December 2021 - 1

Blueberry group
energized after
planning effort,
referendum OK
Cider production woes
eased with nutrients for
yeast
12
22
30
Protein-based
biologicals among
trends in IPM
December 2021 | Volume 60 |
Issue 12
Customer connection
Troon Vineyard makes wine with minimalist approach
Craig Camp, upper right, is the general manager of Oregon's Troon Vineyard, which recently received a Regenerative Organic Certification for its 100-acre farm operation.
The goal is to " produce distinctive fruit that clearly speaks of the place where it was grown, " he said. Photos: Troon Vineyard
By Stephen Kloosterman
Associate Editor
From the organically grown
winegrapes to the sheep that graze in the
vineyards after harvest, to winemaking
in aged oak barrels and clay amphorae,
there's something different in the mix at
Oregon's Troon Vineyard.
In this vino, there's some serious
veritas about growing grapes and
winemaking for judicious consumers.
Troon Vineyard in June received
Regenerative Organic Certification
for its 100-acre farm operation. It also
holds a Demeter Biodynamic Certified
vineyard certification.
Those certifications are the results
of hard work by new management and
ownership that arrived at the farm just a
few years ago.
" You have to be fully committed
and believe in what you are doing, "
said Craig Camp, general manager of
Troon Vineyard. " The Regenerative
Organic slogan is 'Farm like the world
depends on it.' That's what you have to
be prepared to do. Certifications are not
hard to do if you are committed to the
health of your farm. "
Setting the standard
Located in the Applegate Valley of
southern Oregon's Siskiyou Mountains,
Troon Vineyard includes cider apple
trees, a vegetable garden and some
livestock in addition to the vineyards.
Dick Troon first planted grapes on this
farm in 1972. Camp said Troon was a
real pioneer and part of the early history
of winegrape growing in Oregon, and the
wine is still marketed under that name.
But changes began in 2016 when Camp
arrived and began transitioning the farm
to organic. It was purchased in 2017
See TROON, page 5
Wafler Farms: family, fruit, nursery
By Gary Pullano
Editor
(This is the final installment in a
series of stories focusing on the 60th
anniversary of Fruit Growers News.)
Great Lakes Fruit Growers News,
the forerunner of Fruit Growers News,
was regionally-focused during its early
years, before later expanding its reach
to a national (and even international)
audience.
In this article from the May 1995 issue
of GL Fruit Growers News, it was clear
that New York state was no stranger to
the concepts of family-run fruit farms
and family-run nursery operations.
Wafler Farms, not being content to
operate as simply one or the other,
carries the concept one step further
and successfully combines both of
these operations into one enterprise.
A native of Switzerland, Fritz Wafler
came to Wolcott, New York, by way
of California. He and his wife, Lois,
bought the farm, now known as
Wafler Farms, in 1959. It is in a fruitgrowing
area near Lake Ontario, about
one hour east of Rochester.
At the time of the purchase, the
farm was a run-down fruit farm. Mr.
and Mrs. Wafler, along with daughter
Kathy Wafler Madison, son, Paul, and
daughter-in-law, Sue, have developed
a working unit that has enabled the
original fruit farm of 1959 to evolve
into the quality fruit and vegetable
farm and nursery of today.
" These operations work very well
together, with one acting as insurance
for the other in an off year, " said Ms.
Madison.
Mr. Wafler started growing trees in
the early sixties for his own orchards.
He was self-taught and did a quantity
of reading on fruit growing, new
rootstocks and varieties at the New
York State Agricultural Experiment
Station in Geneva, New York. The
See WAFLER, page 6

December 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2021