-ELGIN ORGANICS.COM-


	Pioneers in the Production of South African Organic Pome Fruit




The Tilney/Prevost family have owned Lorraine Farm since the early 60's although connections with the district go back to the beginning of the last century. Lorraine Farm is situated in the Elgin Valley some 90km from Cape Town. The area is one of the more intensively farmed districts of South Africa and produces 60% of the national apple crop.
The farm is 50,7 ha of which 30 ha are under fruit, comprising apples 85%, pears 8% and cling peaches 7%, the rest being taken up with buildings, fallow ground and a 565 million litre dam.
We have a staff of 15 with an excellent employee/employer relationship. As a result turnover of staff is very low and in spite of being such a small farm have recently put on pension two staff after a combined service of 56 years!

After attending a seminar on micro-biological farming the Trustees became aware of the damage being done to the environment by conventional farming methods. Fruit farming is notorious for harsh spray programmes.

The farm is small enough to pay attention to detail over and above simply adhering to the required international criteria for organic orchard production. For instance:

		A large flock of ducks to control the snail population
		Bat houses for the Egyptian free tail and Cape serotine bat in an attempt to attract more of these insectivores.
		Small ponds in perennial streams to act as silt traps preventing erosion and creating breeding habitats for frogs and toads.
		Areas of indigenous trees and shrubs to encourage bio-diversity and breeding habitats for birds and beneficial insects
		Opportunities for individual discussion and simple observation of nature with the staff.

The farming operation has been registered with Bio-Gro New Zealand (no.:4261C01) as at the time of application there was no local organisation which could give us internationally recognised certification.
Our registration certificate is available for you to view in pdf format. click here to view.
We are also fully paid up members of Organic Agricultural Association of South Africa (OAASA).




The following varieties of fruit are grown :

Granny Smith	Clapps Favourite	Black
Royal Gala	Bon Rouge	Keimoes
Gala	Beurre Hardy
Golden Delicious	Packhams Triumph
Top Red	Winter Nelis
Starking
Braeburn
Pink Lady
Sundowner
Take a look at the Harvest Chart for more information on seasonal availability




Custodian packing of the fruit is handled by Valley Packers Co-operative Ltd. which has the most modern packing and fruit handling facilities in the Elgin district. We are presently negotiating with various organisations with regard to the handling of our export fruit. Local sales are handled by the farm: +27 +(0)21 8498663 or or +27 (0)21 849 8554 To facilitate your orders please allow a few days notice of requirements in order that stock may timeously be drawn from cold rooms.
Why not send us an order!




Position offered: FARM MANAGER FOR ORGANIC FARM 1. Age - 45 + 2. Bi-lingual (English & Afrikaans). Basic knowledge of Xhosa definite advantage 3. Experienced in managing labour 4. Green conscious 5. Practical. A mechanical background an advantage 6. Preferably no dependants Job Description: Labour Management; field work; irrigation; spraying (organic); monitoring of pests; mowing; fertilizing; picking; general observation of orchard health; supervising the locking up for overnight security. The salary package includes housing, electricity, water and cleaning services. There are exciting growth and development opportunities within this position. About the Farm: Lorraine Farm,is a family owned organic farm situated in the beautiful Elgin Valley some 90km from Cape Town. Pioneers in the Production of South African Organic Pome Fruit, the 50,7 ha farm comprises of 85% apples,8% pears and 7% cling peaches. The organic conversion process was started in 1999 and has been fully certified organic since 2003 (Currently registerd with BCS). We are also members of the Organic Agricultural Association of South Africa. Interested? Please email your application to mike@elginorganics.com