Our Standards

View from on top of the tiny house in the orchard: semi-dwarf apple trees in the foreground, the nursery crop in the mid-ground with sunflowers at row ends in field 110, field 120 has cover crop and pastured pigs, field 130 has another crop of nursery trees, and 140 has a stand of rye to the treeline.

We believe in natural, sustainable farming. This means we support a polyculture ecosystem and our farm teams with biodiversity, from the chickens running around the yard to the worms crawling through the soil. This also means no chemical sprays, no treated seed, no round-up, and no genetically modified organisms in our fields. We work hard and after a lot of long hot days, and a lot of love for each individual tree, we happily send them on their way to a new life in your orchard - big or small.

Silver Creek Nursery thrives on a complicated sort of chaos within the orchard; this involves everything from promoting habitats for beneficial insects (wasps!), using various herbal microbiotic brews (when we have the time), and natural (and local where possible) sources of nutrients for the soil and plants. We rotate cover crops and do our best to keep the soil covered, and an assortment of floral sources blooming for Jodi from Huckleberry Hives, who manages a couple of honey bee hives in our orchard. We have converted to using completely biodegradable products where possible, including spiral guards, binding tube and grafting supplies. And while we are NOT certified organic, we are proud of what we are: a couple of humans who care about the food system, and are farming fields with only organic (certified or from trusted sources) inputs. 

And we are always improving. There are many local, sustainable foodies and farmers who lend us inspiration and support us. Should you need an affidavit or have any interest in discussing our practices further, please to not hesitate to call us at 519-804-6060.