The Steinwandhof and its meadows are managed by me and my parents. My grandfather still ran cattle and was self-sufficient. Today we live from fruit growing. Our orchards are spread all over the village of Ciardes. Since there are already many organic farmers here in Ciardes, plant protection is fortunately an uncomplicated matter for us. All orchards are mostly surrounded by the orchards of other organic farmers and we exchange many experiences with each other. That was not always the case. Also, the advice we received was not always as good as it is today. We cultivate seven varieties according to organic guidelines, including of course the crunchy Golden Delicious, so characteristic of the Val Venosta Valley, but also the sweet-aromatic Natyra. This bright red shiny apple is ingenious on the palate, but in organic farming it demands a lot from us farmers. It is rather weakly growing. I am therefore very proud that I have been able to successfully propagate these fruit trees by so-called “Belzen”. This grafting method has made it possible for the little trees to grow better than before. I live with passion for agriculture and am a full-time farmer.

I can still remember when we farmers in the town of Castelbello-Ciardes asked our neighbor and famous mountaineer Reinhold Messner if we could name our new cooperative Juval after his private castle. He immediately supported our project and so our cooperative received a worthy and noble name. As a mountaineer he has great sympathy for our mountain apples and he even promised us great support in the advertising if we all switched to organic. In the meantime, many have switched to organic and I am very happy to be one of them.

What I find fascinating about organic is that every living creature plays a very important and indispensable role. No animal is on its own or even dispensable. Every animal depends on another. I try to promote this networked biodiversity, for example by growing buckwheat between the rows of apples. My grandfather already did that. He already knew that buckwheat loosens the soil through its deep roots and thus allows oxygen to penetrate to the roots of the apple trees. These then grow better. This is just one of many examples of how all living things benefit directly or indirectly from each other in organic farming. Every living creature has a unique task that is part of a complex coexistence. We organic farmers keep our words short and have to ensure good general conditions in this complexity.