Park Hill Orchard, Easthampton

You may have noticed some big changes on the land this winter. We have cut down over 1000 of the huge old trees to make room for new plantings.

Don't be alarmed. This is a regular operation in an orchard. When one door cloese another opens, and the new stock that we will plant is of much better breeding and has much better disease resistance.

The long story is that while there were many benefits to having the land fallow for fourteen years, the old trees grew out on the top and shaded their lower limbs. On most of the big trees the first live branch was out of reach. Additionally, the blocks had been laid out for chemical management, lacking the airspace and even surface needed for organic management.

We honor the big old trees and thank them for feeding so many over their years. And we promise much better is on the way!