At the Rungghof farm in Sluderno, we have forage meadows for our seven cows at 1,300 meters above sea level and apple orchards with the Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, and Topaz varieties at around 950 meters. The healthy product from our cows is high-quality organic hay milk, and from our orchards, aromatic organic apples from the apple paradise of Val Venosta. The farm has been in our family for four generations. We’ve all learned how to best manage the steep, terraced meadows. That means that most tasks can only be carried out manually and without the help of machines. However, the steep slope also has a major advantage: right around 11 a.m., the Vinschger wind gently brushes over our exposed meadows with a light breeze from the north, heading toward King Ortler, and prevents any build-up of moisture. I also don’t need frost irrigation during the blossom period, because there’s always a slight breeze here, and the cold can’t settle in for hours as it does in the valley floor. In combination with the well-drained soils of gravel and sand and fertile humus, this creates top-quality organic apples.

No day at the Rungghof is like the other. As a part-time farmer, I get up every day at 5:30 a.m., milk the cows, and my father takes the fresh milk to the collection point. After breakfast, I either head to the orchard or to my office job at a wood-processing company. In the evening, I milk the cows again, perhaps after having fertilized the orchard with organic manure from our own barn.

If I didn’t truly enjoy this life, I probably wouldn’t be able to keep up with it. The days are long and intense, but my different activities balance each other out and give me the variety I personally need. For example, I really enjoy pruning the trees: I turn on the radio, calmly go about my work, and always look to the future with optimism.

I consider myself lucky that my wife fully supports my work rhythm and puts her heart into turning our apples into apple purée, strudel, juice, and many other delicious creations. It’s also quite possible that we’ll open up to other agricultural projects in the future – such as organic vegetables. Potatoes would certainly thrive in our soils and benefit from the optimal natural conditions of the Alpine Val Venosta.