Mike Biltonen

Teaches at The Brooklyn Kitchen

Mike Biltonen, Vice President of Farm Operations. Mike comes to Red Jacket Orchards after spending 25 years in the tree fruit industry—including operating a very small innovative farm in New York’s Hudson Valley. Although focused primarily on sustainable apple production, Mike’s pomological interests lie in growing pome, stone, small, and off the beaten path fruits of high culinary value. But his real passion is sustainability. Mike has spent the past 20 years of his career researching and practicing fruit growing methods that not only use what he knows will work, but also push the boundaries of what “common knowledge” think will not work--all to develop more sustainable and safe food production systems. As well as being a Certified Crop Consultant, Mike is also trained and certified in numerous sustainability and food safety standards from around the world. Mike as a BS degree in Horticulture from Virginia Tech (’86) and a MS in Pomology from Cornell (’92). He can be reached at [email protected].