On Wednesday 13th November 2019 we interviewed a local farmer, named Martin Keller. He is a orchard grower (= Obstbauer) but also owns and raises cute animals. He took us around and showed us the farm. There were apple and pear trees, apricot trees, plum trees, cherry trees, strawberry and some raspberry bushes. We realized how less we know about apples. The harvest has just finished and will start again in July.
Martin told us about the differences between the apples, its appearance is clearly shown if you look at them next to eachother and start comparing. However, he was able to name us all the sorts he harvest, its taste and their special characteristic (e.g. the sort called "Elstar" never gets brown if its cutten into pieces). In Switzerland apple trees raised in Switzerland or raised abroad can be bought, of course Swiss trees are more exensive. Farmer buy them one or two years old and implant them either in spring or autumn. While the danger getting catched by mices is bigger in autoumn, the harvest is smaller if the trees are plant in spring. To avoid mices nesting on young apple trees, farmer burn the high grass next to the seedling. There are a few vermin (Schädlinge) beside mice and birds, like various insects but also the weather can decrease the harvest dramatically. This year the cold caused huge damages because of trees blossoms (Blüten) got frozen in May, in previous years it was more the hail. Once the harvest has been done, they split the apples into different categories for different purpose. The apples can be stocked under certain conditions and finally sold.
The detailed interview will follow on "waste my energy website" by end of January 2020.
More information about our interview questions to be found: here
Have you ever visited a farm? It was a cold but very nice and interesting afternoon we spent together!
Tamara Keller, Simone Etter, Stefanie Kunz