We had a 10 a.m. meeting arranged with Vincent Gizdich, a local apple farmer and were 90 minutes late. Stuck in bumper to bumper Silicon Valley traffic, we tried to make the most out of this trip to our apple grower. Larry (Choicelunch Founder) and I reviewed some questions: are the Gizdich apples we offer to our students organic? What is ‘integrated pest management? How will distribution work? How do the apples hold up after picking?
When we finally arrived at the ranch, any traffic-induced anxiety vanished. The January morning promised a sunny day and Vincent’s warm handshake was natural and heart-felt. Our tour began in his office, looking over environmental testing reports. This wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, when I checked my outlook calendar and read, “Field trip to Gizdich ranch.” It was comforting, though, to see the level of analysis and documentation showing the absence of chemicals and harmful pesticides. The office smelled delicious, too, and I thought there must be a Yankee candle burning, adding to the hominess of the small desk area. My judgments and expectations were wrong on so many levels.
We walked into the sun and out to a pippin orchard. Vincent showed us the moth traps he uses to keep the apple mouth population low. The apple moth is the single biggest threat to a healthy apple orchard. With a clever trap, the idea is not to eradicate the malevolent coddling moths (which would take a lot of poisonous chemicals) but to diminish their number. With ‘pheromone mating disruption,’ Vincent’s agenda is to confuse the male moths into thinking there are female moths in the trap. Basically, he takes advantage of innate biological urges to out-smart the little buggers.
Vince and Larry talked a lot about conventional versus ‘organic’ produce, and how some organic farmers can use more chemicals that are registered by the organic certifying body, the CCOF, than conventional growers. We talked about consumer expectations and how difficult it is to give a perfect looking, blemish-free, shiny fruit without using a lot of sprays. There are ways to try and do both, though. For example, like many other conscientious growers, Vince uses a legume cover crop at the base of his apple orchards to keep nitrogen in the soil. This is a perfect example of using known science and natural systems to produce sustainable agriculture.
We toured the ranch’s kitchen where loving hands cook up the pies, jams and other goodies Vincent sells to supplement his farm income.
Finally, we entered the cold storage area. The scent of the chilled apples was something I cannot describe. Imagine bathing in a tub apple juice, eating a freshly-baked apple pie and drinking bubbly apple cider, so strong in goes up your noseâ¦all at the same time! I could have lived in that room, and drank up the aromas all day long. How embarrassed I was to admit looking for a Yankee candle when we first arrived. That lovely scent came from the thousands of fresh-picked apples all along!
As Larry and I drove back onto the 101 freeway, I realized how incredible the morning had been. How inspiring it was to meet Vincent, see his son (the fifth generation!) work the ranch, and how meaningful buzz words like, ‘relationships with your grower,’ ‘pesticide-free,’ and ‘school lunch,’ can really be.
