Rebecca Norman wrote:You may well be able to save some or many of those trees, especially since for cider you don't need to have specific named varieties. And if you keep and/or plant a variety of other types of plants and don't need a big tract of cosmetically perfect dessert apples of specific varieties, you can certainly get the kind of diversity that will allow you to keep it organic. It's great if the orchard hasn't been sprayed in decades and the trees are still producing at least a bit. That suggests that you still have an intact ecosystem. Don't let your neighbors shame you into spraying just once to get a clean slate! You could spoil the whole ecosystem and then introduce problems if you don't continue spraying.
elle sagenev wrote:So are you ripping out the old trees and planting new? If I were you I'd get an expert, perhaps from a local college or extension office, and get my trees identified. You may already have all the cider apples you need.
John Wolfram wrote: In general, if you live in a place where people care about water rights (because it's so dry) you'll have an easier time going organic.
As for removing stumps, your use of machinery will dictate whether or not that is necessary. If you won't be using a tractor, you can just let the stumps rot in place.
matt hogan wrote:It entertains me greatly when people say that you can't grow food without pesticides, as if before the 1940's, everyone starved to death.
Of course, what many mean is that we can't grow food in the way that we do now without pesticides. It may be necessary to plant older, more resistant varieties and have more of a polyculture (at least keeping hedgerows), but we can certainly grow food without spraying.
Glenn Herbert wrote:
I understand that cob works well, and it wouldn't require highly refined clay for this application. Cob will dry out completely in warm weather and draw moisture from the wood.
6) Clay for your purposes doesn't need to be smooth and refined. My (upstate NY) glacial till clay has lots of sand and gravel, and rocks, in it. I have found that just removing stones that are around half as big as the thickness of the work I am doing is sufficient. I take out stones bigger than a golf ball in general. For finish work sifting dry clay through a half inch mesh works well. If you want your logs to fit closely, this might be a good idea for you.