Market Farming

[Sojourner <sojournr AT missouri.org>]

Lucy Goodman-Owsley wrote:
> 
> We have about 6 apple trees and 3 pear trees that we have
> been rehabing for 8 years . . . We do the orchard as a
> side venture . . . organic and get less buggy each season.

You're talkin' my language!

> They have responded really well to tractoring chickens
> under them and this year we got 2 swarms of bees which
> really helped a lot with disease and pollination problems.

Allowing your livestock to clean up dropped fruits, and especially
chickens, who not only go after the drops but any insects around as
well, is supposed to help reduce insect pests a lot.  Glad to hear this
is working for you as it's something I plan on doing once I get the
orchard/fruit trees established.

> We have never been really great about a spray programm but
> usually get sticky traps in the trees and get them
> pruned each winter. We do a lot of daily clean up of drops
> in the summer

How are you pruning?  To any particular method, or are you just cutting
off deadwood and suckers?

When do you tractor the chickens through - I would imagine they could
pretty well keep the drops cleaned up for you.

> and keep the areas kind of on the weedy side to keep
> insect damage down.

Does this work to keep insect damage down by providing habitat for
predator insects?

> We make
> sauce, cider and dried apples from the trees.

That's my plan, for personal use, and to sell the best looking fruits at
market.
 
> I don't know all the types but we do have summer rambo,
> two kinds of winesaps (the best tasting) and a maine blush

Winesaps are one of my favorite apples.  I haven't seen them in stores
for years, so a Winesap is definitely on the list of first year trees
I'll be putting in.  My dad says my grandmother had Jonathons, so I'll
try one of them as well.  He couldn't remember what else she had, or
what it was we had in our backyard - we probably never knew.  That house
was 100 years old and the trees were at least 50 years old.

-- 
Holly ;-D
Contrary Peasant
sojournr AT missouri.org