EBOOK
About
Winner of the American Horticulture Society Book Award
"Phillip's first-hand knowledge anchors this innovative and highly readable book in practical wisdom that both beginner and long-time fruit growers will find invaluable."-Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia's Garden
Many people want to grow fruit on a small scale but lack the insight to be successful orchardists. As The Holistic Orchard illustrates, growing tree fruits and berries is something virtually anyone can do. A holistic grower knows that producing fruit is not about manipulating nature but more importantly, fostering nature.
The Holistic Orchard demystifies the basic skills everybody should know about the orchard ecosystem, focusing on:
• Orchard design
• Soil biology
• Organic health management
• Grafting
• Planting
• Pruning
• Choosing the right varieties for your climate
Includes a step-by-step instructional calendar to guide growers through the entire orchard year!
Fruit profiles include:
• pome fruits (apples, pears, asian pears, quinces)
• stone fruits (cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums)
• berries (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, gooseberries, currants, and elderberries)
Phillips completely changed the conversation about healthy orcharding with his first bestselling book, The Apple Grower, and now he takes that dialogue even further by exploring:
• The connections between home orcharding and permaculture
• The importance of native pollinators
• Plantings with shade-tolerant berry bushes and other insectary plants
• Information on cover crops and biodiversity
• Safe, homegrown solutions to pest and disease challenges
All along the way, Phillips' expertise and enthusiasm for healthy growing shines through, as does his ability to put the usual horticultural facts into an integrated ecology perspective. With The Holistic Orchard in your hand you have every reason in the world to confidently plant that very first-or next-fruit tree! "Rooted in the author's many years of organic orcharding experience, this book blends ideas from soil science, holistic health, permaculture, and traditional fruit growing into a powerful new approach to orchard design and care. Phillips' first-hand knowledge anchors this innovative and highly readable book in practical wisdom that both beginner and long-time fruit growers will find invaluable."-Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture
"With the rising popularity of farmers' markets and ever-increasing availability of organic foods in mainstream grocery stores, more and more gardeners are catching the urge to go pesticide-free. For fruit lovers wanting to tend an orchard on a small scale, Phillips, author of the gardening best-seller The Apple Grower (2005), offers a wealth of tips and tricks here on growing berries and tree fruits without resorting to toxic sprays. Eight information-packed chapters cover such basics as orchard design, seeding and growing schedules, and soil varieties, all using natural methods of cooperating with nature to resist attacks by garden pests and plant diseases. Phillips also provides an exhaustive directory of fruit varieties, from pome fruits, such as apples and pears, to stone fruits, such as cherries and nectarines. Although the guide is aimed primarily at home growers with a little yard space and a yen for organic produce, professional orchard managers can certainly benefit and will hopefully be prompted to shy away from pesticides as well."-Booklist
"The Holistic Orchard is a breath of fresh air in a genre too often characterized by occult mysticism and/or an air of moral superiority. Phillips (The Apple Grower, 2005), a farmer/orchardist with many years of experience, is a pragmatist, not a polemicist; he successfully covers topics ranging from plant biology and ecology to the realities and economics of niche markets. The author pre
"Phillip's first-hand knowledge anchors this innovative and highly readable book in practical wisdom that both beginner and long-time fruit growers will find invaluable."-Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia's Garden
Many people want to grow fruit on a small scale but lack the insight to be successful orchardists. As The Holistic Orchard illustrates, growing tree fruits and berries is something virtually anyone can do. A holistic grower knows that producing fruit is not about manipulating nature but more importantly, fostering nature.
The Holistic Orchard demystifies the basic skills everybody should know about the orchard ecosystem, focusing on:
• Orchard design
• Soil biology
• Organic health management
• Grafting
• Planting
• Pruning
• Choosing the right varieties for your climate
Includes a step-by-step instructional calendar to guide growers through the entire orchard year!
Fruit profiles include:
• pome fruits (apples, pears, asian pears, quinces)
• stone fruits (cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums)
• berries (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, gooseberries, currants, and elderberries)
Phillips completely changed the conversation about healthy orcharding with his first bestselling book, The Apple Grower, and now he takes that dialogue even further by exploring:
• The connections between home orcharding and permaculture
• The importance of native pollinators
• Plantings with shade-tolerant berry bushes and other insectary plants
• Information on cover crops and biodiversity
• Safe, homegrown solutions to pest and disease challenges
All along the way, Phillips' expertise and enthusiasm for healthy growing shines through, as does his ability to put the usual horticultural facts into an integrated ecology perspective. With The Holistic Orchard in your hand you have every reason in the world to confidently plant that very first-or next-fruit tree! "Rooted in the author's many years of organic orcharding experience, this book blends ideas from soil science, holistic health, permaculture, and traditional fruit growing into a powerful new approach to orchard design and care. Phillips' first-hand knowledge anchors this innovative and highly readable book in practical wisdom that both beginner and long-time fruit growers will find invaluable."-Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture
"With the rising popularity of farmers' markets and ever-increasing availability of organic foods in mainstream grocery stores, more and more gardeners are catching the urge to go pesticide-free. For fruit lovers wanting to tend an orchard on a small scale, Phillips, author of the gardening best-seller The Apple Grower (2005), offers a wealth of tips and tricks here on growing berries and tree fruits without resorting to toxic sprays. Eight information-packed chapters cover such basics as orchard design, seeding and growing schedules, and soil varieties, all using natural methods of cooperating with nature to resist attacks by garden pests and plant diseases. Phillips also provides an exhaustive directory of fruit varieties, from pome fruits, such as apples and pears, to stone fruits, such as cherries and nectarines. Although the guide is aimed primarily at home growers with a little yard space and a yen for organic produce, professional orchard managers can certainly benefit and will hopefully be prompted to shy away from pesticides as well."-Booklist
"The Holistic Orchard is a breath of fresh air in a genre too often characterized by occult mysticism and/or an air of moral superiority. Phillips (The Apple Grower, 2005), a farmer/orchardist with many years of experience, is a pragmatist, not a polemicist; he successfully covers topics ranging from plant biology and ecology to the realities and economics of niche markets. The author pre