Growing Organic Apples

Crunching into a shiny, crispy apple embodies the ultimate picture of health. However, there is a problem with this picture: most of the apples we buy and eat come from trees that have been sprayed with numerous chemicals in the form of fertilizers and pesticides throughout the growing season. Even while the fruit is forming, more chemicals are applied in order to keep invasive insects and other apple-loving creatures from making lunch out of the fruit. Post harvest, the apples are generally coated with wax in order to make it gleam under the fluorescent lights of the grocery store.

Suddenly, this apple-eating business doesn’t seem to embody such health. Unless, of course, organic apples appeal to your palate.

Growing organic apple trees has its challenges but for the sake of the earth, the animals and your health, it is certainly worth the work. The first necessary step is to make a bit of an attitude shift. Shiny plus perfectly round and blemish-free does not necessarily equal a perfect apple. It is what we are groomed to believe and it is what we see everywhere we go. But it really does depend on your priorities. If you are looking for a healthy, tasty-but not necessarily perfect fruit, then organic is the way to go.

If you are planting your own apple trees and wish to grow them organically, here are a few tips to help you along:

• Choose a type of tree that is well-suited to your climate and has some disease-resistant qualities to it
• Unless you plant a self-pollinating tree, you will need to be sure to plant 2 or more in order for the trees to be pollinated
• Be sure to enrich the soil with natural fertilizers such as seaweed, compost, oyster shells, or aged manure
• Although it takes longer for a tree to reach the fruit-bearing stage, the younger you can plant the sapling, the more solid it will become in its home, making for a healthier tree
• Plant aromatic flowers and ornamental grasses close to your apple trees in order to attract beneficial insects
• Apple maggots can be an invasive and extremely unwelcome visitor to your trees. You can buy apple maggot traps– a round ball with a sticky glue-like substance that lures the apple maggots, much like flypaper. These should be hung up in your apple trees throughout the growing season; the glue will have to be reapplied every few weeks.
• Every 1-2 days, collect and get rid of any fallen fruit. Either the fruit will have insects in it that need to be destroyed (so they won’t lay any more eggs) or the sweetness of the fallen fruit will attract more insects than you would like.

It is important to be diligent about the health of your apple trees and their surroundings. Prune the branches in late winter and keep a close eye on the branches and leaves to ensure they are strong. Mulching around the base of your tree will help keep the moisture in and remember that even if your tree is not bearing fruit yet, you will benefit from taking excellent care of your tree right from Day One. That first day you sink your teeth into your own organically grown, juicy apple, you will never look back at the shiny, round “perfect” chemical-laden fruit again.