ARMSTRONG
Continued from Page 1A
The Oregon State Extension
Program, located at the t-ane
County Fairgrounds, answers
questions pertaining to crop
maintenance When specialists
re< ommond pesticide pun lias
es, the Kugene Farmers Co-Op
on Prairie Road has horlii ultur
ists on staff to respond to the
needs of local growers
Organic agriculture is impos
sible w hen it comes to prevent
ing siahs and controlling the
worm problem susceptible to
apples.
Gregg Martin-Clift works with
Torn and Donna Armstrong,
advising them on fertilizing and
pest management. Integrative
Pest Management is a key com
ponent to helping the Armstrongs
use loss pesticide to trap hugs and
moths Apples can he severely
damaged by bugs and moths.
A seeing spray nozzle head that
watches for trees and doesn't
spray unnecessarily, enables the
Armstrongs to minimize their
pesticide use. Martin-Clift said
that importing European red
mites has also been an alternative
to spraying.
"Using beneficial Insects, like
the European rod mites, which
are predator mites, controls mites
and moths that can do over
whelming damage and can
reduce the toxicity. The European
red mites are the good guys,"
Martin-Clift said.
Donna Armstrong believes the
community-at-large is like a fam
ily and each year they continue
to get now, appreciative cus
tomers. When customers are
unable to drive out to the
orchard. Oasis Fine Foods is one
of the lix:nl markets that acts as a
distributor for the apples.
In an effort to think globally
and act locally, buyer Elizabeth
Alderson finds that carrying
UK. n*t i SHMCX I HI van
Tom's Apples occupies much of Donna and Tom Armstrongs time They are the sole operators ot the
farm they started In 19«0.
Tom’s Apples brings in droves of
customers and supports .1 local
grower
"Oasis took, a survey four or
five years ago and found one of
the primary reasons customers
shop at Oasis is Tom's Apples
They grow a lot of old varieties
of apples and newer varieties
like ('.ala Customers come here
out of convenience." Alderson
said.
The Gala apple originated in
New Zealand and with the [on
agold it lias bee ome one of the
most popular eating apples
grown at Tom's Orchards
Through trial and error and
planting dwarf trees, the Arm
strongs have taken risks and
introduced new varieties to the
local market Gala apples were
largely unheard of in this area
until Tom took s chance follow -
ing up a recommendation ft*'
read about in a trade publica
lion
(»rx>rf Fruit (.'rimer maga/.ine.
published in Vakiina, Wash . is
one of the largest maga/ines
devoted to fruit production. It's
mostly directed to farmers
Readers can get a full descrip
tion of various apple t rops
Many people enjoy driving to
Tom's Apples nod prefer direct
contact with the Armstrongs and
their ori hard Teresa Reynolds
of Eugene comes to sample the
apples and says that is her main
reason for coining annually.
"I want them to lie in business
next year and 1 keep going buck
to be sure they will It's worth
thi> trip I know the apples have
been handled by fewer people
than in the supermarket and I
can sample the apples to see
what types t want to buy* 1 like
to make juice, applesauce and
have plain eating apples in
sUx k," Reynolds said
The business occupies much
of the Armstrongs' time,
although the crop harvest starts
at the end of July and Inst until
late November This year they'll
probably sell apples until
December.
They prune the trees in cold
weather while listening to the
birds and by April they start to
sis' blossoms on the trees
l our and ! Kum.i Armstrong
are not < ompntitivn people,
t hey think they bring business
out to other farms in the area
and find those farms attract
business to them, as well
' We re interested in people
buying our product and in
putting out a good product.
We re in this business bet ause
wo like it and because yve're
making a living nt‘it Our main
concern is putting out a good
product." Donna Armstrong
said
Living simply so that others
may simply live is a bard phi
losophy to live by and as this area
develops, it bei oines more diffi
cult Thu Armstrongs' children
aren't interested in running the
orchard for the long term. Keep
ing the on bard alive into the next
century may be no easy feat
For now, the caretakers are
wall hful of new weeds and offer
tastes oi their cider at an orchard
lust outside of the city limits
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