By Carolyn Twesten, Weaver Street Market Produce Merchandiser
September is here, and so is North Carolina apple season! Among the first local apples to arrive each year are Deal Orchards’ EcoCertified Gala apples. Weaver Street Market has been buying from Deal Orchards since 2017, and they’ve been a valued local partner ever since.
Fourth-generation orchardman Alan Deal and his family grow apples, peaches, nectarines, and pears on 100 acres in the Brushy Mountains of Alexander County, NC.
For years, Deal Orchards has used Integrated Pest Management principles—carefully choosing methods to manage pests and diseases while reducing the need for chemical inputs. That’s no small challenge in the Southeast, where growers face significantly greater pest and disease pressure than producers in the Northwestern parts of the country. Recognizing this, an organization called Red Tomato, who distributes produce in New England, started working with the Integrative Pest Management Institute to develop the EcoCertified program.
The EcoCertified program outlines better standards for sustainable fruit production on the East Coast. These standards consider that Eastern growers have different needs but limits their farming practices to those that are more ecologically sound. These practices protect pollinators, wildlife, and people, while building soil and clean water.
Deal Orchards is the first North Carolina orchard to pursue EcoCertification! This is a slow process, but look for more EcoCertified stone fruit and apples in the coming seasons!
Learn more at redtomato.org
Stop by Deal Orchards’s farm market for a visit the next time you’re out in Taylorsville.