If you want to harvest some nice apples from your trees in the future, you'll need to do some research on the timing of the application of organically approved fungicides and insecticides, in particular. There are some very simple and effective products out there.

Try to find out what has been troubling your trees in terms of disease and insect pests. ID is essential in good organic (and otherwise) pest management.

Your local extension service might be of considerable help.

You have chosen a difficult crop to grow organically but it is not impossible.

First, do an enormous amount of research into apples including, but not limited to - rootstocks, training and pruning, planting, resistant varieties, disease and insect mgt..

Re rootstocks: the wrong one(s) in your location and soil will fail.

RE training and pruning: don't do like I did and start new trees with virtually no knowledge except for what came with the trees.

RE planting: extremely important it be done properly

RE diseases and insects: any one can wipe you out and there are many out there. Learn what is in your area or at least likely to be and then read up on them as much as possible until you think you know exactly what to do. Then go out and start learning how to do it so it works for you.
The biggie diseases are Scab, Cedar Apple Rust (CAR), Powdery Mildew and Fireblight. Just do a search for "apple insects", that is enough to get you started.

I started out without a thought to organic methods and am gradually heading that way. Two of my trees do not need to be sprayed with anything for CAR, the rest will get hammered by it every year if I do not spray fungicides 2 - 3 times at a very specific time. By waiting until the CAR spores are released and not schedule spraying, I have reduced the number of applications needed. The same could be said for any method, learn the biology, signs and symptoms and you will be in a much better position to succeed.

As far as CAR goes, there are no effective organic controls but there are "immune", "resistant" and "tolerant" varieties. "Freedom" for me is effectively immune to CAR, supposedly, so is "Liberty" and "Williams Pride". If you have no CAR around you you are very fortunate as there are many Scab and Powdery mildew resistant varieties to choose from.

I have Michael Phillips book and find it to be a very valuable resource. Above all, study, study, study and then start planting. Get soil samples for your orchard area to be at least many months in advance of planting, a cover crop or amendments may be in order.

That is my nutshell of suggestions for now now, get after it, fruit trees are wonderful and extremely gratifying to grow. If you are a perfectionist like me they'll drive you nuts at times and teach you patience.

Michael

As it turns out, no such office exists.

However, you can obtain assistance if you contact your local university Extension Service office. They're usually listed in the White Pages, in the section County Offices.

http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/

Dan

There's one, up in the forest, that was the result of a CCC worker tossing his core into the ditch however many years ago, and guys on the road all stop and pick a few for lunch.

Watching the PBS episode of The Botany of Desire about apples brought this to mind.....

Michael