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We understand that allopathic spray medicines of whatever persuasion make up for specific biological and nutritional deficiencies in the orchard. Ergo, investing in soil health, foliar health, diverse biology, and plant allies makes all the sense in the world for growing healthy fruit. Here's where we prove it.
Re: Wood Chippers? - 3 months ago
Hello Jon, I bought a PTO wood chipper 6-8 years ago and after one season I sold it. As much as I loved the idea to make wood chips, it took forever to chip a decent amount of wood and my arms were shaking after a whole day with the wood chipper on. Also it was expensive and the noise was unberable. After that I contacted the utility company and other local timber companies and had them deliveby Fabio Chizzola - Sensible Equipment
Re: Beeswax as bench graft sealer - 4 years ago
Yes, it works great but more work because you need to maintain it liquid on the field.by Fabio Chizzola - Grafting
Re: cedar apple rust trials - 4 years ago
Unfortunately, I have a FOREST of cedar trees all around my orchard. I proposed to 1 of my 3 neighbors to have me cut his trees if he ever wanted to and he accepted! Yes! But I still have lots of cedar trees around my orchard and I grow apple varieties like Goldrush, Crimson Topaz, Idareds, Zestar, to name few that are highly sensitive. The one try that seemed to work was Regalia with Stylet oby Fabio Chizzola - Grower Research
Heavy duty weed-wacker VS push on flail mower for understory in older trees - 4 years ago
I saw a picture Michael put on his second Apple Grower book of his daughter "posing" with a push-on brush mower thru the orchard. We have around 400 old and big trees and we have been cutting the grass under with a heavy duty weed-wacker where my offset (1 foot) brush hog doesnt get to. Using the weed-wacker has some pros, but the cons of changing the string so many times and taking sby Fabio Chizzola - Sensible Equipment
Re: Power pruner options - 5 years ago
I already feel bad for the tree, thinking how much the sawzall will make the tree or the branch shake....I don't personally think it's a good idea.by Fabio Chizzola - Sensible Equipment
Re: "Farm-Based Cidery" - The combo of natural Apples, natural Cider, and natural Business? - 5 years ago
LOVE this conversation, I am fairly new to cider and hungry to learn, share and join any concept/discussion and literature there is to be read. Cider is not just another sparkling drink, it is a healthy(if you could call an alcoholic drink healthy, this is it!), natural way for apples grown in an holistic environment to be pressed into a natural alcoholic cider blend! I'm NOT a lovers ofby Fabio Chizzola - Good Fruit Marketing
open in new tab - 5 years ago
I was looking at some of the posts, and when you get to a post with a link and then you venture in the link, it is a lengthy process to go back to the forum. Basically you hae to click the back button many times until it gets there. I would suggest to open a new link on a new browser tab, so when you want to go back to the forum it's just one click. No super important, but a time saver.by Fabio Chizzola - Making It Better
Re: Orchard Tree Plotting - 5 years ago
I use Illustrator with a google map on the background..by Fabio Chizzola - Just Talk
Re: Cider press cloth by the bolt - 5 years ago
Beautiful project!! Can't wait to see it finished! I doubt they are cheaper then Oesco, but you could try Elnova in Montreal for the press clothes.by Fabio Chizzola - Just Talk
labeling grafts - 5 years ago
I've been grafting some of my trees with 5-10 different apple varieties on the same tree and I'm wondering if anyone has a good way to keep track, on the tree, record of the varieties grafted. I tried a couple of different ways but I'm not happy with either one and wondering if anyone has a good and durable way.by Fabio Chizzola - Grafting
Re: blossom reversal - 6 years ago
Coming into this season, I already knew we were going to have a very light crop, after last year heavy crop...witness Mike Biltonen who kept saying you'll see.....yes I did see.... but I don't think flowers aborted because of last season heavy crop. My two cents .... We had -17 on Valentines day and 0 and 9 degrees on the two freeze event nights. After these events I thought I wasn&by Fabio Chizzola - Pollination
Re: the pace of spring - 6 years ago
Unfortunately it does look like 2012 again. I'm wondering, beside getting things ready a bit earlier, if anyone has tried any type of sprays in the past to help fight "Blossom Freeze". In 2012 I sprayed Kelp on 3/26 at 1/2" Green Tip, the evening before it was suppose to get to 22 F. It did't really work....lost almost all apples.by Fabio Chizzola - Just Talk
Re: fruit bud development - 8 years ago
Well, here at Westwind in the Hudson Valley, is kind of the same…..ARGH. Older trees very sporadic bloom, dwarf trees 4th year great bloom, MM111 3rd year good bloom, asian pears 3rd year good bloom. In regards of the older trees, we had a great crop last year and we thinned them by hand, I think we didn't take off enough fruit(as usual), and , I guess, that's the reason for the spottyby Fabio Chizzola - Pollination
Re: High Density Plantings, rootstock quandry - 8 years ago
I would personally plant bud 9's and do the all trellising thing…you can plant them 3 to 6 feet apart. I can't see how you are going to plant MM111 in high density, even pruning them at your best. I planted in 2010 200 crimson crisp and goldrush on bud 9 with trellises, and the amount of apples are producing on their 4th year, is just unbelievable. Also the sprayer covers much better tby Fabio Chizzola - Orchard Systems
Re: barrel pumps - 8 years ago
From my own "fishy" experience on 55 gallon drums, here is what i found out. There a couple of points to make first. 1. If you want to leave the fish in the 55gallon drum, you need to buy a simple plastic pump from Napa or any automobile parts stores. My first pump was metal and the fish totally destroyed. The plastic one still works great. 2. Fish overtime, if not "stirred"by Fabio Chizzola - Sensible Equipment
Re: Giving pause with the paws - 8 years ago
I have six paw paws coming this spring, I'm excited to try them out. I went to see Lee Reich's garden, he has a dozen of them, very healthy and vigorous. He says there is no need of pruning or spraying of any type. I tasted the fruit, and it's an exciting exotic flavor. I'm happy to try them out. I'll let you know what happens in a few years.by Fabio Chizzola - Paw Paws
Re: apple pricing - 8 years ago
Here is what we are doing a Westwind Orchard this season. We are mostly Pick your Own, so the 3 different size bags were 1/2 peck for $10, 1 peck $19, 1/2 bushel $32. I would say that 3-4% of people commented on high prices, and I just replied that we were just a couple of dollars higher on the bigger bag then the closest conventional orchard. 97% thanked us to be farming Organically, or as I wouby Fabio Chizzola - Good Fruit Marketing
Re: Vinegar as valued-added Income - 8 years ago
It would be great to hear a general process on how to make apple cider vinegar, i'm sure everyone will personalize it in a different way. Fabioby Fabio Chizzola - Good Fruit Marketing
Washing off sooty blotch - 8 years ago
It's that time of the year, where I wish: 1. I would have done summer pruning. 2. I would have bought a small washing machine for my apples. Basically most of my apples from my older trees have a lot of FlySpeck and Soothy Blotch, even though if I spray a few times for it....We sell to 5-7 stores in the area and few more in NYC, so we need to clean the apples!! So my question is, forby Fabio Chizzola - Healthy Harvest
Re: EAS and varietal susceptibility - 9 years ago
Same here at Westwind, no EAS this year, but lots of PC!!! We normally have a good 20-30% damage from EAS but none this year. Why? I want to think about the fact that 2 years ago, we bagged all the damaged fruitlets we found hand thinning, and the AMAZING HOLISTIC STUFF WE'VE BEEN SPRAYING , but I'll have to agree with Claude, one year no apples, another year no EAS. Fabioby Fabio Chizzola - Bug by Bug
Re: Surround Price increase $$$ - 9 years ago
I pay $1.00/lb at Windfield Solution.by Fabio Chizzola - Spray Nuance
Mixing neem with surround - 9 years ago
We are almost at that stage, where I'd like to start, in a week or so, to put in the mix the first 5lb. per acre surround, so my question is, did anybody try to mix surround and neem? Are they compatible?by Fabio Chizzola - Spray Nuance
Re: email notifications up and running - 9 years ago
Thank you!! Done!! Very Easy!!by Fabio Chizzola - Making It Better
pysched about brix - 9 years ago
Following on our discussion at the Berkshire Meeting this past week on Brix levels ... I was reading this article and apparently the Brix scale when testing plant sap in leaves is the same as the fruit. This link http://www.ag-usa.net/brix_test_meaning.htm is very interesting especially when explaining about phosphate levels and the way the line of the refractometer shows ... be it sharp or hazy.by Fabio Chizzola - Grower Research
What are the best varieties for zone 5b? - 9 years ago
We are preparing(plowing/cover crop) this year a strip of land for 2 lines of table grapes, planting them in 2 years. I'm going to do a soil test at the end of this season, after covercropping the land. I would like to add to my Upick operation besides apples and berries, also grapes. Can anyone suggest some disease resistant/good taste/if possible seedless/ripe by mid september varietieby Fabio Chizzola - Grapes
Re: using both sulfur and competitve biology - 9 years ago
Todd, are you going to approach the same block again with just holistic sprays this year? Fabioby Fabio Chizzola - Spray Nuance
Re: using both sulfur and competitve biology - 9 years ago
Did anyone try a block of their orchard just using the holistic approach with no sulfur, beside Michael?? if yes, could you share the results? Especially on scab? Thx. Fabioby Fabio Chizzola - Spray Nuance
Re: activating effective microbes in big batches - 9 years ago
I buy my EM at Teraganix. I've been brewing it in a five gallon bucket with molasses(same amount of EM) and putting the bucket in a black 55 gallon drum in my greenhouse, I checked the ph and it was roughly between 3.5 and 4, after a few days, but after that the temps in my greenhouse fluctuate too much between day and night. So this year I will prepare it in 55 gallon drum and I'm buyiby Fabio Chizzola - Arboreal Microbes
Re: Mowing down fall raspberry canes - 9 years ago
I do mow my berries in early March and it seems to be working for me. I called Nourse Farm(I get me bareroot plants from them) regarding the mowing in spring and they said, before mowing it would be good to do a spray of Lime Sulfur, wait 2-3 days and then mow. Instead of Lime sulfur I'm thinking to do an holistic spray of neem/EM/fish, does anybody have previous experience on this?by Fabio Chizzola - Brambles
soil amendment distinctions - 9 years ago
I'm trying to order all my fertilizers from the same company (Fertrell), so I can save some money on shipping, but they have different products then I'm looking for, and they are saying these products are almost the same. If anybody knows the difference, I would really appreciate you comments. 1. I'd like to buy Azomite but they have Redmond Natural Conditioner. 2. I'd likby Fabio Chizzola - Tree Fruit Nutrition
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