Orchard Practices
Organic & Sustainably Grown Apples
Our Orchards
More than 3,000 apple trees cover 8 acres on our 65 acre farm! Each year more apple trees are planted to keep up with the growing demand for our apples. One portion of our orchard is Certified Organic and another portion is what we call “Sustainably Grown”.
Organically Grown Orchards!
What does Certified Organic mean? The word “Organic” is a marketing term regulated by the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture). It is not intended to imply a “health-claim” but many believe that organic food products are more healthful than their conventional counterparts. The word “Organic” also does not mean that sprays are never used to produce a certified organic crop, but it does mean that the products used are only those that are approved under the USDA regulations.
All of our orchard blocks had been Certified Organic since 2000 (even before the USDA began regulating the use of the word) and up until 2023. In 2023 we took some of our orchard out of organic production. That means we now have a “split operation” – some of our orchard blocks are certified organic and others are sustainably grown.
Sustainably Grown Orchards!
What does “Sustainably Grown” mean? “Sustainably Grown” has been described in a variety of ways by many different people and organizations. But, what do we mean when we say some of our apples are Sustainably Grown? It means that we emphasize the use of methods that sustain our crop, our environment, our workers, and our farm. If we can’t sustain even one of those things, then we would not be able to produce the food that people want and need. It’s that simple.
Why Sustainably Grown?
In recent years we have seen an increase in pest damage to our trees and fruit in our organic orchards that have become unmanageable using only organic methods. Consequently, we have decided to take the best of organic management practices and combine them with the softest of conventional products on approximately 2 acres of our 8-acre apple orchard. We consider apples grown under these production methods as being “Sustainably Grown.” This strategy maximizes the production of an abundant, wholesome & high quality crop while maintaining the safety and health of our workers and the environment.
You might also say that our crops are “Conservation Grown” because of the resources we conserve in our Sustainably Grown orchard and our Certified Organic Orchard. Most of our crops are perennial crops. That means that we disturb the soil only once when we plant our fruit trees. We use woodships as mulch under our trees to inhibit competitive grasses and weeds. Therefore, soil remains covered and not subject to erosion. We conserve water by capturing rain in our farm pond and then use this water to water our crops as needed. In addition, we maintain a diversity of plants on our farm that bloom throughout the season to provide a habitat for pollinators and beneficial insects.
What WE DO in our Sustainably Grown Orchard
- We continue to learn about orchard pest life cycles and “soft” management strategies through university research projects, workshops, conferences and networking with other growers.
- Monitor insect activity with insect traps.
- Apply the softest of effective conventional and organic insect and disease management products only when necessary.
- Pest-specific management products are used only at strategic times in the pest’s lifecycle.
- Woodchips are used under tree rows to mulch over grass and weeds, build soil organic matter, and conserve moisture.
- Plant and maintain a diverse landscape of annual and perennial flowers for pollinators and beneficial insects while adding beauty to the farm.
- Bluebird houses are maintained throughout the farm to encourage natural insect predation in the orchards.
- Only use organically approved products to wash our harvested apples.
What WE DON'T DO in our Sustainably Grown Orchard
- “Restricted-use” conventional products are never used. This means the products that we use can be purchased by anyone. In other words, a Pesticide Applicator’s license is not required to purchase and use these products. These are the softest of conventional products.
- Antibiotics are never used to manage apple tree diseases.
- Conventional synthetic herbicides like Round-Up are never used in our apple orchards.
- Conventional synthetic products are never used to thin the apple crop.
- Conventional synthetic products are never used to retain apples on the tree.
- Our apples are never waxed after harvest.
We are looking forward to a great harvest in 2025 and having you visit us here at Wills Family Orchard!
