Kristina K. Carlton wrote:
> Got a stupid question. If I buy a young apple tree that was NOT grown
> organically and plant it in organic soil and then don't use pesticides going
> forward, will I ever have organic apples?

I don't know if your apples will ever be "technically" organic... but
organic has become a fairly meaningless label that's been coopted by
big agri-business anyway.  

If you put your tree in organic soil and don't use pesticides on it,
the apples will apples that I'd want to eat.  That the tree may have
had pesticides used on it at some point prior is not /that/ important.
Certainly not to the quality of the apples.

What kind of produce do I like to eat?  There is no single label, but
it should be as many as possible of this list, recognizing that it's
more important to stick to the spirit than the letter of the list:

- Local
- Ripened on the living plant as much as is reasonable
- Grown in healthy, nutrient rich soil
- Grown in an environment in which it /could/ grow if you just
   threw the seeds on the ground
- Not grown in monoculture
- Grown without chemical fertilizers
- Grown without the use of artificial pesticides / fungicides
- Grown as sustainably as possible

:j