Breaking News for Apple Lovers
& Community Orchardists

Welcome to the page where we share news and happenings about the community orchard movement. We'll be posting ways apple lovers can help build momentum for the cause, general interest stories about the world of apples, and pertinent quotes from you about our efforts to ensure local fruit.

Grow Organic Apples is now on Facebook

The potential to build the apple lover side of this movement via Facebook is incredible. We now have Facebook networking pages of our own. Here's where the many who eat fruit might first encounter the whole notion of good fruit. Facebook members will be spreading the word with their own networks all about local orchards that offer organic apples. The more people hear about our Grow Organic Apples website, the more dynamic this whole vision becomes!

Organic Apples Now! is our "mass-marketing group" on Facebook. Grow Organic Apples with the Holistic Orchard Network is our "news and links page" on Facebook. If you do this sort of thing - actually have a Facebook account - please do the following: Sign on board to our group. Invite everyone in your personal network of friends to join our group. Become a "fan" of our page. Please do this. . . as "social networking" will help community orchardists be discovered by far more people.

Virginia girls bringing in the harvest.

Slow Food hosts the first Forgotten Fruits Summit

The Renewing America's Food Traditions collaborative, managed by Slow Food USA, is sponsoring experts from across the country to come together for a summit on heirloom apple varieties on March 19, 2009, in Madison, Wisconsin. Michael Phillips from the Holistic Orchard Network is one of those invited to discuss the status of grassroots efforts to conserve and promote heirloom apple varieties. Knowledgeable apple people like John Bunker, Jim Cummins, Lee Calhoun, and Gary Nabhan will be participating as well.

What apples would you suggest for the Ark of Taste?

A Plug for Community Orchard Listings

We set a goal to make this site the place where organic-minded customers can find holistic orchards near to home. All growers might want to take note of this testimonial:

We have invested considerable effort into making the background coding just right to bring Grow Organic Apples to the fore in the search engine race. The full value of what's being done here goes far beyond just marketing, of course, but hey! Every new customer who purchases flavorful apples from a local holistic orchard becomes a big plus in our mutual success column.

The Betsy Lydon Ark Award

This sustainable farming award recognizes an Ark of Taste grower whose work reflects the goals of Slow Food USA and, if better known and celebrated, would benefit the wider community. The award serves as a memorial to Betsy Lydon, whose life and work profoundly expressed her passionate support for local producers and their endeavors to provide traditional food and beverages.

Producers can nominate themselves, or can be nominated by a community member or peer. Nominees must be working with one or more products on the Ark of Taste and making a significant contribution to the advancement of knowledge about the production practices they employ. Further, their work should demonstrate the concept of "place" where links between local landscape, culture, and the community are identifiable and embodied in their work.

The nominations review committee started with one of our own back in 2005: An updated interview with Michael Phillips sets the stage for other tree fruit growers to be considered for this honor.