The Stark Bro's Organic Story

Back when our founder - the venerable Judge James Hart Stark - started his first apple orchard, he had no other way to grow his trees but organically. Now, more than 200 years later, Stark Bro's has come full circle, and we're bringing all of our knowledge, expertise and integrity to bear to help organic growers succeed once again.

James Hart Stark

In 1816, fertilizer was farm manure; weed-killers were farmhands and children, who were sent to the fields to pull out competing dandelions and nutsedge; and pesticides were unheard of. You either picked off bugs by hand, or pruned and burned the infested branch. After a while, farmers discovered that lead arsenic was effective, but very unhealthy for people who were eating their produce - and so that practice was quickly discontinued.

As the population grew and farm acreage increased, it became increasingly difficult for farmers to replenish soil nutrients and keep pests and disease at bay. Profiteers saw the opportunity, and chemical manufacturing was born in the 1920s. Soon, farmers could drop-spread granular fertilizer and use tractor spray-arms to mist their crops with synthetic chemicals that would keep pest and disease damage to a minimum.

While DDT and other more toxic formulations have long gone by the wayside, synthetic products are still the preference of a large number of growers and home gardeners - but the "natural" movement that began in the 1960s has more recently evolved into the reintroduction of (very expensive) organic produce and a consumer desire to know where one's food is really coming from.

We've been listening carefully to your questions and requests about organic trees and tree-care products, and we thought the time was right to give our customers a choice to go organic and "grow their own." Growing organic - starting from the very beginning, with an organic tree grown in organic soil using organic methods - is the preference of an increasing number of gardeners and growers.

It took years to do the research, find the pristine real estate upon which to grow our special trees, obtain the USDA Organic certification, and finally, to bud and grow the first crop. We are thrilled to be able to offer USDA Organic fruit trees and plants, and the organic products you need to care for them. Our pampered trees are 100% non-GMO, and grown without chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides, and they're annually USDA Certified to stringent standards, so you know that these trees are authentically organic.

Now, Stark Bro's is the most trusted name in organic fruit trees!