Open Spaces continues the organic practices used by Hemlock Grove Farm. Our farming philosophy focuses on the safest growing methods available, to protect the health of apple eaters and the natural environment alike. We offer our apples to the greater Ithaca area through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, and for sale by the bushel. In our production of organically grown apples (certified by Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York), we use techniques that differ fromconventional methods.

We use no herbicides. Grass and wildflowers grow right up to the tree trunks, and their competition is controlled by mowing. Compared to trees grown in herbicided strips of bare soil, we may have slightly lower yields, but the grass competition results in a more concentrated, flavorful apple.

We practice strict orchard sanitation, which interrupts pest and disease life cycles. Promptly picking up and removing fallen apples stops pests from overwintering in the soil. Mowing fallen leaves into windrows in autumn encourages their quick decomposition, preventing fungal spores from surviving into the next year.

Organic fruit does require spraying, but with safe products. For insect control, we spray Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis, a kind of bacteria that makes a protein toxic only to caterpillars), Grandevo (a new product from a soil microbe similar to Bt), Cyd-X (a virus that affects only caterpillars), and clay sprays. The clay coats the trees and fools the insects. We monitor moth pests in the orchard to time our sprays. For apple diseases, we spray sulfur or potassium bicarbonate (similar to baking soda). These are low-impact fungicides. We are very pleased with the results from bicarbonate.

Most orchardists use sprays of synthetic chemicals to thin the apple crop when it sets too heavily. We thin the crop by hand, which requires significant labor, but also allows us to carefully remove imperfect apples from the trees.  We are experimenting with a baking soda spray to thin the crop.

Our trees are not fertilized with soluble nitrogen. The fertilizers we use, such as compost, limestone, liquid calcium, and liquid seaweed, complement natural nutrient cycling in the orchard, and pose little hazard to groundwater. We do not “push” the trees for rapid growth and highest yields, which also helps to reduce problem diseases and some leaf-feeding pests.

We often conduct on-farm experiments, trialing innovative techniques and new environmentally benign sprays. In recent years we have experimented with neem oil (a natural fungicide) and herbal teas to encourage tree health.

As you can see, we are using an integrated system that takes considerable hand labor and produces slightly lower yields than a conventional orchard. However, our apples and cider are highly flavored, and we are working with growing methods that we feel are safer for the consumer, the grower, the water, the air, and the wild plants and animals--including the many species of beneficial insects.