Home of Closed Landfill Now Aims for Smell of Fine Wine

Home of Closed Landfill Now Aims for Smell of Fine Wine
Business leaders on Staten Island, in New York City, plan for an educational vineyard. Transcript of radio broadcast:
03 March 2008

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

For years, most of the household waste collected in America's largest city went to a landfill on Staten Island. Staten Island is one of the five boroughs that form the city of New York. The others are the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens.

The landfill closed in two thousand one. Now, local leaders hope Staten Island will become known for something else: fine wines. Officials expect to break ground before summer for the Tuscan Garden Vineyard Project. Wine grapes will be planted on most of one hectare in the Staten Island Botanical Garden.

Borough President James Molinaro has set aside one and one-half millions dollars for the vineyard. Officials say the project will be educational and nonprofit. It will demonstrate the process of growing grapes and making wine.


It could bring visitors who now ride the Staten Island ferry from Manhattan just to see the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.
Organizers say the climate is similar to other winemaking areas of New York State, like the Finger Lakes area and Long Island. For years, people have suggested that Staten Island should have a vineyard.

Several years ago, four business leaders decided to do something about it. They formed the Founders’ Group. One of them, Henry Salmon, recalls growing grapes on a friend’s farm while growing up on Staten Island.

Last November, to get ideas, the group went to Italy. They visited a winemaking town in Tuscany. Crespina, with about four thousand people, became a sister city to Staten Island. And Tuscan winemaker Piergiorgio Castellani became a technical adviser to the project.

Advice has also come from others, including experts at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and the University of Pisa in Italy. The grapes chosen for the Staten Island climate and soil include cabernet sauvignon, merlot and sangiovese.

Plans call for two thousand vines on land that Henry Salmon says was once used for a retirement home for sailors.

The vineyard will be organic. No chemical pesticides will be used. Compost made from leaves and other organic material collected from city parks will serve as fertilizer.

If all goes well, the Tuscan Garden Vineyard Project on Staten Island should have its first wines ready in a few years. The wine will not be sold. Plans call for using it at tastings and special events.

And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I’m Bob Doughty.

----------------------------Google Translate

家已关闭的堆填区，现在的目标是为嗅觉的美酒
商界领袖在Staten岛，在纽约市，计划，为教育葡萄园。全文电台广播：
2008年3月3日

这是美国之音特别英语农业部报告。

多年来，大部分的家居废物的收集，在美国最大的城市，去到一个填埋场Staten岛。 Staten岛就是其中的五个城区构成了纽约市。其他则是布朗士区，布鲁克林区，曼哈顿和皇后区。

填埋场封闭，在2000一。现在，地方领导人希望Staten岛将成为众所周知的东西，否则：好的葡萄酒。官员们预计，打破地面之前，夏季为托斯卡纳花园葡萄园项目。酿酒葡萄将种植的大部分1公顷在Staten岛植物园。

自治区主席詹姆斯molinaro已预留其中一个半数百万美元给葡萄园。有关官员说，该项目将在教育和非营利组织。这将显示出成长过程中的葡萄和葡萄酒。


它可以带来访客，现在坐Staten岛的渡轮从曼哈顿刚刚看到雕像纽约的自由女神像港口。
组织者说，气候相似，其他葡萄酒酿造领域的纽约州，像手指湖泊面积和长岛。多年来，人们都认为Staten岛应该有一个葡萄园。

几年前， 4名商界领袖决定为烧伤者做一些工作。他们形成了创始小组。其中一人，亨利的鲑鱼，回忆种植葡萄对一个朋友的农场，而在Staten岛长大。

去年11月，为取得的想法，小组前往意大利。他们参观了一间酿酒镇在托斯卡纳。克雷斯皮纳，其中约4000人，成为姐妹市，以Staten岛。和托斯卡纳葡萄酒piergiorgio卡斯特拉尼成为一名技术顾问，以该项目。

意见还来自其他方面，包括专家，在美国康奈尔大学绮色佳，纽约，比萨大学，在意大利。葡萄选定为Staten岛的气候和土壤，包括赤霞珠，梅鹿和桑娇维塞。

计划要求在2000葡萄藤土地上，唐英年说，鲑鱼曾经是用于一个退休在家的船员。

葡萄园将有机物。没有任何化学农药会被如何利用。堆肥是从树叶和其他有机物质，从收集到的城市公园将充当肥料。

如果一切顺利，托斯卡纳花园葡萄园项目Staten岛应该拥有自己的第一座葡萄酒，准备在未来几年内。葡萄酒将不会出售。计划要求使用它在品酒会和特别活动。

这也是该美国之音特别英语农业部报告，写jerilyn沃森。我鲍勃奥尔布赖特在强悍。