I would have much rather become a cattle farmer like my father, but for two farm successors our farm in Corces was probably too small to make a living from it. After studying agriculture, I worked for over twenty years at the South Tyrolean Advisory Council for Fruit and Wine Growing, before I started to explore new paths as a full-time organic farmer. In the meantime, I am very satisfied and fulfilled with our fruit growing business. About half of our orchards are planted with the Val Venosta Golden Delicious, whose fruits grow particularly tasty and crunchy on the Corces meadows. The slopes at the foot of the rustic Gadria rubble cone are characterized by water scarcity but are predestined for this variety. The fertile soils are also a delight for my magnificent Gala apples, the juicy Kanzi, Pinova and Bonita.
In organic cultivation, the decision which variety is grown in which location plays an even greater role than in integrated cultivation. After all, when it comes to plant protection, the possibilities are very limited. Moreover, the harvest volumes in organic farming are much smaller. By cultivating different varieties that ripen at different times, I need fewer harvest hands and our family can take it a little easier to start the harvest.
The harvest in autumn is the felt climax of the apple year, but spring takes up even more of my time. Depending on the weather a lot can happen in a few days. There are important jobs to be done and decisions to be made that affect the whole fruit growing year: planting trees during the day, following the weather forecast in the evening, possibly activating frost irrigation at night, protecting plants from disease, hoping for good flowering, then thinning out excess flowers with the brush machine... In no other season is the mental contact with nature is more intense than in spring.
My son Clemens is also deeply rooted in agriculture and is actively involved in it. Recently he has also become a beekeeper. The joy for beekeeping he probably inherited from his grandfather. He enthusiastically introduced me to the work with his seven bee colonies and infected me. He knows much more than I do in this area, he is on a first-name basis with the queen bee and if we are happy about many pollinated flowers, then it is probably thanks to him.
As a second mainstay we offer farm holidays and are a member of Red Rooster. Here my wife Verena is in charge. Especially in the summer we have many guests at our Waalhof who keep asking us questions because there is a great deal of interest in farming. Only when they taste our delicious honey, our fruit jams, apricots, or apples they remain silent for a few minutes and enjoy the goodness of our Val Venosta products in peace and quiet.
