Does Milburn Orchards grow “organic” fruit?
We do not grow organic fruits, however, use a modern system called “Integrated Pest Management” (IPM). Most organic fruits are grown in a western arid climate, where there is little rain or humidity to promote disease and insect development. But they too, have to control some of these problems. In our climate, there are some fruit growers trying to grow “organic”. However, some of the produce called “organic” are far from what you would think. Copper, oil, sulfer, dried clay, and dried fish products do not always create a tasty fruit. Our orchard was one of the first on the East coast to implement IPM on all our fruits and vegetables. Simply put, we monitor the amount of insects in our crops constantly, then our computer tells us if the “bad guy” insects are outnumbering the “good guy” insects that we want want in our fields (they eat the bad guys). We only use sprays when necessary to reduce the bad bugs with no harm to the good bugs. IPM has helped us reduce our chemical application
