Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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Our pack out rate was increased 15 percent across the board. Even our juice
oranges were absolutely gorgeous. I had buyers calling me and saying, 'Hey,
Mary, when did you go conventional? These are beautiful.' I said, 'Aren't
they?' That soybean oil has done the trick.” Rob continues to experiment,
too. This year he may try a new pottery ash material to dust the trees and
protect them.
They have distinct grove fertility management, as Rob explains. “All this
weed over here is hairy indigo. Looks just like wood when it dries out. If you
put that in your soil year after year, you will have nice, good-looking dirt.”
He contrasts his soil to conventional groves. “Half the groves you go to look
like beach sand, no organic matter. Now all I have to do is maintain what I
got. I can't add nothing to it. It's got everything that it needs.”They alsowork
with an established fertilizer company, Fertrell. “They are the oldest organic
brand fertilizer in business in the United States, and they have the best in the
world.” Rob and Mary have had many visitors who are interested in their
methods. “One day this one professor from the University of Vermont came,
and he couldn't believe it. He was speechless. He cut oranges open; he took
pictures from the inside, outside. He said he had been all over the world and
had never seen a piece of fruit that had the exterior color, the interior color,
and the eye appeal we have here on this farm. He actually was picking up
dirt, sniffing it, and saying that was the best dirt he ever smelled. He said it
smells like real dirt, and he was just amazed by the healthiness of my ground
and of the piece of fruit. He was with the World Citrus Convention, and
these guys go all over the world.”
Rob describes some other visitors: “I had a bunch of people from South
America out here a couple of years ago; university researchers and some
growers. One guy went to the University of Florida in the fifties. He was a
Dutchman fromHolland but he moved to Peru years ago and had a nursery
and grewpecans down there. The number one recommended cover cropwas
hairy indigo.” He contrasts this to what the majority of growers use. “Hell,
now everything comes in a five-gallon bucket, with a skull and crossbones
on it. You would be surprised how many people come in here and say,
'Man, when are you going to cut all those weeds down?' But then there are
some slicker that says, 'Whoa, buddy you've got yourself a nice stand of
indigo.' They know what it is. Now the average tourist, they just think it
is weedier than hell. They don't know nothing.” Mary notes, “It seems like
the bigger the organic movement gets, the more people come here. I think
this year we had seventeen more scientists come here from Europe, Chile,
Peru, Germany, and they had their doctorates. It was amazing. They were
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