Lilah Morgan wrote:
Good chance the local extension office will be at farmer's market next
weekend(they had a booth last time I was there) so I will bring a leaf and
ask them then if they're there. And just to forestall any more arguing, I am
anti man-made pesticides/fungicides, etc myself. So those who would suggest
it can just save some time and NOT do it because I never will. When my
mother was pregnant with me, the place we lived at used to be orange
orchards/groves in southern California and the ground there was saturated
with dioxin/Agent Orange. As a result, I was born with serious health
issues. Doctors didn't think I'd even make it a year. Only reason I have is
because of NATURAL medicines, and I get to keep taking a handful of them
every day for the rest of my life. So don't try and tell me that you can
spray as many chemicals as you want and it doesn't hurt anything.


I will bet the bank that they analyze it as apple scab.

There are several 'organic' fungicides available, such as copper
sulfate.

In most locations, you cannot expect to get clean apples without
spraying. Right now, my apples are being attacked by apple maggots.
I have no choice except to spray unless I want some wormy results.
You should be growing something like pears, that are much less
subject to insect attacks.

There is no telling how chemicals were misused by this former orchard.
They could have dumped their excess chemicals on the ground.
Normally, chemicals handled properly will not contaminate the ground.
Those on the fruits will disintegrate or burn off in the sun after a
few weeks. As a precaution, I never spray fruit within three weeks of
picking it.

If your extension office has an organic way of treating apple scab, I
would like to hear about it. I try and minimize my spraying through
covering of fruit and various insect traps, so I am not against
organic methods, when they are practical and will work.

Sherwin