State's only certified organic pick your own apple orchard now open

The apple orchard at Old Frog Pond Farm in Harvard has an outstanding crop this year, according to owner Linda Hoffman. The orchard is the only certified organic pick-your-own operation in the state, and has 15 to 18 different varieties of apples available, including Cortlands, McIntosh, Golden Delicious, Macoun and Red Delicious, to name a few. Hoffman said the orchard also features a little-known variety called Blushing Gold, which is late to mature.

"It's a great keeper," said Hoffman. "You can have fresh apples at Thanksgiving."

She said that the names of some of the other varieties may not be familiar to most people, because they're new, disease-resistant cultivars.

Hoffman said this is the farm's third year as a certified organic orchard, which also features pick-your-own raspberries. She said that maintaining the certification requires yearly inspection of the farm's records, to make sure it is in compliance with regulations about what products and materials can be used in the orchard.

"You can only use materials that are approved," she said. "That doesn't mean you can't use other materials, but the burden is on you to prove to the certifier that those materials would meet the organic standards." That can be a big challenge, she added, because most materials have inert ingredients, and "to get the manufacturer to divulge those ingredients can be difficult."

Hoffman is committed to growing her crops organically, indeed, to an organic way of life. She said that when she moved into the farm, with its abandoned orchard, six years ago, she hadn't given a thought to managing an orchard. But after she moved in, she said, she kept feeling as if there were a part of herself she was neglecting.

"The trees were there," she said, "and they weren't producing any fruit. In New England, and with this monoculture, there's just no hope for apples. The diseases come in and really take over."

She decided to reclaim the orchard, making a conscious decision to manage it organically. And that means not only using an "organic arsenal" to combat the pests and diseases that try to lay claim on the crop each year, but also being vigilant about maintaining the health of the soil. She said she does a lot of mulching around the trees, and twice during the growing season adds "giant rings of aged horse manure from a local farm around each tree, about 8 inches deep."

"Feeding that orchard is no different from feeding my kids," she said.

But Hoffman said that "organic" doesn't necessarily mean "sustainable," and she is committed to the sustainability of her orchard, of her land. As an example, she said, organic standards say she can use sulphur - even lime sulphur - on the orchard, as often as necessary.

"Lime sulphur is a very potent material," she said. "I don't want to use it."

Commenting on the recommendation of the Mass. Extension Service that she spray sulphur throughout the season to prevent a disease called scab, Hoffman said, "To me, that's not sustainable. I want a healthy environment out there. We want all the beneficial insects. We want this whole cycle of insects and leaf matter and everything going into the soil, and the soil being healthy. To put all that sulphur down wouldn't be good."

She said she is experimenting with other ways to deal with scab, following some of the recommendations of Michael Phillips, a northern-Vermonter whom Hoffman describes as "the godfather of apples."

Hoffman said she and her family have struggled to restore the orchard, and this year their efforts seem to be paying off. "We can feel that the orchard is a really healthy place," she said.

What can apple-pickers expect at Old Frog Pond Farm?

"We can't compete - nor would we want to - with established orchards that have hay rides and are promoting the fall celebration," Hoffman said. "People who come here come because they really want organic apples."

And of the organic apples, Hoffman said, "They're delicious apples. The fruit is clean, because the drought has helped prevent some of the cosmetic conditions" sometimes seen with organic apples, conditions that are "totally benign," she added.

Hoffman said that last year's harvest was poor, but this year they have a "really good crop."

"We haven't seen the crowds yet," she added, noting that she "really wants to get people here, picking."

Ed Baron, a neighbor to the farm who has lived there for 20 years and helps Hoffman with pruning and planting, said, "This orchard is as nice as I've ever seen it."

Old Frog Pond Farm, located at 38 Eldridge Road in Harvard, is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information call 978-456-9616 or visit the Web at www.oldfrogpondfarm.com.