My father comes from Upper Val Venosta next to the border to Switzerland. He bought the Saringer Hof farm in Rablà in Lower Val Venosta at the beginning of the 1980s and I converted to organic a few years ago. I was happy to be able to take this path. My closed farm with just a few neighbors directly next to the forest is virtually ideal for organic production.

Despite or maybe because of the very limited possibilities in terms of plant protection organic production is very multifaceted, not to say complicated. In any case, it’s a great challenge to interpret nature correctly. Our apple assortment consists of Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Gala, Granny Smith and Bonita.

Our farm has an own drinking water source with water coming from Rio Lagundo’s Monte Tramontana. I promote biodiversity with a large natural pond among others. It’s a habitat for snakes, fish such as carps and marble trouts as well as many dragonflies and numerous insects. This biodiversity is an advantage for my apple trees as well thanks to the right balance between useful insects and pests. Water is a precious good and this is why I have modern drip irrigation in my orchards. Over-crown irrigation is only used in spring during the flowering period to protect the delicate apple flowers from frost. As a trained oven manufacturer I know everything about warmth. It’s a fascinating spectacle when water cools down and freezes during frost irrigation to protect the delicate flowers with the warmth inside.

I also grow different apricot varieties for own consumption and especially for preparing delicious apricot jam. Because not only apples grow perfectly well in Val Venosta’s sunshine.