{"id":1233,"date":"2023-10-30T11:23:06","date_gmt":"2023-10-30T14:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nsfarmloan.ca\/?p=1233"},"modified":"2023-10-30T11:23:07","modified_gmt":"2023-10-30T14:23:07","slug":"rockland-apple-farm-is-two-time-award-winner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nsfarmloan.ca\/rockland-apple-farm-is-two-time-award-winner\/","title":{"rendered":"Rockland apple farm is two-time award winner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Jeffrey
Jeffrey and Courtney Walsh with their children (left to right) Levi, Bentley, Hunter and Grace<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Apple blossom time is Jeffrey Walsh\u2019s favourite time of year. For this commercial apple grower, the blossoms signal the start of new life on the farm. \u201cEverybody is eager and excited to get going,\u201d he says. \u201cYou can see at that point what kind of crop you\u2019re going to have, as long as a hurricane doesn\u2019t come along. If you have a big bloom, you\u2019re probably going to have a great year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walsh Farms, in Rockland, near Berwick, produce apples for Scotian Gold Cooperative<\/a>. As a cooperative member, they grow several varieties but focus mainly on Honeycrisp, Gala, Ambrosia and SweeTango\u00ae<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The farm has won two prestigious Golden Apple Awards<\/a> from the Nova Scotia Fruit Growers Association. In 2016, they won for Best First Year Planting, and in 2019 for Best Management of an On-Farm Apple Tree Nursery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Walsh
Walsh Farm from the air<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy grandfather, Fred Walsh, had a commercial apple farm down the road, and in 1987 my father, Mike Walsh, bought the one I currently own,\u201d Jeffrey says. \u201cI grew up on a family commercial apple farm and always liked it. I like working outside and watching things grow, and I like the flexibility of working with my family and having family time. We have four children here as well, so it\u2019s a good work-life balance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeffrey\u2019s wife, Courtney, works on the farm, as does his father. \u201cI bought a piece of my parents\u2019 farm in 2016 and began farming alone and managing the farm then. I bought the rest of the farm in October 2021, when Mike \u2018retired\u2019 \u2013 in quotation marks,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The farm also employs four full-time offshore workers. In addition to those jobs, Jeffrey knows that his farm supports Scotian Gold jobs related to apple storage, the packing line and the export of fruit to different markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Apple
Apple trees on Walsh Farm<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The challenges for Walsh Farms are common to apple farmers in Nova Scotia \u2013 obtaining reliable farm labour and dealing with the weather. \u201cYou can have the perfect year weather-wise and have done everything right, and then you get a hurricane in late August that annihilates everything. That can be pretty devastating,\u201d he says. \u201cBut the Farm Loan Board is supportive when things like that happen and can defer payments or come up with a program to help you through.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has used the Farm Loan Board for a mortgage and to buy equipment. \u201cThe Farm Loan Board is very understanding of how things work,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019re devoted to agriculture in Nova Scotia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Jeffrey\u2019s second-favourite time of year? \u201cWhen there\u2019s nothing left on the tree and you know the season\u2019s over,\u201d he says. \u201cThe beginning and the end are my favourite times.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apple blossom time is Jeffrey Walsh\u2019s favourite time of year. For this commercial apple grower, the blossoms signal the start of new life on the farm. \u201cEverybody is eager and excited to get going,\u201d he says. \u201cYou can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":265,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nsfarmloan.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1233"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nsfarmloan.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nsfarmloan.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nsfarmloan.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nsfarmloan.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1233"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nsfarmloan.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1237,"href":"https:\/\/nsfarmloan.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1233\/revisions\/1237"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nsfarmloan.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nsfarmloan.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nsfarmloan.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nsfarmloan.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}