I live in Silandro with my family and I manage our farm according to organic principles. It’s a heritage estate that has been owned by our family for more than 200 years. Many years ago, I helped my father and now he helps me. When it became foreseeable that I would take over my father’s farm, I attended a two-year agricultural course. Our organic orchards are situated in and around Silandro where we mainly grow apples. Furthermore, we grow potatoes and other fruit varieties for our own consumption in our garden and we keep chickens as well.

I would like to offer a wide range of varieties. This is why I do not only grow Golden Delicious apples with their red cheeks that are typical for Val Venosta, but also Gala, a well-known apple variety whose cultivation is rather simple and whose bloom is a real pleasure year by year. Growing Natyra, a new apple variety that is excellent in taste, however, is a bit more complicated. We need additional helping hands at harvest time in order to harvest the different varieties at the right moment.

Variety is what I like most of my work in the orchards. Working by hand alternates with working with machines. If I compare my current production method with the past, there is one significant difference: I generally think more about soil culture and fertility and we make sowings more often. I wanted to farm sustainably and so the conversion to organic was a logical step for me. Several discussions with my friend, another organic apple producer, further reinforced my decision to take the final step.