Good Fruit Grower

February 1

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Oregon Sales packing cooperative as a way to learn from others and be part of a grower group." They planted 22 acres of pears in 1994, and began living full-time in Medford in 2000. They planted a handful of pear cultivars, including Bartlett, Packham's Triumph, Bosc, Starkrimson, and Comice. Ed developed a sales route in three counties, selling his fruit to local grocers in cities like Grant's Pass, Medford, and Klamath Falls. Fruit for local sales were field packed and kept in cold storage rooms on the property, and some fruit was commercially packed and marketed through the cooperative. Things were going well. But roles changed last year. Nancy became the farmer after her husband died in March following a short illness. Ed, who was meticulous in his planning and recordkeeping, left her with a detailed, 35-page procedural manual, a written handbook. "He knew he was old, so he wanted to have things like irrigation scheduling down on paper," Nancy explained. "But he wasn't expecting to get sick." One of the biggest challenges was knowing when to irrigate. "Even though Ed had tracked rainfall, ET [evapotranspiration], and recorded previous irrigations, I couldn't do all the recordkeeping that Ed did, so I had to figure it out. I went with the intuition of my foreman, Jose Luis-Serna. And it worked out fine." During frost season, Nancy's sons from Bend came over to help run heaters, orchard fans, and undertree sprinklers. The two sons also helped keep equipment running during the season and pitched in at harvest. "The hardest part was making [all] those decisions…" Easy year The 2013 season was a good year to be a Medford pear orchardist. Frost control was relatively easy, fruit quality was high, and the pears were It takes a village —Nancy Vaughn Good Fruit Grower visited Nancy in October, shortly large. The one negative was fireblight, and many orchardists, including after she completed her first growing season and harvest. Nancy, were busy cutting out shoot strikes after harvest in October. She credited a village of people—OSU extension researchers Drs. David Sugar and Rick "Everything this past season was easy, but it didn't feel easy," she said. "It was a good Hilton, local growers, field representatives, chemical company representatives, and year for me to get started, but the bad thing was that it was a really good year for pears, her orchard foreman—for helping her to make crop decisions and get the fruit picked. so I really don't know what I'm getting into." "Everybody was so wonderful," she said. In her first solo year of farming, Nancy's Comice pears were going to be included As a way to learn what she should be doing in the orchard last year, she regularly in the gift packs of Harry and David, proof of their high quality. Her fruit destined for attended grower luncheon meetings, sponsored by OSU and held twice a month during Harry and David were packed by Naumes, Inc., of Medford, while other varieties went the season. to Stadelman Fruit Company in Hood River, Oregon. "Growers freely shared information at these meetings, and they were really helpful to When the SOS grower cooperative packing house closed several years ago, the me, as was OSU Extension, who came out to my orchard,"she said. Vaughns' fruit had to be shuffled about, with some going to Stadelman while their What was the most difficult part of farming by herself? Comice stayed with local packers. The variety's tender skin makes it difficult to ship "The hardest part was making those decisions about orchard treatments, pest conlong distances before it is packed. trol, weed management, and fertilizers. I had all of these people with expertise providNancy is busy pruning and preparing the orchard for the coming season, although ing information, but ultimately, I had to make the final decision. At first I had buyer's she said it's too soon to decide about the long-term future. "We started the orchard with remorse when I made a decision to spray, but I finally learned that you just have to the intention of keeping the farm in the family for the next generation. So I'm going to decide on something and go forward." try it for at least another season." • Natural Fish Fertilizers Products & Solutions for Agricultural Safety for Organic & Sustainable Crop Production h i g h l E x t re m ely ev e l C a l cs o f ava i l a b l e P h o s pi u m & horus BERRIES VINEYARDS ORCHARDS Chemical Protective Suit Chemical Gloves Full-Face Respirator Half-Face Respirator Chemical Splash Goggles Chemical Resistant Boots Disposable and Reusable Suits Available Safety First: Follow chemical manufacturer's guidelines for decontaminating the spray suite. Do not use suit if there are cuts, holes, tears, missing snaps, or separated seams. Add a Cooling-Vest on hot days as a heat stress precaution Dramm Corporation Manitowoc, WI • U.S.A. www.FishFertilizer.com 44 FEBRUARY 1, 2014 GOOD FRUIT GROWER 360.333.4044 Casey Schoenberger Mount Vernon, WA www.oxarc.com Washington - Idaho - Oregon - Shop Online 1-800-765-9055 www.goodfruit.com

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