18th Century Purity Farm (con't)

Paul Desrochers is an inventive fellow who wears coke-bottle glasses.  He manages several other local orchards, as well as his own.  Paul’s ingenuity helps him solve many orchard problems.  For instance, he created a five-wire deer fence supported by cedar trees felled in his woodlot.  He also used old hay bales to house bumble bees.

“Bumble bees are our best pollinators.  But we also keep honey bees.”

Paul’s resourcefulness also led to the development of special pruning techniques to keep trees small but productive.  Neither he nor his much shorter wife ever climbs a ladder to pick fruit.  Cherry trees grow under a special netting system Paul invented but still considers a work in progress.  The couple uses limited spray on fruit trees and no herbicides.  All the small fruit -- strawberries, raspberries and blueberries -- are grown organically.  

“We hand pick bugs and toss them to the trout in the pound.”  Paul jokes.

Along with heirloom apples, peaches, and cherries, the couple grows, at JoAnn’s insistence, apricots and nectarines.

“I have to ration my apricots or there will be a stampede at market!”  Paul says with a grin. 

Modern fruit varieties grow on a terrace a bit farther down the hill.  Instead of growing independently as individual trees, like the heirloom apple trees, these contemporary varieties are planted at a slight angle.  Then their trunks are attatched to two tiers of wire.  This highter density Europenan-style planting pattern, similar to techniques used in a vineyard, allows the trees to come into production in their second year and into full production in five years.

“A close-planted orchard of modern apples can produce 1,000 to 1,200 bushels per acre,” Paul explains. “On the other hand, an orchard of free-standing heirlooms produce only 400 bushels per acre.  But the heirlooms are very popular.”

Before I leave, Paul steps into his walk-in cooler which maintains fruit quality after harvest.  He pulls out several varieties of apples for me to take home.