Growing Organic Peaches and Apricots in Central Minnesota

For the past decade Dan Shield has been developing methods for growing many varieties of organic peaches and apricots in high tunnels on his Stone Creek Farm in Central Minnesota. Through the years Dan has been working with Deb Hermel and Jason Rehn of the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The high tunnels were built through the NRCS's Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). In this video Dan explains how he plants, fertilizes, irrigates, grafts, prunes, pollinates, and protects his trees from the cold and pests using organic methods. He shows how he harvests and markets his sweet ripe fruit. Dan also explains how he constructs his high tunnels from soil preparation to plastic covering.
Videography by Dan Balluff.
For more information about soil health agricultural practices please visit the Minnesota NRCS website at: www.nrcs.usda.gov/conservatio...
And for more videos about other NRCS conservation-related projects please visit the Minnesota NRCS KZbin channel at: / @minnesotanrcs
www.nrcs.usda.gov/
/ nrcs_mn
Time stamps:
00:00:00 Introduction to Dan Shield and Stone Creek Farm in Central Minnesota
00:00:38 High tunnels, peach and apricot tree varieties
00:02:13 Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)
00:02:26 Jason Rehn, District Conservationist, NRCS
00:02:59 Deb Hermel, Program Specialist, NRCS
00:03:14 Dan Shield working with NRCS
00:03:33 The organic peaches and apricots
00:07:00 Why grow organic peaches in Minnesota
00:08:28 Selling the peaches and apricots, costs and profits
00:12:13 Grafting, rootstock, and soil type
00:16:29 Planting the trees
00:17:02 Taking leaf samples to evaluate nutrient needs
00:17:47 Pollination of the trees
00:18:30 Pruning, training, and organic pest control methods
00:24:35 Additional benefits of growing in a high tunnel
00:26:20 Plastic covering the roof in winter and covering the ground year round
00:29:58 Cooling hours needed to grow peaches
00:31:16 Irrigation of trees
00:32:54 Constructing a high tunnel to protect from hail and cold weather
00:35:51 Supplemental heating
00:36:02 High tunnel construction methods
00:37:50 Advice for others who might want to do this
00:39:09 Advantages of locally grown food, Dan's success story and contacting the NRCS
00:40:25 Dan's future projects
#hightunnel
#peaches
#organicfarming

[@Prairiehawkmn]

Thank you for sharing!

[@user-lp2sl5pz6p]

Thank you for producing fruit. Where do you market your peaches.

[@NevadaBeeMan-nq3po]

Can you give me some information about your greenhouse? Were you got it .. what model? And size