Our Neuhauserhof is located directly opposite the parish church of Castelbello. In sunny Marein, it is my wife and I who have been running the farm according to organic principles for several years. More than ten years ago, I attended courses on organic farming, but at that time I still felt a little uncertain about the ideal varieties for this type of near-natural cultivation. My wife opened my eyes for organic and gave me the decisive push. She has always been very conscientious in everything she does and has generally trained my attention in certain things. My two sons help on the farm, but still go their own professional ways.
Already at the end of the 1980s, the then new ideas of integrated cultivation were a small revolution for us, which I actively helped to shape. At that time, the red spider was a very feared antagonist of us farmers. It damages the chlorophyll of apple trees, the foliage turns red, the tree weakens, the apples remain smaller and with red varieties the color of the fruit becomes less intense. Just like today with organic, we started to build up the beneficial organisms in small steps: lacewings, sawflies, earwigs, predatory mites and the friendly ladybird that eats the red spider.
In self-built insect hotels and in the tall grass that we let grow for a long time between the rows of apples, we create retreats for our animal helpers. In this way my apple varieties Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Gala, Braeburn and Envy can grow up in their shelter. Soon I will also plant the Cosmic Crisp variety. It should be just as ideal in storage as the Golden Delicious. I am already looking forward to the noble star-like spots on the dark red background. A special highlight at the farm is also the late Envy harvest, which can last the whole month of November. They fill the landscape with warming color on the tree during a normally quite cloudy period.
As apple farmers, we can only influence the appearance and taste of the fruit as long as it is hanging on the tree. As soon as they are harvested, we cannot refine them, as a winegrower can do, for example. During the entire vegetation phase our full attention is required and with organic produce this is often associated with a great deal of nervous strain. One often asks oneself "Did I do it right?” One is constantly challenged to be as attentive as possible. That is why organic was and is the right way for me and I am happy to live this way of cultivation in the municipality of Castelbello, which has developed into a real organic stronghold in recent years.
