This Mexican rock-picking crew in Vernon is an example of what I call magical thinking. Notice a couple things. First, how many rocks are being picked (to make it easier for machine planting).

Second, look at the compaction. There’s the real magic: the soil is being viewed as an inert medium, to which plants, fertilizer and water need to be added, and the result will be an extraordinary terroir and world class wine. That’s magic. And it’s done on the shoulders of technology, which is known as scientific thinking and efficiency in this culture. Does the image below look efficient?

The greatest magic here is that the industrialist paying for all of this gets to claim that he grew the grapes and farmed the land. This is not Canada at its best.