Courtesy Blue Roof Orchard
Chris McGuire and two children with milk crates full of apples with a barn in the background.
Chris McGuire, left, and children Andrew and Katie with the Goldrush harvest from 2023.
I used to think that when it came to organic apples, all of the big, beautiful specimens came from Washington state. If you wanted a Wisconsin-grown organic apple, you had to settle for small and scabby — and risk biting into a worm. Blue Roof Orchard out of Belmont, Wisconsin, proved me wrong.
This organic apple CSA (formerly known as Two Onion Farm) produces fruit whose size and quality can compete with the best.
The owners, Chris and Juli McGuire, both hail from cities — in Chris’s case, the Big Apple — but they have taken well to rural life since buying 12 acres in Lafayette County in 2003. They started out growing organic vegetables for a CSA. In 2012 they began planting apple trees, and as they gradually expanded their orchard, they decided to stop growing vegetables to focus on apples full time. While the organic vegetable market was full of local competition, they recognized an unmet demand for locally grown, organic fruit. Growing a perennial crop also allowed them to better protect the soil on their hilly land in the Driftless.
Chris studied horticulture at Cornell University where his professors dismissed the idea of growing organic apples in the Midwestern climate. That’s because it’s wet here; most diseases and pests come from moisture on the fruit or trees. Most organic apples sold in our stores come from Washington state because there the orchards are basically irrigated deserts, Chris explains. Undeterred, he and Juli took on the challenge.
“We enjoy the whole process of figuring things out and doing them better,” Chris says.
Growing organic apples in Wisconsin starts with selecting varieties bred to be disease-resistant. It also requires close monitoring for insects and fungal infection, says Chris. The McGuires walk their orchard daily to inspect for signs of trouble. The orchard also has traps that monitor for insects and a weather station that tracks temperature and humidity.
A few options are available for treating problematic insects. There are plant-derived sprays or ones that contain benign ingredients, like baking soda, which are allowed under the orchard’s organic certification. Pheromone emitors can also be used. These confuse the insects by releasing the pheromones they use to find each other to mate, preventing them from multiplying.
“It’s not easy,” Chris admits. “We never have the same level of [pest] control that non-organic growers are achieving.”
Still, the results of their labor are impressive. When I first signed up for a CSA share two seasons ago I expected many more scabs and blemishes than I’ve seen.
Now the McGuires share their organic methods with others. They have hosted field days where they show other fruit growers what they’re doing, which Chris notes is a rare practice in the business world among potential competitors. They also participate in grant-funded research trials, publishing the results on their website and in industry newsletters. While not the only organic apple growers in the state — there’s Peck & Bushel Organic Fruit Company in Colgate, Turkey Ridge in Gays Mills, and Atoms to Apples in Mount Horeb — Blue Roof Orchard may be the only apple-only CSA in the state. (Some veggie CSAs offer some apples in some deliveries or as add-ons.)
The McGuires have three children who have grown up working in the orchard along with a handful of part-time employees. Working together with their kids in a beautiful setting has been valuable family time for all of them, Chris says.
Choosing to go organic and avoid chemical exposure protects their family and employees as well as the land and their customers, says Chris. “In a situation where something toxic is being sprayed, the people most at risk are the people working in the fields.”
Apples are on the Dirty Dozen, a list of the produce most heavily sprayed with pesticides.
Courtesy Blue Roof Orchard
Very red apples.
CrimsonCrisps are a crisp, dense apple.
Blue Roof Orchard’s fruit can be found for sale in the fall at the Willy Street Co-op and at the Driftless Market in Platteville. It is also available via CSA share throughout southwestern Wisconsin with over 15 pick-up locations across Madison, Fitchburg and Middleton; sign-ups for 2024 are open.
Shares for the 12-week season come in four sizes and can be picked up either weekly or biweekly. Each includes a mix of varieties, which change over the course of the season. These are mostly types I’d never heard of: Sansa, Pixie Crunch, Galarina, and Sundance, to name a few. They differ in color, degree of crispness and juiciness, and where they fall on the tart/sweet spectrum. My experience is that they’re all tasty, fresh apples, not a mealy one in the bunch.
In an e-newsletter to members, the McGuires describe the texture and flavor profiles of the varieties in that week’s delivery, along with recommendations for how to store them and how best to enjoy them — fresh or cooked.
Members also have the option of ordering Juli’s homemade, no-sugar-added applesauce and apple butter. I enjoy the fall ritual of making my own applesauce, so I simply order “seconds,” which is also an option. These are barely blemished apples, and at only $1.60 a pound, a great deal. After trying homemade applesauce you’ll be ruined for most of what can be found in stores. n
Blue Roof Orchard is currently taking new members. To learn more or sign up for an apple share see bluerooforchard.com.
