The Holistic Orchard: Tree Fruits and Berries the Biological Way

I am having way more fun reading this book than I should. Moved onto a 2 acre lot with tons of old trees and just planted 11 new fruit trees. This book is giving me so much confidence to learn more about the biology of my yard and garden and our little “forest.” So many great tips and tricks. I’m having fun nerding out and sharing my new knowledge with my friends who are probably getting annoyed but are also cheering on my little Baby Crawford peach tree with me and the 4 cherry trees that my husband is (not) secretly hoping that I accidentally kill before we have to harvest all the fruit one day! This book is so great at sharing the science behind the reasoning for how to care for fruiting plants and trees. It shares the health benefits of the fruit. It even has a recipe for elderberry syrup to help treat viruses as they are coming on. My yard has a varied landscape and this book addresses ways to utilize the topography of it all! There is a reason that this author is quoted and plagiarized all over the internet and at every nursery. He is the OG of the fruit trees!

Well written and intelligent. Read it multiple times and get to planting!

If I could give this book 10 stars, I would.This is the BEST book on holistic orcharding out there. While it's accessible, Phillips isn't afraid to get down in the dirt and go for technical biological details. A huge amount of information, but this didn't leave me wondering where to begin- he takes care of that by stepping you through the timeline and process. As soon as I'd finished reading, I started over and read it again. We all have areas that are more difficult for us than others, and some chapters will require me to study them carefully before I master the detail. I know I'll be referring to it frequently, and as my knowledge and understanding builds, I'm certain that I'll continue to gain insights from it through the years to come. This book has heft and value!Apples are listed as one of the dirtiest conventionally produced crops. When I started researching how to care for fruit trees it was a tough slog. I respect organic farmers deeply, but for many the basic bias is the same as conventional ag, just using less toxic chemicals. The problem is that if it were as simple as substituting less toxic chemicals EVERYONE would be doing it - no farmer really wants that crap around his home and family. Spraying isn't only a chore, but a hated one. When you need to wear protective clothing it's hard to feel good about you're doing, instead it encourages a war zone mentality. We war against insects, we war against disease.After studying organic, permaculture and biodynamic farming for 5 years, I finally stumbled across Elaine Ingham's work on soil microbiology, and became convinced that the key is maximizing the health of the biological critters in the soil, and finding ways to support them correctly so that they can support my apple trees. But this is all pretty new, cutting edge science, and figuring out how to progress from that understanding to an actual maintenance and treatment program was beyond me. I had bits and pieces of the puzzle.I renamed my sprayer the "Lunch Wagon" and began spraying enhanced compost teas and raw milk, preferentially feeding the "good guys" to allow them to get the upper hand.This book goes way beyond that. Michael Phillips pulls all of the disciplines together in a comprehensive approach. He's a real farmer who needs results, not an academic or an acolyte limited by a biased preference for one system or the other. An organic farmer for many years, he's willing and able to pull from biodynamic and permaculture principals to promote the biological content of the soil. Best, he does it with an orchardists' wisdom and understanding. Most of the materials/articles/books I've seen are focused on row crops, and the needs of an orchard are very different.We all want to understand our trees, the essential understory and the microflora and fauna that make up the ecology of the orchard; but practical advice for dealing with real life problems is critical. Phillips supplies both the understanding and the practical steps to take to achieve results.If you're committed to farming sustainably or if you just want a few fruit trees without poisoning your kids and pets with spray residues, take time to give this a thoughtful read!

This book is the best option out there for fruit tree care. The write speaks from many years of experience and provides clear guidance.

I am turning a 5 acre urban forest into an urban orchard. Nothing grows there now because of the dense tree cover and resultant lack of sunlight.Permaculture and food forests are popular buzzwords, but it is annoying how much revolves around weekend seminars, which are expensive and time consuming. I prefer information from books, which can be referenced. Many books on permaculture are limited to the climate of the author, but the authors do not seem to realize this and do not make a note of it in the book's description.This book has helped me in two specific ways. I am in zone 5 USA, warm summers and freezing winters. I bought some blueberry plants in mid summer from a local store which had them on clearance sale. Using the information in the book, I was able to dig proper fertile holes and plant about 20, they all survived the heat and humidity.The second thing I am doing as a result of the book is taking down trees over the winter, preparing to plant clover and grass. The book states which clover is best to plant, though I can't find a reference source for the claim. So, I am planting red, crimson, white and yellow, along with orchard grass.Michael Phillips has also set up a website.The main thing I have learned is the one absolute requirement is sunlight, at least here, edible plants simply require at least 6 hours of light. (Perhaps some tropical plants require less.) Also, there does not appear to be any quick and easy ways to plan what to plant. Everyone seems to recommend some clover because they provide nitrogen and they are durable.This is a practical book and it is worth the cost for what I have learned so far. I hope to use it more in the future.Edit: I bought it as an electronic book and use the "search" feature to learn about specific plants or terms. I think the book works well this way and do not know if it would work well to read it all the way through. I can't imagine myself reading a book this big all the way through, as most of it would never apply to my situation.