To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [NAFEX] Orchard Maintenance
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:50:50 -0500
I thought this might be worth sharing. It came
from a Cambridge, UK Beekeeper named Peter. He is referring to an apple
orchard.
" My 30 acre orchard owner hates chemicals, he's
80 years old and third generation owner of the orchard so he knows his stuff,
he sprays with 'garlic and citrus' which apparently sorts out codling, scab,
canker, and other problems and is bee friendly. He the mows sections of about
5 acres once a month in rotation so that there is a good variety of wild
flowers for the bees to forage. He also uses insect traps that employ
pheromones to target specific species (sorry I can't be more specific, but I'm
just a beekeeper!)
His orchard has much wider diversity of wildlife
than any other I know of in the area, especially those that keep the ground
beneath trees clear using herbicides and insecticides.... there is another
way! "