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Organic Defined<\/h1>\n\n\n\nWhat does \u201cOrganically Grown\u201d mean? What sort of commitment does it take to join the ranks of successful organic producers? To help clarify some possible misconceptions, we at Rainbow Valley Orchards want to introduce you to organic growing by briefly describing what\u2019s involved. To begin with, two relatively new laws on the books, the California Organic Foods Act of 1990 and the Federal Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, provide strict guidelines for production of food products labeled as \u201corganically grown\u201d and allows dedicated growers to market their product in a manner which gives consumers complete faith in purchasing healthful products produced under controlled conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Organic Defined<\/h1>\n\n\n\nFor tree crops, in order to represent your fruit as organically grown, you must have grown it for 36 months prior to the harvest of your fruit without the use of \u201cSynthetically Compounded or Manufactured\u201d fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, or growth regulators. Producing crops organically in California means that growers use allowed, certified organic fertilizers such as \u201ccomposted\u201d manures, blood meal, fishmeal, powdered seaweed, mined rock minerals, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pest management is accomplished by using such alternatives as beneficial insects, botanical and\/or biodegradable insecticidal soaps or powders, accepted summer or dormant oil sprays, copper bands for snail control, and boric acid bait systems or sticky plant resin for ant control instead of using conventional pesticides for controlling insects. Cover crops such as clover, and other nitrogen fixing legumes, tractor mowing and cultivating, and hand hoeing are utilized to replace herbicides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n