Cider Hill Farm

 First, I will share that we are a strict non-GMO farm. No seeds or plant materials we use are part of this program. Most of our seeds come from Johnny's Seeds in Maine who are known for their line of organic seeds, of which we use many. We are not an organic farm, but do practice very strict IPM principles and practices. We use very gentle materials to control pests when absolutely necessary based on the findings of our University trained IPM scout who traps bugs across our whole farm to help us make wise and informed decisions as to what our damage exposure is, as well as using the information from our own weather station tied directly to Cornell University to predict the life cycles of our pests based on weather data gathered from our exact location. In other words, we know exactly what is happening here, and make decisions to spray based on economic thresholds for damage. That being said, we don't mind cosmetic damage to our crops, but do try to prevent worms from residing in our food because even our most organic minded customers don't tolerate that. We use very safe materials, mostly made through fermentation processes, that are typically considered safe to eat straight out of the sprayer. We also time any sprays for disease, such as on strawberries, to be done on the flowers and not on the fruit, as we have found that this prevents disease as much or even more effectively as having to spray the fruit. We often choose sprays that are natural which do not harm insects that are beneficial, and at times may even help to control the undesirable insects. Our bottom line is we strive to be extremely careful in all our pest control, cultural practices, and seed selection as we value the health of our own families, and the health of our customers. Please feel free to write back if you have any more questions, or if I did not adequately answer your concerns as it is very important to us that you are comfortable with eating the food we grow.