4 Steps to Producing Your Best Apple

4 Steps to Producing Your Best Apple

An old adage advised that houses be built facing south to catch maximum sunshine. A similar rule of thumb holds for apple orchards. Slope exposure will affect trees as they come out of dormancy. South-facing slopes warm up faster in spring. Northern slopes are last out of the cold. There are further considerations. In Mid-Atlantic … Read more

Before You Start an Apple Orchard

Before You Start an Apple Orchard

Every year orchards are purchased or planted by people who have no experience in growing apples. For some, an orchard will be a challenge and a source of personal satisfaction and profit. For others, it may be a source of frustration and a bad investment. It’s important to become familiar with the business of producing … Read more

Insects in Apple Orchards

Insects in Apple Orchards

Most people wouldn’t argue apples taste good. They can be sweet or tart, red or green, large or small. According to health experts, they are good for us, too. Color and taste preferences aside, when a consumer goes to the grocery store, they expect to find decent-looking apples, too — free of wormholes and insect bites. Insects … Read more

BelleWood Acres’ Holistic Approach to Apple Management

Apple Management

To understand the principles that John and Dorie Belisle have devised and applied over 20-plus years of apple farming, consider a phrase familiar to many agriculturalists: integrated pest management (IPM). Apple Management Read about:  3 Lingering Issues with Produce Safety Rule IPM refers to a holistic approach to pest management – an information-based strategy of constant monitoring, … Read more

Rapid Apple Decline At PSU Remains A Mystery

Rapid Apple Decline At PSU Remains A Mystery

For four years now, researchers at Penn State University, led by plant pathologist Kari Peter, Ph.D., have been battling the sudden demise of young dwarf apple trees in high-density systems. The damage was first noticed when trees, planted in one block at the plant pathology research farm, began to die off rapidly. The decline and … Read more