Being spray free means little if chemicals are still being used with fertilisers or weed reduction as these chemicals can also be taken up by the plants.
What exactly is so bad about pesticides anyway?
What is the process to become certified organic?
Is an organic orchard less efficient than a traditional orchard? If so, how?
What are some of the challenges organic farmers face?
Can you talk us through a typical day of work at an organic orchard?
As soon as the season is finished, we begin the pruning, which is a massive undertaking, and large amount of vigorous growth needs to be cut back, so that we can manage the orchard with continual mowing, weeding and fertilising, and also ensuring the pickers have fruit at the right height for harvesting.
Can you explain why non-organic berries are labelled the 'dirty dozen'?
Tell us about our partner farmers and the people that we benefit by eating oob organic?
There isn’t enough organic farming in New Zealand to satisfy the demand for our customers in NZ and Australia, therefore after exhausting all available supply locally, we have encouraged a long time grower in Chile to partner with us, and to grow additional fruits to satisfy our needs. This is a close relationship which has culminated from many years of partnership and visits to and from Chile.
In what way is organic farming sustainable?
FAQ: What does 'regenerative' farming mean?
Regenerative farming is the practice of putting back into the soil what has been taken away. For example plants draw nutrition from the soil, and this needs to be replaced. By mulching the prunings, we are putting back organic matter into the soil. It also includes working on the biodiversity of the orchard, which involves utilising all the natural elements that existed prior to working the land.
FAQ: how do you keep pests off organic fruit if you don't use pesticides?
Our philosophy is that a healthy plant will not attract pests. Pests tend to target weaker plants, so we remove any plants showing signs of stress. Blueberries fortunately do not attract a wide array of pests. Lemon tree borer will target wounds from unclean pruning, so we ensure good practice with clean tolls and clean cuts to avoid this.
FAQ: are there any additives coating your frozen berries + fruit?
FAQ: where is your produce grown?
While we would like to grow all fruit straight from our orchard in Omaha, we simply can’t. Our climate here in New Zealand doesn’t allow us to grow every fruit and all year round. But that’s why we have partner growers in other countries. So we can bring you delicious 100% certified organic fruit, in every season.