The Holistic Orchard: Tree Fruits and Berries the Biological Way

This is a book you want to soak everything in. Great winter read.

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 filled with information on how to have a healthy, natural orchard. It has so much information and great diagrams and photos.

I manage a 100 tree orchard at our community garden in Southern California. We use natural pest control methods whenever possible and only use treatments for diseases when necessary. There are some nice concepts here but there is so much that is flawed and unproven that the reader can never trust the recommendations.First, no book can cover all of the different climates and varieties of fruit trees grown in this country. This book is primarily for the northeast. We don't have snow. Our weeds are perennial, invasive and difficult to eradicate. Our trees are irrigated with just the right amount of water with minimal waste. Most of his orchard methods would be impractical in this climate.More troubling is that he doesn't provide any scientific basis for many of his treatments. He disdains integrated pest management systems from universities relying on his own homemade remedies. He sites anecdotal evidence but not blind studies comparing results.Some of his treatments are bizarre or dangerous such as putting mud on open cuts. His holistic sprays could be harmful to evergreen trees such as citrus and avocados. Neem oil can be useful in some cases but it can kill beneficial mites which we rely on to control damaging bugs.I found the folksy style to be irritating and locating useful information tedious. The contents are disorganized and often not coherent.There are much better resources that can be found from your local universities. For our location, The Home Orchard by University of California, Riverside, is vastly more useful.

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.

Too much good information with many references.

An excellent book. The author explains his holistic philosophy of orchard management using ecosystem connections and overall tree health. He writes from his own experience in in North America, but his philosphy will work world-wide.The author has a fine sense of humour, uses everyday terminology and the book is copiously illustrated in colour, including some lovely family photographs. Not a "science book", the references are often additional notes.I wish I had read this book 40 years ago.

All you need to know plus more for growing fruit on a large or small scale using organic, holistic, methods, I have been growing fruit for 40 odd years and still learning.Use as a reference book as well as reading the whole book easy to read.

Le livres est vraiment bien expliqué plus détaillé que je pensais aucun regrets de cet achat

I am mid reading - I had to wade through some botany terminology, but having cleared that up in a good old fashioned dictionary, I am getting it> Michael gives an excellent view of what has to be done and how to get it done. All one has to do to get it is clear up the terminology and underneath is the technique of how to grow well without chemicals. I am working through the steps in my field as I read. The book is a an excellent manual. I have a few other books on permaculture and organic gardening and this one is a very useful addition for the specific point of adding fruit trees to the mix.