Today we sprayed. We could have sprayed a number of products that are known to kill Apple Maggot Flies. Of the many options the most effective, organically-certified pesticide is called Entrust (aka Monterey), which is, according to the manufacturer, “spinosad, … biologically derived from the fermentation of Saccharopolyspora spinosa, a naturally occurring soil organism.” Sounds good. The challenge with Entrust is that it is largely indiscriminate in what it kills. It’s one of those pesticides that is not kind to the bees.

So today we did not reach for the Entrust. Instead we sprayed liquid kelp, liquid fish and an insanely pungent combination of barrel-fermented herbal teas: comfrey, nettles and cannabis. Fortunately we’ve sprayed it all before ,and the trees haven’t died. Will the Apple Maggot Flies take a sniff or two and fly away? We hope so.