Some of the orchards of the Oberhuab farm have the distinction of sharing the same mountain slopes as Reinhold Messner's majestic Juval Castle. The rest of the farm lies on the sun-kissed valley floor of Val Venosta. Klaus and Thomas Ausserer work the holdings together with their father. And they inherited their love of organics from him. It was health considerations which encouraged this farmer to choose methods which were closer to nature. "We grew into the subject with him" says Klaus. "We went to some very thorough courses at different agricultural colleges in South Tyrol and we completely converted five years ago." Even though the workload is higher than with conventional methods, the farmers at Oberhuab find it more satisfying. Their orchards have Golden and Red Delicious, Fuji, Gala and Braeburn, but there are also peaches, apricots, pears and cherries. In future, more red-skinned apple varieties are planned. "Organic really convinces us both from the point of view of taste and health."