Meet Linda Hoffman, orchardist at Old Frog Pond Farm, and Laura Davis, Organic Certification Assistance Coordinator and Soil Health Advisor with NOFA/Mass, for a hands-on exploration of organic management practices for orchards and small-scale fruit production. This video discusses the orchard’s perennial intercropping system and its impact on soil health and pest management. We review Old Frog Pond’s foliar spraying methods and approach to tree nutrition. See Old Frog Pond’s pruning system for managing fire blight and other pathogens, alongside a hands-on demonstration of whip-and-tongue grafting, and examples of topworked trees.
Old Frog Pond Farm is one of the few Certified Organic orchards in the state of Massachusetts. Linda Hoffman moved to Old Frog Pond Farm in 2001 to find that the orchard was a tangle of brambles. poison ivy, and dying trees. Hoffman was determined to bring the orchard back to health and to do it organically. In 2006, the berry patch and the orchard were Certified Organic. Hoffman continues to explore holistic and harmonious ways to grow fruit. She is grateful that being a farmer gives her the opportunity to continuously discover the radical complexity and perfection of the natural world. More on her story can be found in her book, The Artist and the Orchard: A Memoir. Check out Old Frog Pond Farm at www.oldfrogpond...
This event was supported by the Transition to Organic Partnership Program, TOPP, Trillium Accounting, and microBIOMETER.