Apples have been a part of the human experience since their initial discovery, thousands of years ago, in the Caucasus Mountains of Kazakhstan, and since then they have become the stuff of legend. From the story of Adam and Eve to the Grimm brothers’ fairy tales, apples are known around the world for their virtuous and not-so-virtuous mythical qualities as well as for their delicious taste and nutritional benefits. In Vermont, apples are a major agricultural staple and one of the three largest economic factors in the state (Bove et al, 2013). These two big contributions make apples an almost revered crop in the Vermont food system, up there with milk, cheese and maple syrup. Vermonters love their apples and for good reason; apples have a long and important history in Vermont that has created a strong nostalgia around the fruit as well as a very active desire to advance the apple industry into a new farming age.
|
Apples arrived in New England almost as soon as the first Massachusetts Bay Colony settlers did and from then on nearly every farm in the new world grew apples (Vermont Fruit Tree Growers Association). The early years in harsh Vermont provided inedible apples but, thankfully, over time the settlers found out just how adaptable the fruit is. It’s adaptability to cold winters and many different varieties turned the apple into a staple crop used for animal feed, human food and, most importantly, cider (T.Bradshaw, personal interview, March 10, 2015). Back then the water wasn’t safe to drink so people relied on other beverages, such as hard cider, to provide liquid sustenance. The necessity for apples turned the fruit into a profitable commercial industry and many farmers looked to apples for their main source of revenue (T.Bradshaw, personal interview, March 10, 2015). Farmers were especially thankful for the apple’s easy naturalization to Vermont soils, but they were doubly lucky that the Vermont landscape was already open from burning trees and a booming sheep industry; both factors allowed for easy orchard planting. Vermont was again lucky because its geographical location allowed for access to both the European and Canadian markets (T.Bradshaw, personal interview, March 10, 2015). From this brief history we begin to understand the importance of the apple to the Vermont people.
If you grew up in Vermont, or anywhere in New England, you know that come September it isn’t only school that starts again. Farms around the state begin preparing for the long awaited fall season and the rush of pick-your-own apple lovers that the cooler weather brings. Farm stands and orchards become major family and tourist destinations, offering pick-your-own apples, donuts, cider, vegetables, pies, barnyard animals, hay rides and more. This time of the year brings back a lot of memories for people as well as the opportunity to create new memories with family and friends. Terry Bradshaw believes it’s the apple’s important history in Vermont that has turned it into such a sentimental part of the food system. Happy nostalgia has a physically and mentally beneficial effect on people that’s hard to ignore or forget and it’s this nostalgia that small apple orchards depend on to stay running. The acres of old, sprawling, gnarled apple trees is a beautiful and wistful sight to so many and sometimes it’s this very picture that brings families in year after year during the fall despite the fact that apples are sold in grocery stores year round. And it’s the nostalgia that keeps these small family orchards running, despite the also important large orchards around the state.
|
|
As explained by both the interview with Bradshaw and “Strategic Planning for the Vermont Apple Industry” there are two types of apple orchards, large and small, and they each have their own sets of issues as well as shared problems in the Vermont food system. The large 100-acre farms in the state are run primarily for wholesale purposes. The big orchards have less specialization, maybe only 3 or 4 apple varieties, but have much higher volume. They sell to the major grocery stores and have a presence in these stores for 8-10 months of the year thanks to good cold storage practices and facilities that allow apples to stay fresher longer (T.Bradshaw, personal interview, March 10, 2015). The smaller orchards are situated on closer to 20 acres with about 20 different varieties of apples as well as other products like vegetables and berries. They cater more towards families and individuals as well as farmers markets and coops (T.Bradshaw, personal interview, March 10, 2015). Besides the acreage difference, another major difference between small- and large-scale orchards is the trees themselves. As mentioned before, most people picture apple trees as large, old, gnarled trees that have been on the farm for centuries. This is true for small orchards but large orchards rely on newer apple trees that require less room and resources and produce more fruit. Thanks to modern growing strategies these new trees allow for denser, more productive orchards with 3-year, rather than 10-year, payback on higher quality apples (T.Bradshaw, personal interview, March 10, 2015). Large orchards can keep up with modern techniques because they have the capital to do so whereas small orchards don’t have the money to spend on adopting the latest practices. Not to mention the customers that small orchards want to bring in don’t want to see smaller trees on an orchard they can barely walk through.
|
Despite some important differences between Vermont orchards, all apples in the state have one main similarity: pests, approximately 80 of them. Since fruit trees cannot be rotated between different fields on an annual, or even semi-annual basis, “pest complexes develop over several years and become a perennial problem for the grower” (Bove et al. 2013). Managing apple orchard pests is a long-term practice that, no matter the orchard, requires crop-protecting sprays, one reason for why organic apple growing is nearly impossible in Vermont (Bove et al, 2013). The 70s saw the implementation of Integrated Pest Management, a technique used on all farms, large and small. IPM is a holistic management system that replaces high chemical use with the farmer’s knowledge of the pests in order to target them at appropriate times and only after they’ve been determined to be a threat to the crop (Bove et al. 2013). IPM is an interesting system because it requires a lot of knowledge on the farmer’s part of pest and predator populations and life cycles, accurate weather data collection and a total understanding of pesticide chemistries (Bove et al. 2013). Apple growers must know everything about their orchard in order to produce the greatest number of apples, a benefit, I think, to the Vermont food system. One other similarity between large and small-scale orchards is the inability to grow organic apples. Due to the high number of pests and diseases, it’s literally impossible for an apple to be organic in the state of Vermont. Vermont orchards have a lot more pests and diseases than orchards in the south and west and this makes it difficult to not use chemicals on the trees, even with the greatly effective Integrated Pest Management system (T.Bradshaw, personal interview, March 10, 2015). But despite all these issues, both large and small orchards prevail and continue to thrive in this state because people love their Vermont apples!
|
|
Whether you pick it off the tree yourself or grab a bag from the grocery store, there’s a good chance the apple you’re eating is from Vermont. About 80% of our apples are produced in state, the rest coming from Argentina or Chile (T.Bradshaw, personal interview, March 10, 2015). This fruit is vitally important to the Vermont economic and food systems as well as to the state’s past, present and future. And with new growing techniques being developed every year, it’s hard to imagine we’ll ever have to picture an apple-less Vermont.
Portrait of Player: Terence Bradshaw
![Picture](/uploads/2/4/2/3/24231648/7724053.png?221)
Terry Bradshaw’s office sits in the middle of an office maze in Jeffords Hall, UVM’s LEED certified building dedicated to plant biology and plant and soil science. A hallway away from Bradshaw’s office is the apple and grape lab, the perfect place for Bradshaw to conduct his research. As director of UVM’s Horticulture Farm, Bradshaw has many responsibilities besides research. They include teaching, consulting, advising and, most important, cultivating a love for apples.
If Bradshaw is one thing it’s an apple genius. It’s clear he loves what he does at UVM, directing the Horticulture Farm and teaching students. When asked, he’s happy to dive into the history and culture surrounding apples in Vermont. He explained how apples were a major staple for early life, including being needed for cider (because the water wasn’t safe to drink), livestock feed and human food. And even though apples originated in the Caucasus Mountains in Kazakhstan, they’re extremely adaptable to almost all types of climate and weather and therefore were able to grow in Vermont. As life in Vermont became more stable apples turned into a commodity that farmers could capitalize on and it’s this means that has persisted through the years to create a nostalgia surrounding pick your own, pie and cider. But it’s not just the nostalgic commercialization that creates demand for apples in Vermont. Bradshaw went into detail on how his work is to help farms modernize their apple growing by implementing new types of farming. These new types of farming are enabled mainly by the wholesale farms who don’t rely on “the experience” of apples, but rather need to grow as many apples as quickly as possible to distribute to stores, not to families looking for memories. A Vermont man born and raised, Bradshaw radiates an earthy connection that people can trust, and with Ph.D. in Plant and Soil science from UVM, he is the leading expert in the state. He wrote “Strategic Planning for the Apple Industry in Vermont: Planning for Success in the 21st Century” as part of his Ph.D. candidacy and is now actively using it to advise farmers all over the state.
It’s clear Bradshaw loves what he does in the classroom, the lab, and out in the field. He’s accessible both to students and Vermont farmers and isn’t afraid to get down and dirty, which shows in the way he talks about his relationships with farmers around the state. He explained at one point that in one of his more advanced classes his students have to put together a business plan for a farm. A lot of these students take the plan very seriously and some go on to actually implement them. One former student implemented her plan on her father’s farm and it failed but instead of giving up she went to Bradshaw for help. Bradshaw not only gave his input but also turned the farm into a class case study and research project, which then went toward fixing the farm’s issues. It’s this sort of hands on teaching and learning experience that Bradshaw creates for all students and apple enthusiasts. He is truly an asset to the Vermont food system not only because of his extensive knowledge but also because of his love for apples. It’s this love that encourages him to continually seek improvements to apple growing techniques that will create a better component to the overall food system.
If Bradshaw is one thing it’s an apple genius. It’s clear he loves what he does at UVM, directing the Horticulture Farm and teaching students. When asked, he’s happy to dive into the history and culture surrounding apples in Vermont. He explained how apples were a major staple for early life, including being needed for cider (because the water wasn’t safe to drink), livestock feed and human food. And even though apples originated in the Caucasus Mountains in Kazakhstan, they’re extremely adaptable to almost all types of climate and weather and therefore were able to grow in Vermont. As life in Vermont became more stable apples turned into a commodity that farmers could capitalize on and it’s this means that has persisted through the years to create a nostalgia surrounding pick your own, pie and cider. But it’s not just the nostalgic commercialization that creates demand for apples in Vermont. Bradshaw went into detail on how his work is to help farms modernize their apple growing by implementing new types of farming. These new types of farming are enabled mainly by the wholesale farms who don’t rely on “the experience” of apples, but rather need to grow as many apples as quickly as possible to distribute to stores, not to families looking for memories. A Vermont man born and raised, Bradshaw radiates an earthy connection that people can trust, and with Ph.D. in Plant and Soil science from UVM, he is the leading expert in the state. He wrote “Strategic Planning for the Apple Industry in Vermont: Planning for Success in the 21st Century” as part of his Ph.D. candidacy and is now actively using it to advise farmers all over the state.
It’s clear Bradshaw loves what he does in the classroom, the lab, and out in the field. He’s accessible both to students and Vermont farmers and isn’t afraid to get down and dirty, which shows in the way he talks about his relationships with farmers around the state. He explained at one point that in one of his more advanced classes his students have to put together a business plan for a farm. A lot of these students take the plan very seriously and some go on to actually implement them. One former student implemented her plan on her father’s farm and it failed but instead of giving up she went to Bradshaw for help. Bradshaw not only gave his input but also turned the farm into a class case study and research project, which then went toward fixing the farm’s issues. It’s this sort of hands on teaching and learning experience that Bradshaw creates for all students and apple enthusiasts. He is truly an asset to the Vermont food system not only because of his extensive knowledge but also because of his love for apples. It’s this love that encourages him to continually seek improvements to apple growing techniques that will create a better component to the overall food system.