Breaking News for Fruit Lovers

Welcome to the page where we share news and happenings about the community orchard movement. We'll be posting ways fruit lovers can help build momentum for the cause, general interest stories about healthy apples and more, and pertinent quotes from you about our grassroots effort to ensure good fruit in communities everywhere.

The Holistic Orchard:
Growing Tree Fruits
and Berries the
Biological Way

An Award Winner!

Each year, the American Horticultural Society recognizes outstanding gardening books published in North America with its annual Book Award. The Holistic Orchard is one of five books chosen for the 2012 Book Award. This comprehensive guide is "like spending a weekend with the guru of organic orcharding" according to Kathy LaLiberte of the award committee. Of course, it's the trees that are the true imparters of knowledge here . . . but how cool to tap into ecosystem wisdom, eh?

Say No to GMO Apples

It was bound to come, those guys in white coats inserting different plant genes — and in some cases, animal genes -- into the apple tree. And the peach and the orange and the papaya, for that matter. Health-minded growers and consumers alike call it GMO Madness. Stopping genetically modified organisms is necessary work around this one precious planet of ours. Orchardist CJ Walke brings you up to speed with this well-researched piece on Genetically Engineered Artic Apples in the Spring 2014 issue of Maine Organic Farmer And Gardener.

The Holistic Approach

Our Food Our Farms has generously put together a delightful visual plug for growing healthy fruit. We invite you to have a peek at Michael's very first effort at film presence. Marlon Brando in the orchard? We doubt it. . . but honestly? Our friend Chris Conroy did a fantastic job. This clip captures the essence of holistic orcharding in ways meant to inspire your own fruiting efforts. Please enjoy the show!

Grow Organic Apples goes bonkers on Facebook

The potential to engage home orchardists via our own Facebook page is incredible. Accordingly, we now have a Facebook page of our own. Here's where those who love fruit might first encounter the notion of nutrient-dense fruit. Facebook members can further spread the word within their own networks by sharing about local orchards that offer healthy apples and other delectable tree fruit. Home orchardists will benefit from occasional advice from Michael and a mini-forums to comment on tree challenges. The more that people hear about growing healthy fruit, the more dynamic this whole vision becomes!

Grow Organic Apples with the Holistic Orchard Network is our "news and links page" on Facebook.

If you do this sort of thing -- as in actually have a Facebook account -- please "like" our page.

We will occasionally plug the community orchard movement here as well so people can discover and appreciate local sources of good fruit.

Help with the Edible Landscape

Not everyone has time to keep up with the needs of an estate orchard . . . which is where regional Fruit Stewards may be of help. These professional arborists and landscapers will tend to home fruit plantings by holistic means. Competent pruning coupled with fungal ecosystem tenets establishes healthy crop potential. Yet the real bugaboo can be pest and disease challenges. Check out these member listings to get the support you need.

Forgotten Fruits Making a Comeback

All open-pollinated apples discovered prior to the beginning of the twentieth century are considered antique varieties. Some fourteen thousand named cultivars flourished in far-flung orchards and backyards across North America by 1900. A number of these time-honored apples are staging a comeback, and for good reason. Many offer distinctive flavor. Some are unsurpassed for specific uses. Heirlooms as a general rule stood up to the insect and disease pressures in a given region at that time. That will still play in your favor, especially in a healthy ecosystem. Tapping into history can be a fun part of home orcharding. We're in the process of creating state and provincial listings with knowledgeable apple people like John Bunker, Lee Calhoun, Gordon Tooley, and Dan Bussey to be published here as an offering of this website. Any suggestions to offer?

Podcast Roster

Listen in on orchard wisdom and fungal musings as Michael makes his way across the podcast universe.
Biodynamics Now! interview with Allan Balliett (2012)

Urban Farm interview with Greg Peterson (2017)
Farmer-to-Farmer interview with Chris Blanchard (2017)
Biodynamics Now! interview with Allan Balliett (2017)