We purchased this farm in 2011 from a family who had maintained it as a pesticide-free orchard during their ownership. Passionate about organic agriculture, we are building on the tradition and we gained our organic certification from COR (Canadian Organic Regime) in 2013 and maintained it for six years. We use no man-made chemicals or sprays of any sort. Our apples are tree-ripened and frost-sweetened, having great taste and nutrition. We’ve had six years as a certified organic orchard. Due to the rising costs of certification, this year we are operating as a spray-free orchard, with delicious & nutritious Sandow apples. All our wholistic practices as organic orchardists remain the same but we haven’t applied for certification. Our dominant apple variety is the Sandow, the namesake of our farm.
Our apples are grown by an agriculture that stewards the land and involves the people drawing sustenance from it. Growing fruit in our region presents certain challenges and a great deal more work than one might expect. Learning to be organic orchardists is a year round project:
wintertime means pruning,
spring brings tree planting and grafting,
summer involves insect and disease management,
and autumn brings the bounty of the apple harvest!
An apple a day does keep the doctor away – there are over nine health benefits to eating apples.
