Professional Documents
Culture Documents
PAGE
Just Picked 3 Earth First Farms
Newsletter of the
Midwest Organic 4 Keeping Wild Bees
Tree Fruit Growers Network 7 Hoch Orchard Field Day
Volume 4, Issue 2, Spring 2008
10 Pork & Apples, Bloom Checklist
Deirdre Birmingham, Network Coordinator
7258 Kelly Rd 11 Advanced Retreat
Mineral Point, WI 53565
phone 608-967-2362 fax 608-967-2496 11 NetEx
deirdreb@mindspring.com
www.mosesorganic.org/treefruit/intro.htm 11 Bud-Break Checklist
Newsletter Layout by Jody Padgham, MOSES
12 Calendar
Welcome to the Spring 2008 issue of Just Picked, our Network’s newsletter.
In this issue read about:
• Conference calls with grower and author, Michael Phillips, every Thursday at 8:00 AM.
• Mark you calendars for three field days, starting with a day and a half event at Hoch Orchards and Gardens in Minnesota
on June 27-28.
• Patricia Bliska will host a tour of her orchard and berry patch on August 2, also in Minnesota.
• Eric Mader gives us Part 2 of his series on Keeping Native Pollinators.
• Earth First Farms of Berrien Center, Michigan, where Tom Rosenfeld, of the Network’s Advisory Council, is transitioning
an orchard for organic certification
• The Michigan Organic Tree Fruit Research Meeting held in March.
• An update on Jim Koan and MSU’s efforts to integrate organic pork and apple production.
• A brief report of our first Advanced Growers Retreat.
• Exchange of information and needs among growers in NetEx.
• Michael Phillips list of orchard tasks for the season underway and unfolding.
We’ll get Part 3 on the soil biology research of Jennifer Moore-Kucera in our 2008 Summer issue, when her graduate stu-
dent will be finishing her work on soil nematodes. Amidst the busyness of the season, do find time to read Just Picked. I
always value your feedback.
Deirdre Birmingham, Network Coordinator
S tarting on Thursday, April 24th at 8:00AM, Wisconsin’s Eco-Apple Project will offer
18 free weekly conference calls with organic apple orchardist and author, Michael
Phillips, and other apple growing pros.
Apple Grower Hour....from page one How will the calls work?
Who is the Organic Apple Grower Hour for? Each week, send your apple orchard management
The calls are geared for commercial apple growers in questions to Michael by 8pm Central Time on the
the Midwest with intermediate to advanced orchard Wednesday evening before the call. Please e-mail
management skills. Open-minded growers who are questions to michael@herbsandapples.com . If you
interested in a holistic approach to orchard manage- do not have e-mail access, you can leave a message
ment will get the most out of these calls. Whether with your questions on Michael Phillips’ answering
you consider your growing practice to be certified- machine at 603-636-2286. Along with your questions,
organic or ecological-organic or biologically-based submit any degree-day tracking information that you
IPM – or just plain ornery! – we hope you join us for have recorded and provide any pertinent observa-
this nuanced discussion. tions you have made in the field.
People who don’t quite fit the description above Michael will review the questions before the call.
(such as beginning orchardists or growers from other During the call he will prioritize the discussion ac-
regions) are more than welcome to listen in on the cording to the questions most relevant to the majority
calls, but the focus will be on the questions of open- of call participants.
minded, commercial growers in the Midwest.
This is how a typical Organic Apple Grower Hour will
When will the calls happen? run:
Calls are scheduled every Thursday at 8:00AM from 8:00-8:05 Roll call: Please announce your name and
April 24th through August 28th. There will be no call location as you enter the call-- this will help us know
on July 3. This schedule could change due to the who is participating.
weather or other scheduling conflicts. 8:05-8:15 Michael’s report: Michael will discuss
emerging issues in the field. Pest and disease chal-
Who are the experts? lenges will likely hold our attention until the fruit
Michael Phillips will be the primary consultant for crop sets. We’ll broach ecosystem and soil health is-
the Organic Apple Grower Hour. His book, The Ap- sues in more detail throughout the summer weeks as
ple Grower: A Guide for the Organic Orchardist, is orchards sail toward harvest.
widely regarded as setting the standard for eastern 8:15-8:50 Answers: Michael and others invited to
organic apple production. He is a consultant for or- participate will address the questions submitted by
chardists across the nation, and compiles holistic growers.
apple research on his website, GrowOrganicApples. 8:50-9:00 New questions: If time allows, Michael will
com. Michael manages a two-acre organic orchard in address any other questions that arose during the
Groveton, New Hampshire (Zone 4), facing many of call.
the same challenges as growers in the upper Mid-
west. How do I call in?
Call 712-432-1680, then enter this access code:
John Aue will consult on half of the calls to provide 868736. The calls are hosted by www.freeconfer-
insights on pest biology and behavior specific to the encecall.com . Other helpful numbers:
upper Midwest. John has provided IPM consulting press 3 to exit a call
services to conventional and organic apple growers press 4 to get a menu of touchtone commands
in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois for 20 years. He press 6 to mute your line. press 6 again to un-mute
manages his own potato farm organically in Richland your line
Center, Wisconsin. FreeConferenceCall.com’s customer help line is 877-
482-5838.
Depending on growers’ needs and events taking
place in the orchard in a given week entomologists, What if I can’t make the call at 8am on Thursday?
plant pathologists, horticulturalists, soil scientists, If you can’t make the calls, you can listen to a record-
and experienced growers from other regions may ing of it. Call (712) 432-1284, then enter this access
also be invited to contribute to the Organic Apple code: 868736. Each week’s recording will be avail-
Grower Hour. able until it is erased by the following week’s call.
continued on page 9
Keeping Wild Bees: A System for Small Farms and Orchards: Part 2
By Eric Mader, Midori Horticultural Services 608-445-3572, Info@MidoriHorticultural.com
and Gardens in La Crescent, Minnesota. This event For weed control, a Weed Badger in-row cultivator is
builds on the discussions of the Advanced Grower used.
Retreat that 25 growers participated in February 20-
21 at Trempealeau, Wisconsin. The first half-day will Insect and disease control are Harry’s forté. He traps
be on value-added, markets and pricing. Saturday and reports several insects for the Minnesota Depart-
will focus on the orchard and organic apple produc- ment of Agriculture to monitor population levels. In
tion. A number of guest speakers are invited. addition they trap for Codling Moth (CM) and Apple
Maggot throughout the farm. CM is controlled us-
On Friday, June 27 starting at 1:30 PM Harry will give ing pheromone trapping and degree-day accumula-
a tour of their packing facility, apple pressing and tions.
UV treatment setup, and their certified kitchen. They
are applying for organic certification for their pro- While you will see two blocks of disease resistant va-
cessing area. They have a small-scale packing line rieties many other varieties are disease susceptible.
with bin dump, inspection rollers, washer, spin-sizer, Harry’s uses data loggers to monitor leaf wetness. He
grading tables, and baggers. The cider facility is set sprays on a post infection schedule with lime sulfur.
up with a bin dump, washer, and a JWI 18” continu-
ous belt juice extractor. The juice is UV-treated and Three styles of deer fencing are established: ener-
bottled on-site. The bottling room doubles as a com- gized six foot vertical, energized slant fence, and wo-
mercial kitchen where they make sauces and jellies ven wire.
on a small scale.
There are several training systems and rootstock
The second part of the afternoon will look at issues in combinations in the apple blocks. You will see every-
marketing and pricing of organic apples. Tom Rosen- thing from 50yr old-plus standards, to semi-dwarfs, to
feld, of Earth First Farms, Berrien Center, Michigan, high-density trellis, and several staking systems. In
will discuss an outcome of the Advanced Grower Re- addition, there will be a new planting of 1000 dwarf
treat, which is the start of a grower-based, wholesale trees on organic ground supported by a short trellis
price-sharing mechanism. Heather Hillerin of Green- system.
leaf Market will detail two new mechanisms for grow-
ers to use: GreenLeaf Market to sell to institutions and You will see Harry’s nursery with bench-grafted trees
other businesses, and Local Dirt where consumers and t-budded rootstock. He top-grated the last two
pre-order from growers and pick up their order at a years a block of 10yr old semi-dwarfs. He plans to
farmers’ market. graft a couple hundred more this year. Mouse dam-
aged trees are being bridge grated. .
Harry and Tom will be joined by other Advisory
Council members who will present as follows: Strawberries and raspberries are inter-planted in a
Maury Wills on apple sauce production and on-farm three year old planting of standard apple trees as a
retailing; Jim Koan on sweet cider, wine, cider, vin- mini permaculture experiment.
egar, and all levels of marketing; and David Sliwa on
farmers’ markets and renewable energy in fruit pro- Other tree fruits being grown are plums, apricots,
cessing. tart cherries, and peaches. They also have a couple
acres of grapes and a couple acres of berries includ-
On Saturday, June 28, here is a glimpse of what you ing blackberry, raspberry (purple, red, yellow, and
will see and discuss at Hoch Orchard and Gardens. black), blueberry, and strawberry.
Foremost is a variety of approaches to enhance the By tour time, Hoch Orchards will be hosting five in-
orchard ecosystem. Multi-species ground cover are ternational interns, which they do annually. ó
Tom just purchased a donut maker to make cider do- Other Support Services. Tom finds that “Dennis
nuts. “We are looking for suggested recipes,” noted Mackey, a grower in Manistee, Michigan, and Doug
Tom, hoping readers will be forthcoming. Murray, organic consultant out of Paw Paw, Michigan,
have been incredibly valuable assets to our entry
They are also working on an applesauce product. into organic apple growing.” Doug and his daughter,
Danika, provide scouting services and Doug consults
In addition to apples, EFF is growing produce organi- on orchard health. In addition, Tom finds the Network
cally to complement their apples at the farmers’ mar- newsletter, list-serv, and other opportunities to share
kets. They produce garlic (about 12 varieties), mel- ideas with fellow growers an invaluable resource in
ons, summer and winter squashes, sweet corn, and his learning. “I am always surprised by just how gen-
they will start strawberries this year. This production erous those in the Network are with advice,” he says.
is already certified organic.
Tom’s next-door neighbor, Steve, is a 73-year old
Labor. So now you’ve read about Tom’s marketing apple farmer who was born on the farm he contin-
strategy, let’s look at labor. First off, there is the Rosen- ues to live on today while leasing the orchard to Tom.
feld family, of Tom and Denise, and their children “While he thinks organic ‘isn’t worth it’”, stated Tom,
Ryan (22), Sydney (18), and Spencer (16) who all play “his knowledge of growing apples, weather, and life
a role. Tom’s primary roles are grower, marketer, and in general is unbelievable and he has been very shar-
business functions. Spencer helps out on the farm ing with his expertise. He is thrilled to see someone
during the summer as well as playing a major role in getting into the business instead of getting out.”
the farmers’ markets effort. Sydney has played vari-
ous roles, including being the main ‘party’ organizer, “My other comment on support would be the utter
and really shines when selling at farmers’ markets. lack of it locally from other farmers,” said Tom. “It is
Denise also helps with farmers’ markets and, maybe official now, words spoken by my neighbor and friend
more importantly, provides valuable guidance and just two weeks ago – ‘no one around here thinks you
support for Tom as he works through unending busi- will make it. It’s just not possible to grow organic
ness decisions. Continued on page 9
Their soil has a good pH. They have not been adding To learn more about Earth First Farms, visit their web-
soil amendments, but instead Doug Murray advises site at www.earthfirstfarms.com , but with patience as
to apply a weekly foliar application of fish emulsion it is being reconstructed. And to share a cider donut
with other additives (K, CA) as the season requires recipe contact Tom at Tom@earthfirstfarms.com . ó
for nutrients. They routinely take soil and plant tissue
samples for analysis. In the fall the trees a compost Apple Grower Hour....from page 2
tea is sprayed, which is helpful for leaf decomposi-
tion and nourishes the developing soil microbiology. If you want to download recordings of the Organic
A tractor with a cab is important, according to Tom, Apple Grower Hour, contact Lisa DiPietro at ldipi-
in part due to the odor of the fish emulsion. When etro@wisc.edu .
the tractor cab’s air conditioning broke one hot sum-
mer day, his youngest son was not to be deterred and How do I sign up?
thought with the cab windows wide open, he would If you are interested in participating on the calls,
just spray anyway. Tom said that boy stunk for days please pre-register. Send your name, phone num-
afterwards! ber, e-mail address, and your orchard profile to Lisa
DiPietro at ldipietro@wisc.edu . The registration
As part of their pest monitoring they use about 15 to and orchard profile are all one document that can
20 traps for Codling Moth, Oriental Fruit Moth, and be found at www.mosesorganic.org/treefruit/intro.
Oblique Banded Leaf Roller. htm or by contacting Lisa. If you prefer, you can mail
your name, contact info, and orchard profile to Lisa
They are using pheromone disruption this year for at 1535 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53703.
Oriental Fruit Moth.
It is not required that you register before you par-
Tom uses granulosis virus and Entrust™ for Codling ticipate on the calls, but doing so will help us better
Moth (CM). He is cooperating with Michigan State tailor the calls to your needs, and to keep track of
University to be a several-acre test site for Iso-mate™ who uses the calls.
to control CM. Since they are close to a woodlot with
tall trees, Tom feels their orchard is not a good candi- Any Questions? Contact Lisa DiPietro at ldipietro@
date for mating disruption technologies. wisc.edu, or 608-265-3637. These calls are made
possible by grant from the Organic Farming Re-
Fortunately Plum Curculio has not yet been problem. search Foundation. Thanks OFRF! ó
So they don’t use any Surround.
ó Hoch Orchard and Gardens Field Day – June 27-28, La Crescent MN (See announcement inside and www.
mosesorganic.org/treefruit/events .)
ó Elm Tree Farm Field Day – August 2nd. Host Patricia Bliska, of Afton, Minnesota, will host fruit growers to her
organically managed apple orchard and berry farm. Advance registration required. The Summer issue of Just
Picked will have registration details as well as the Network’s website.
ó Organic Apple Research Field Day, August 8, 2008 - Dixons Spring Research Station, University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign. Registration is $20 and includes lunch. Go to http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/smallfarm/ag_
tours.cfm for more information, including registration.
ó Fruit Research Grant Proposal deadline: July 15. Organic Farming Research Foundation. www.ofrf.org 831-
426-6606.
ó Future issues of Just Picked: Submissions due June 30 for the Summer issue; September 15 for the Fall issue
Just Picked is a publication of the Upper Midwest Organic Tree Fruit Growers Network.
Our Mission is:
To share information and encourage research to improve the organic production and marketing of tree fruits
in the Midwest, and to represent the interests of growers engaged in such.