Producer

Our heirloom apples are grown on the Navarro River bottom in Mendocino County. Our 1700 trees range in age from young whips to 90 year old specimens. The orchard is truly a treasure in an area that is quickly losing its diversity. Morning fog and hot afternoons produce tender skinned and intensely perfumed fruit.

Picking and packing are done by hand. The apples are not washed or waxed but are left with their own natural bloom and sent directly to market.

We envision our farm as a place where soil, plants, animals and people can live together and thrive. In the interests of speaking a common language, any farm claiming to be organic must be certified by a Federally approved Certification Organization. We had been members of CCOF (California Certified Organic Farmers) for many years but found ourselves veering off towards an even deeper commitment. The idea of looking at the farm as a complete organism is central to the practice of Biodynamics®, which we began practicing in earnest several years ago. The first step was to seek Stellar Certification and then to continue towards Demeter Certification.

We are proud to have achieved Demeter status in 2005, making it possible to represent our farm as Biodynamic®. In a perfect world we would prefer to operate on trust, but the organic world has become increasingly complex as its popularity has increased. We like to think of that popularity as a positive thing even though it has created growing pains for everyone involved. We will continue to work with the concepts of Biodynamics, which will probably keep us occupied for the rest of our lives.