Charlie operates Whistling Well Apple Orchard. He has been active in the local foods movement for years, selling his produce at farmers markets in St. Paul and Bayport and at the River Market Co-op in Stillwater, and serving as president of the Minnesota Apple Growers Association.

Through the years, Charlie has worked with the Washington Conservation District and the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) to install many conservation practices on his property, including grassed waterways that filter rainwater flowing off the fields and windbreaks that keep soil on the land.

He has installed sediment control basins to keep polluted runoff out of the St. Croix River, and enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, a US Department of Agriculture program that encourages farmers to plant vegetative cover on erodible or ecologically sensitive areas.

In 2012, he worked with the WCD to install a sediment basin that captures 33.2 pounds of phosphorus and 95.7 tons of soil per year that would otherwise flow downstream to the St. Croix River. In recognition of his efforts, Charlie was named Outstanding Conservationist for 2013.