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The Apple Grower: A Guide for the Organic Orchardist
For decades fruit growers have sprayed their trees with toxic chemicals in an attempt to control a range of insect and fungal pests. Yet it is possible to grow apples responsibly, by applying the intuitive knowledge of our great-grandparents with the fruits of modern scientific research and innovation.
Since The Apple Grower first appeared in 1998, orchardist Michael Phillips has continued his research with apples, which have been called "organic's final frontier." In this new edition of his widely acclaimed work, Phillips delves even deeper into the mysteries of growing good fruit with minimal inputs. Some of the cuttingedge topics he explores include:
The use of kaolin clay as an effective strategy against curculio and borers, as well as its limitations
Creating a diverse, healthy orchard ecosystem through understory management of plants, nutrients, and beneficial microorganisms
How to make a small apple business viable by focusing on heritage and regional varieties, value-added products, and the "community orchard" model
The author's personal voice and clear-eyed advice have already made The Apple Grower 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.
Since The Apple Grower first appeared in 1998, orchardist Michael Phillips has continued his research with apples, which have been called "organic's final frontier." In this new edition of his widely acclaimed work, Phillips delves even deeper into the mysteries of growing good fruit with minimal inputs. Some of the cuttingedge topics he explores include:
The use of kaolin clay as an effective strategy against curculio and borers, as well as its limitations
Creating a diverse, healthy orchard ecosystem through understory management of plants, nutrients, and beneficial microorganisms
How to make a small apple business viable by focusing on heritage and regional varieties, value-added products, and the "community orchard" model
The author's personal voice and clear-eyed advice have already made The Apple Grower 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.
360 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
34 people are currently reading
304 people want to read
About the author
Michael Phillips
415 books6 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
August 15, 2009
I am thoroughly enjoying this book. Not only does it have nothing to do with Homeland Security (my day job), it is so very readable and easy to follow.
I'm starting a small orchard when I retire, and Michael's kind tutoring is showing me how to minimize my impact while enjoying a full and health harvest.
Nice.
I'm starting a small orchard when I retire, and Michael's kind tutoring is showing me how to minimize my impact while enjoying a full and health harvest.
Nice.
January 5, 2019
I purchased this book because we found several neglected apple trees on our property and I wanted to learn how to care for them. I was not a fan of the authors writing style, I found the book to be full of repetitive preachy statements about ideology and, more damningly, severely lacking figures to explain concepts. A quick peak at "The Holistic Orchard" by the same author seems like it will be more appropriate for my needs, along with supplying information for other fruits I am interested in incorporating into my garden.
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June 6, 2022Reading this book felt like chatting with a man, bursting with passionate about what he does, and helping others take on the same challenges. As a result the book with full of good information, and was generally enjoyable to read. On the other hand, sometimes the information felt a bit buried in a somewhat long winded explanation, and at times my eyes would glaze over on sections not applicable to my backyard orchard (much of the thrust of the book is towards encouraging large scale organic orchards). The author is very realistic about the many challenges of growing fruit organically and devotes a lot of time to the various pests and diseases faced in New England.
October 9, 2017
We can make things happen without poisoning ourselves.
August 30, 2018
Lots of good info
February 24, 2021
Excellent book about apples and apple tree growing. I only have 10 apple trees, but this book has lots of info. on how to care for them, prune them, feed them, control pests and diseases, etc.
October 20, 2022
All the information one would ever need about really loving an apple tree.
June 30, 2016
“The Apple Grower” is an excellent book, but not one for the casual apple grower. That doesn’t mean that another, simpler book would be better for the casual apple grower. Rather, it appears to me (very much a non-expert) that apple growing isn’t possible to do casually, so “casual apple grower” is a very small group, consisting of those who pick a few apples of varying quality from their trees and let the rest drop. So, if you’re like me, and planning on planting and maintaining ten or twenty apple trees for my family’s own personal use, this book shows you very well how to do that. But it doesn’t make it sound easy.
Phillips pitches primarily to an audience who are small scale organic apple producers for profit. To make a profit, you have to have saleable apples in large quantity, which means fairly large, flavorful, and not damaged (unless you are making cider, a topic Phillips covers, but not in detail). To achieve that with organic methods, rather than with frequent spraying of organophosphate pesticides, requires constant attention and work, all of which Phillips covers very well. But reading “The Apple Grower,” I conclude that someone like me can do a lot less work, and accept a much higher rate of attrition from pests, yet obtain a plentiful supply of apples for eating, cooking and cider. That still means a lot of work, though, if for no other reason than to damp down the amount of insect and other pests attracted by apples. However, I don’t think readers like me should therefore be discouraged from growing apples with a disciplined organic approach, even if it’s not as easy as setting out some plants, relaxing, and harvesting.
Phillips covers siting an orchard in detail, and also discusses briefly other fruit trees in the context of a mixed-fruit orchard. He discusses, throughout the book, how to enrich the soil—his approach, as seems current among organic devotees, is a permaculture approach, viewing the local ecosystem, from fungi to predators, as a coherent whole. So, for example, he discusses at length whether mown grass, unmown grass, or tilled cover crops make the most sense for directly underneath and between trees. Phillips also discusses cultivar selection, noting that ultimately small changes in geography can make different cultivars desirable, and also that what you want out of the apples dictates which cultivars you choose. Occasionally, he assumes the reader will have equipment available that a casual apple grower is unlikely to have, such as a tractor to till—but the small-scale, not-for-profit grower can doubtless figure out how to accomplish necessary tasks without such equipment. Throughout the book Phillips has interesting sidebars, which (unlike in some other books) are not filler, but add detail or color to topics he’s covering. Some of the most interesting of these concern apple advice from earlier times—the early 20th Century or the 19th Century, and how much of that advice is still valid (and was often forgotten in the days when chemical sprays became the norm).
“The Apple Grower” discusses care of trees, from planting to pruning, and spends a lot of time on apple pests and their (organic) control. Phillips is particularly enamored of a new kaolin spray called “Surround”—so much so that it’s either extremely good or he owns stock in the company! Finally, Phillips discusses harvesting and marketing apples. All of this is well written and seems to have the appropriate level of detail. Yes, every so often Phillips gets a bit touchy-feely, with occasional odd mentions of the astral theories of plant life of some guy named Rudolf Steiner. But that probably just proves how close to his subject matter he is, and is a recommendation, not a criticism.
Phillips pitches primarily to an audience who are small scale organic apple producers for profit. To make a profit, you have to have saleable apples in large quantity, which means fairly large, flavorful, and not damaged (unless you are making cider, a topic Phillips covers, but not in detail). To achieve that with organic methods, rather than with frequent spraying of organophosphate pesticides, requires constant attention and work, all of which Phillips covers very well. But reading “The Apple Grower,” I conclude that someone like me can do a lot less work, and accept a much higher rate of attrition from pests, yet obtain a plentiful supply of apples for eating, cooking and cider. That still means a lot of work, though, if for no other reason than to damp down the amount of insect and other pests attracted by apples. However, I don’t think readers like me should therefore be discouraged from growing apples with a disciplined organic approach, even if it’s not as easy as setting out some plants, relaxing, and harvesting.
Phillips covers siting an orchard in detail, and also discusses briefly other fruit trees in the context of a mixed-fruit orchard. He discusses, throughout the book, how to enrich the soil—his approach, as seems current among organic devotees, is a permaculture approach, viewing the local ecosystem, from fungi to predators, as a coherent whole. So, for example, he discusses at length whether mown grass, unmown grass, or tilled cover crops make the most sense for directly underneath and between trees. Phillips also discusses cultivar selection, noting that ultimately small changes in geography can make different cultivars desirable, and also that what you want out of the apples dictates which cultivars you choose. Occasionally, he assumes the reader will have equipment available that a casual apple grower is unlikely to have, such as a tractor to till—but the small-scale, not-for-profit grower can doubtless figure out how to accomplish necessary tasks without such equipment. Throughout the book Phillips has interesting sidebars, which (unlike in some other books) are not filler, but add detail or color to topics he’s covering. Some of the most interesting of these concern apple advice from earlier times—the early 20th Century or the 19th Century, and how much of that advice is still valid (and was often forgotten in the days when chemical sprays became the norm).
“The Apple Grower” discusses care of trees, from planting to pruning, and spends a lot of time on apple pests and their (organic) control. Phillips is particularly enamored of a new kaolin spray called “Surround”—so much so that it’s either extremely good or he owns stock in the company! Finally, Phillips discusses harvesting and marketing apples. All of this is well written and seems to have the appropriate level of detail. Yes, every so often Phillips gets a bit touchy-feely, with occasional odd mentions of the astral theories of plant life of some guy named Rudolf Steiner. But that probably just proves how close to his subject matter he is, and is a recommendation, not a criticism.
January 8, 2010
This really is the best book about growing apples that you can get. It's detailed, packed with info, and contains copious footnotes and digressions if you desire them. It covers the whole range of topics, from growing to pest control to the economics of the business. And also includes a welcome rant about cider pasteurization, which has made it very hard to find real cider these days. Pasteurized "cider" is actually just "juice."
This is one-stop shopping for people who desire serious knowledge about apple growing.
This is one-stop shopping for people who desire serious knowledge about apple growing.
January 13, 2009
I liked what I read in this book; it stresses a holistic view of orchard care. however, I didn't get very far before realizing that it is way too much information for me at this point. the book seems aimed at small commercial orchardists rather than backyard growers, and assumes a base level of knowledge that I do not yet have. I do hope to come back to it at some point in the future.
March 13, 2012
An interesting peek into the operation of an organic apple orchard. Plenty of great info for the home grower, though also some slogging through less interesting parts.
Read my full review of The Apple Grower on my blog.
Read my full review of The Apple Grower on my blog.
February 27, 2012
VERY comprehensive reference for organic orcharding techniques. Books like these are often rather dry, but the author's writing style makes it an enjoyable read as well as a valuable technical resource.
April 15, 2012
This is a really smart book, but it requires a lot of orchard and chemistry knowledge to get the most out of it. I am sure that it is an incredible resource for Orchardists. I stopped about halfway through the book, with a renewed desire to try pippins and esopus spitzenberg.
March 31, 2010
I read this to prepare for the planting of a few backyard fruit trees. Great information here, but often beyond my yard. "Guide for the Organic ORCHARDIST" indeed.
July 14, 2010
I read this to prepare for the planting of a few backyard fruit trees. Great information here, but often beyond my yard. "Guide for the Organic ORCHARDIST" indeed.
February 15, 2021
One of my most important garden books.
April 4, 2008
This book was so beautiful I cried! And all it is is about growing apples!!!
December 30, 2017
Great companion on picking apple tree varietals and how to care for them.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews