All About Organic Orcharding

with Michael Phillips

Exploring the Latest Insights in Holistic Apple Growing

Check here often to explore the latest insights into how to grow healthy apples. Here's where we'll feature in-depth looks at holistic techniques that make a difference in orchard diversity and successful fruit production. We want to hear of your experiences too, so please don't hesitate to contact Michael. All apple growers are invited to join in this community effort by sharing innovative research and bouncing around unconventional ideas. 'Tis an honor to journey with our tree friends down the path to a more sustainable tomorrow, don't you think?

Organic Orcharding Articles

• An Intelligent Paradigm
• My Apple Orchard by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Honoring the Orchard Ecosystem 
• Holistic Disease Management
• The Kaolin Clay Strategy
• The Lepidoptera Complex
• Borer Insights
• The Sustainable Orchard 
• Seasonal Checklist for the Home Orchardist
• Apple Grower Links: online resources for the organic orchardist
• Apple Grower Network Research Pages 

The Apple Grower:
A Guide for the Organic Orchardist

Michael's apple book has just been written anew. This time around Apple Grower comes in full color with many practical charts and completely surprising features. Here can be found convincing insight into how to grow worthy fruit.

The cover price has gone up slightly to $40 for the revised and expanded edition. As one friend said, The Apple Grower is a full-fledged college course on apple growing in its own right, and certainly worth every penny. We appreciate your direct support of authors as it helps make the sharing on this orcharding page possible.

This definitive guide to growing apples wisely, naturally, and with gentler impact on the earth covers all the cultural points of apple growing. Michael's personal voice and clear-eyed advice have already made The Apple Grower (click for online edition) a classic among small-scale growers and home orchardists. In fact, anyone serious about succeeding with apples needs to have this updated edition on their bookshelf.

Send a check or money order to:

Heartsong Farm
859 Lost Nation Road
Groveton, NH 03582.

Remember to tell us how you would like the book inscribed.

Zeroing in on Plant Medicines

Pure neem oil (pressed from the seeds of the Azadirachta indica tree) contains vitamin E, essential amino acids, and secondary plant metabolites called terpenoids. These compounds contribute considerably to overall plant health, which in turn makes the fruit tree that much more able to resist disease and insect infestation. Commercial neem products that extract just one of these active constituent from the "whole plant medicine" are nowhere near as effective as the unadulterated seed oil. And they cost a heck of a lot more! Apple growers looking for a fair trade source of pure neem oil should contact my friend Usha at .

Borer Promise

A clay slurry applied to young trees shows promise against the infamous roundheaded apple tree borer. Pottery-grade kaolin clay (mixed with water) should be brushed on the bottom two feet of the trunk in mid-June when this beetle's prime oviposition season begins. Renew the coverage again in mid-July and then again in mid-August for ideal results. Dribble it on thickly, especially down at the soil line. Borers prefer the seclusion offered by high grasses growing up against the tree. We've been spreading a mulch of peastone several inches thick in a three-foot diameter around each tree to help keep this area open.

Apples of Note

What follows are some varietal favorites mentioned at our annual meeting of organic-minded apple growers here in the Northeast.

The crisp Sweet Sixteen comes with a pleasing nutty flavor that will delight discriminating palates each and every year. We had a hard time getting Bill MacKentley of to choose, so you can bet Bullock (a Golden Russet cross) is superb!

The Adam's Pearmain of yesteryear offers its rich sweetness beneath a delicate web of russeting.

The Baldwin embodies American tradition . . . So what if its innate tendency towards biennial cropping means one of the good things in life only comes every other year?

Lastly, the shamrock green fruits of Reinette Simirenko are as tart as a good Granny, but juicier, and with a citrus twist.

The Calyx Moment

Our great grandparents had a goal to fill the blossom end of a fruitlet with lead arsenate poison just at the moment prior to the sepal petals closing. This stashed away the poison for the burrowing worm . . . quite a few codling moth larvae tend to enter through the calyx, perhaps sensing this as a direct entrance to the seeds. Similarly, we can try to time a Bt or Entrust spray for the "calyx moment." Perhaps, protected from UV degradation, these biological toxins might remain viable later into the season when lesser appleworm or oriental fruit moth larvae seek entry through the calyx. Check out The Lepidoptera Complex to review the full array of organic options available for dealing with varied moth scenarios.

Looking for an Orchard Mentor?

Michael offers a grower consultation service for people desiring solid advice about organic orcharding. This includes a site visit where holistic options can be fine-tuned for a specific locale. It's just as valuable to look at the scale of a fruit growing operation and discover innovative market opportunities. You'll receive a detailed orchard management plan based on this site visit. Then, throughout a full growing season, you can phone and email Michael to answer those burning orchard questions. Realizing the dynamics of orchard ground as a whole is the key to successful organic orcharding.

Join the Organic Apple Network

Stay informed about issues important to orchardists and backyard fruit growers by signing up to be a part of this emailing list. We'll write only on occasion, as life in our own orchard gets pretty busy throughout the growing season. Please do send Michael useful orchard management advice and apple news that you think needs to be shared with other community orchardists (email Michael). Part of the fun of having written The Apple Grower is serving as a clearinghouse of information that helps all of us to grow the good fruit.