In today’s Concord Monitor, apple farmer Chuck Souther shares his experience attempting, and ultimately failing at taking part of his orchard organic.
In the end, after 10 years of experimenting with organic practices on a two-acre block of their Apple Hill Farm in Concord, N.H., the organic section of his farm was threatening the health of the rest of his operation.
So Chuck and Diane called it quits.
“[T]he trees in our organic block were the least healthy on the farm and were a source of pestilence for our other apple trees. After harvest, the trees were cut down and will serve their last purpose: keeping us warm next winter,” writes Chuck.
I’ve heard before that turning an existing apple orchard into an organic enterprise is an uphill battle. Same for cherries, we learned last summer on our trip through Michigan.
Even Chuck notes that starting from scratch, with “disease-resistant (genetically modified?)” apple trees could be a partial solution.
But, alas, he concludes, he and his wife have to be realistic: “The time and money involved and uncertainty of success is too great.”
Kudos to him though for continuing to work on ways to reduce the use of pesticides overall.
Virtual Farmgirl 