For my family and me, organic farming is lived versatility. This is already reflected in the different locations of our apple orchards, each of which looks different: while I grow Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Royal Gala, Topaz, and the new Kissabel on the Kortscher meadows near Silandro, in a steep north-facing slope of the Vinschgau valley basin, Bonita, Golden Delicious, and Red Delicious grow on a steep south-facing slope.
The orchards on the steepest slopes require the most work, because the tractor cannot be used there – which means a lot of manual labour. The time you invest in these plots should not and cannot be calculated in economic terms; the numbers would never add up. You simply have to enjoy doing it. And we do: my wife Renate, my two sons Andreas and Manuel, and I.
The terraces where our apples grow are marked by centuries-old dry stone walls, bordered by chestnut groves. In summer, the sun-heated walls are adorned with wild cherries and shrubs, providing shade and shelter for many beneficial insects. In addition to the natural hedges, my son and I have installed insect hotels, nesting boxes for birds, and even tall perches for buzzards to rest on. These birds of prey feed on mice that often attack the sensitive root systems of our apple trees. Young trees, 2–3 years old with still weak root systems, cannot withstand this damage and die if the mice cause too much harm.
At the Gruber organic farm, fertilisation is carried out with nettle slurry and organic matter such as manure, compost, or mulch (cut greenery from the orchard itself). Our manure comes from a friendly sheep farmer and a little from our own chickens, which roam freely in a meadow, eating the grass under the trees, scratching vigorously in the driving lanes, and loosening the soil. A dominant rooster keeps them disciplined in the meadow until the valuable work is done.
In the middle of one meadow, we have created a pond – our way of saying thank you to nature, which gives us so much every year. This pond and the surrounding Waalwege fill with mountain meltwater in spring and provide a habitat for countless species of living creatures. They bring great joy to our small family farm and are an integral part of our harmonious coexistence with nature. Above all, they enable us to produce, with great satisfaction, the wonderful food that is the apple – here in the apple paradise of Vinschgau.
