There are people more expert than I on this....and particularly for your area and I hope they will answer...but a couple things as starters: 1. It would help if this year you could take some leaf samples in to a local State Extension agent that could tell you exactly what the problem is for your tree.....it sounds like you have two problems, one related to the tree and one related to the fruit.....no exacting identification makes advise on sprays problematic. 2. In the Northwest, many organic guys are finding some happiness with Spinosad (Entrust, Bullseye, etc. are trade names).....it is a fermenting bacteria......but again, this is only if you know you have worms in your fruit (you said "bugs" but we need to know more).....I think the odds are good that Spinosad would help and you need to learn more about it and how to apply it, in my opinion. Local nursery would help.

Hi Valsound- I don't believe that the amount of Sevin(Carbaryl) is sufficient to do any thinning, as otherwise, it would be thinning for all the other people who use it. Also, there'd be a warning about that on the label. Really, it's about knowing what the diseases and insects that you face are. And if you've read my rants, you'll know that the Bonide FTS's ingredients often aren't effective against these pressures nor in sufficient quantities. Regardless of the insect, Trazicide can easily be obtained at Walmart, and will definitely keep your apples worm free. For diseases, I'd suspect you're facing Cedar Apple Rust and Scab. 2 sprays of Immunox (you may need to get that online) at petal fall and 10-14 days later will do the trick there. With the Bonide, you can spray it much more often, and it still isn't going to have any affect on Cedar Apple Rust. From a grower who's been there, the FTS really isn't even worth spraying. Instead, less sprays with Trazicide and Immunox you will get fruit you can be proud of. -Glenn

There's a balance. The owner has a responsibility to avoid spraying under excessively windy conditions. However, it's unrealistic to expect you will never get a whiff of pesticides while he's spraying. Even under the best conditions with a 2mph wind, you're going to smell the chemicals. This is especially true if emulsifiable concentrates are being used, which are easily detectable by our sense of smell, even in the smallest concentrations. Many times it's the petroleum based emulsifier you smell, not the pesticide. However, as I mentioned, it's best to avoid spraying when the wind is above 10-12 mph. I agree with the advice that you're concerned you should contact the owner and explain your concerns and your situation with COPD. However, as background information, understand there are numerous challenges that make it difficult, and sometimes impossible to spray under ideal conditions. Pests can sometimes be very active in an orchard and do a tremendous amount of damage in a small time frame. In those conditions, most farmers are glued to the weather forecast looking for the soonest and best opportunity to get the spray on. Additionally, the orchard (or field) has to be dry enough to get the equipment in. Coupled with that, sometimes there is a significant amount of acreage that has to be covered, so that it's difficult to get it all sprayed while the conditions are ideal. This is especially true if there are multiple fields/locations. Lastly, sometimes the weather just flat changes. The weather forecast may allow a small window early one morning to apply a spray. After that it's rain, windy, etc. for many days. The owner gets out there early in the morning, fills the tank, adds the chemicals, then the wind picks up, despite the forecast (this has happened more than once to me, it's frustrating). At that point a decision has to be made whether to go ahead and spray the pesticide, or wait and hope for better weather. If better weather does not come, the farmer may have a tank of pesticide that is no longer any good (pesticides start degrading the moment they are mixed in the tank water). He also may suffer crop damage because he didn't get the spray on when it was needed. I'm not making excuses if someone is routinely spraying under excessively windy conditions. Just pointing out it can be very difficult to balance all the factors and always spray under ideal conditions.

Glenn - in response to your flavor question - Liberty tastes great in Kansas. Last year we had thousands of pick-your-own customers and Liberty rated highly in our informal taste tests. For 2009 we may have a mass "blind" tasting of varieties. Kansas gets very hot in the summer with a high amount of humidity to go with it. We will have several days (or weeks) on end in the 90s to lower 100s in mid-summer. That may account for some of the differences of opinion in the taste of Liberty. It's actually one of the best producers on M111. The only down side is that they need to be thinned for marketable size. We do leave about 20 trees alone for the school groups, boy scouts/girl scouts that come out. The kids like the "lunch box" sized apples. Freedom had very favorable tasting results in 2008. Our 10 Freedom trees are just starting to produce so I should have more comments in the future. We haven't had any production on our RedFree trees yet - I've heard mixed reviews in our area so I'm trialing 2 trees for now. A few JonaFree trees have produced and customers have not been very excited about the flavor. MacFree had a good response from the folks that said Macs were their favorite grocery store variety - I personally thought they were too soft and I prefer crisp apples. Arkansas Blacks are very disease resistant in Kansas but they're hard as a rock and have an almost pine-like flavor that improves with storage. Granny Smith has had no CAR but the flavor hasn't been very good.