I am really excited to share our new adventure this year… I have just closed the lease on a 28 acre fruit tree orchard. I have just finalized a lease on a 28 acre fruit tree orchard close to our farm.   We had some fruit trees, but now we have thousands of fruit trees! I have put this orchard into transition with my certifying agency, PCO.

So the orchard was conventional, and I need to do some work with the ecology of the orchard to make the transition successful. Some of these trees are essentially chemically dependent, and will need to go through a sort of detox. The management of organic fruit is very, very different than conventional, and the first thing that needs to be done is corrective pruning. I could really use some help getting the pruning done, so if you have some time on your hands, feel free to shoot me an email, call or message and we will be happy to help you get your volunteer hours in early this season!

Another note on the orchard is that I need to purchase some equipment.   That said, I am working on fruit shares to add to your CSA packages, or to buy alone.   I am still working on the program, but it will roll out very soon so stay tuned!   The orchard currently has cherries, peaches, plums, nectarines and apples-lots of different apples.   A CSA shareholder will be getting fruit from July through October of all the varieties I have.   I am offering different size packages just like our farm CSA to suit your household size and needs.

On February 18th from 9am-3pm I am hosting an Ecological Workshop to educate everyone on how I plan to transition this chemically dependent tree lot into a thriving ecosystem that produces beautiful organic fruit for my community.  The first part will be educational, the second part will be hands on activities so dress appropriately and bring pruning tools if you have them.   If you don’t, no problem, we have extra.   Lunch will be provided.