Another Reason To Choose Organic: New Study

I was interested to read this morning of a peer-reviewed study published in the journal Environmental Research reporting levels of the pesticide glyphosate in participants’ bodies dropped an average of 70% after six days on an organic diet.

You can read the report here but it certainly shines some more light on health advantages in choosing organic.

High profile court cases in 2019 linked plaintiffs' Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma to use of Roundup® and an appeals court has upheld that decision. Research links glyphosate (Roundup®) to many health problems - including Parkinson's Disease, kidney disease, endocrine disruption, DNA damage, decreased sperm function, disruption of the gut microbiome (think about all the folks who complain of gluten intolerance) as well as cancer. 

Meanwhile, here on Crandall Hill, we're proud to offer you USDA Certified Organic apples - perfect for eating, cooking and preserving. The harvest is just beginning but the trees are heavy with fruit. Varieties available now include Zestar!®, Yellow Transparent, Pristine and Duchess of Oldenburg (an antique apple). Our new farm stand is open daily for self-service. You can also call (814) 274-8004 to pre-order your selections.

We also accept the FMNP checks and can make up special $6 bags of apples for you.

Year End Review (Final Installment)

I'm taking a little side trip from the year in review this morning but it circles back to the topic at hand.

Farmer Arthur looks forward to working on various projects in this old house during the off season. This winter, he's completing work on storage spaces in the attic. It has necessitated removing boxes of records and photos and it's my job to look through the boxes, discard unneeded papers and consolidate.

In the previous post, I mentioned our old friend, the Garden Way cider press. So what did I find in that box I went through yesterday? The original file folder with all the purchase paperwork, instructions for assembling the press and such. Then, in an envelope of old pictures was this.

Our two children with their beloved Auntie Snip who grew up on this farm.
Photo was taken in November 1986.

.... and now back to 2018.

... and here it is - or perhaps I should say here it was!

We were pleased with the first pressing of cider that could be sold to the public. Washing, grinding and pressing the apples at the cidery in New York was efficient and by running the product through an UV filter there before bottling, we could be assured that harmful bacteria that may have found its way into the process would be destroyed without affecting the fresh taste of the juice.
Fresh cider that has no preservatives added has a short shelf life, even under optimal temperature conditions. The natural fermentation process begins and lends a bubbly nature to the cider. Some folks appreciate that fizziness and the accompanying tartness.
In our second (and final) pressing just before Thanksgiving, we offered our customers the opportunity place orders in advance so we could deliver the product directly after pressing. In addition, cider was delivered to Schoolhouse Natural Foods near Eldred and Costa's Shursave Food Shop.

Will we make cider an integral part of 2019? That is a question to be answered in coming weeks and months. Once the costs of production are calculated, we will know more whether cider is a good fit for us.

Cider making was the final big event at the farm for 2018. Our inspection for USDA Organic Certification was completed in early November with no deficiencies to be addressed. We appreciate working with our inspector, Alvie Fourness, and the other folks at PCO (Pennsylvania Certified Organic). And just the other day, the paperwork that needs to be completed for the 2019 Organic Systems Plan arrived in the email inbox ... and the invoice followed shortly thereafter. Welcome to the new year!

A Grand Duchess

The Duchess of Oldenburg
significant because it's the first fruit of our tree grafting efforts

Development of our apple orchards includes a grafting program. For the past few springs, Arthur has set up shop in "the shop", surrounded by buckets of grafting sticks and root stocks. The rusty one-burner propane stove (used to heat water for morning coffee on long-ago camping trips) sits on the workbench to warm up the grafting wax concoction he uses.
One major goal of his grafting program is to identify and save trees that populate the back yards and fields of our neighbors.  These old trees have been bearing fruit that has been finding its way into pantries and pie crusts for generations.
Some of these trees are varieties that are not identified by names, such as the one we've tagged as "Snyder Milk House Apple." This early apple grows on a gnarly tree in the pasture of Paul and Cathy Snyder down the Dingman Run Road from us. Paul's father, Steven, referred to it as "common fruit" and the family has used it for applesauce for generations.
Our fledgling nursery has grafts for the Snyder Milk House Apple as well as the Tucker apple from Colesburg, Kenyon's Sweet Apple and Strawberry Apples from the Kidney farm and many more.
In the picture above, Arthur holds the first fruit of a tree he grafted three years ago. It's an old variety called Duchess of Oldenburg. The scion for the graft came from the Sunset Valley Farm of John and Karlene Peet.
The Oldenburg “kept up the hope of prairie orchardists in times of great discouragement,” according to The Apples of New York, Volume II, by S. A. Beach (J. B. Lyon Co., 1905).
And so today, the Oldenburg is keeping up the hopes of the Metzgers on our heritage farm on Crandall Hill, Potter County, Pennsylvania.