{"id":8388,"date":"2025-11-19T17:12:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T16:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/domainedegraux.com\/by-eve-education-and-product-development-manager\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T17:30:28","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T16:30:28","slug":"by-eve-education-and-product-development-manager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/domainedegraux.com\/en\/by-eve-education-and-product-development-manager\/","title":{"rendered":"By Eve, Education and Product Development Manager"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Autumn, the season of harvests and preparations<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

We cultivate a 6-hectare conservation orchard that maintains a wide variety of fruit trees. The trees grow in the orchard meadow without the use of chemicals, surrounded by our Angus cows, as part of our agroecological approach. <\/p>\n\n

Conservation management of a high\u2011stem orchard<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Conservation orchards preserve heirloom and local varieties of fruit trees. The orchard at Domaine de Graux, planted in 2011, is a traditional high-stem orchard. High stem refers to the height of the tree varieties. These varieties are rare as traditional high-stem orchards were gradually replaced by \u201clow-stem\u201d trees, which produce more standardized varieties that are more dependent on pesticides. <\/p>\n\n

We use a modified central leader pruning method for the high-stem trees. The practice maintains a single dominant trunk but allows for well-spaced side branches, called scaffold branches. After a few years with this method, the orchard becomes more \u201clow maintenance\u201d and easier to manage. <\/p>\n\n

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Since the post-war \u201cGreen Revolution\u201d, changes in farming methods and the industrialization of agricultural techniques led to the dismantling of orchards of nearly 95% of the orchards in Wallonia. Our conservatory orchard is a living resource that enables us to preserve the seed diversity of historical varieties and share these delicious fruits with consumers. <\/p>\n\n

Domaine de Graux is part of the asbl diversifruit (an organization for the protection and guidance of conservatory orchards, or \u201chautes-tiges\u201d). We also are working on certification for the \u201cVerger Vivant\u201d label, as part of the Vergers conservatoires network. <\/p>\n\n

Beyond our production and conservation goals, our orchard aligns with the estate\u2019s agroecological vision. Choosing pesticide-free, high-stem arboriculture helps preserve biodiversity and allows for grazing under the trees by our Angus cattle. This ancestral technique perfectly illustrates the \u201cgive-and-take\u201d principle: the cattle benefit from shade and high-quality grass, while in return they maintain and fertilize the soil. Their manure contributes to the soil biology, supporting the diversity and abundance of soil microbial life and earthworms. <\/p>\n\n

The advantages of high-stem orchards are numerous\u2014both for an estate like ours and for the rural landscape in general:<\/p>\n\n