Review by Lynn Byczynski

Occasionally a book comes along that bowls you over with its depth and breadth and authenticity. Michael Phillips new work The Holistic Orchard is such a book. The author, a longtime fruit grower, shares a vast store of experience about growing tree fruits and berries. He explains in detail how to choose and plant fruit trees, and he also explains the reasons behind his instructions. He is like a patient teacher who wants his students to understand his topic on a deep level, so he takes the time to be thorough and answer all questions.

Phillips describes his approach to fruit growing not as organic or biological or natural; those are labels, he says, that are limiting. Instead, he thinks of fruit in a holistic light, considering all the factors that are involved in growing healthy food: soil, planting site, fertility, native pollinators, ecological pest and disease control, and so much more.
The Holistic Orchard provides all the basic instruction required to grow fruit, and Phillips has an uncommon ability to also explain the interrelationships that exist in the ecological system of an orchard. He invites readers to listen to what the trees teach, to observe carefully what is going on not just with the fruit but with all the life in the orchard. He provides a calendar of events for fruit growing — what tasks to do when — that only an expert could provide.

The book also contains in-depth profiles of many fruits: the pome fruits (apples, pears, Asian pears, quinces); the stone fruits (cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums); and berries (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, gooseberries, currants, and elderberries.)

The Holistic Orchard pushes the frontier of fruit growing into new territory, catching it up to other  ecological crop production knowledge. If you have ever felt intimidated by fruit growing, this book will give you the confidence to move ahead.

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