforts of home.
They like to go for a bike ride down to the lake, get together with friends and just relax on their days off.
They have their own vegetable garden at the house on East West Line where they stay while they’re here. They grow pumpkin, cucumbers, corn, peas and callaloo, a leafy green.
They buy certain groceries from a woman who makes the rounds in a van once a week, selling Jamaican specialties. Sometimes they go to a Jamaican eatery in Niagara Falls.
And all the time, they cook their food the way they like it. There’s no problem finding the ingredients they need.
Yet, some things still make their mouth water for home.
Walters misses green bananas, which he cooks down into a sauce to go with fish or chicken curry dishes. And nowhere here can he match the absolute freshness of a banana cut from a tree or a plantain.
Walters and Blake will be bringing some extra clothes home when they go, they shop at the outlet mall on occasion. They’ll also have some icewine stashed in their luggage.
Some years, like many of his coworkers, Walters ships a large crate to Jamaica filled with staples like flour, rice, cooking oil, coffee and sometimes electronics like TVs or equipment like generators or lawnmowers. Those items are less expensive and more readily available here.
The two men are affable as they talk about the things they like about working here, the people and food they miss from home, and their one shared aversion — to cold.
This fall has been unseasonably warm, which is fine by them. The one thing they definitely do not like is working in the cold.
So, by the time those last grapes are ready to come in, the cooling temperatures will only intensify their hankering for home, where warmer days await.