Many people want to grow fruit on a small scale but lack the insight to be successful orchardists. A holistic grower knows that producing fruit is not about manipulating nature but, more importantly, fostering nature. Author and orchardist Michael Phillips will discuss orcharding in a holistic way that will let aspiring fruit growers’ interests blossom.

Phillips will present “Holistic Orcharding” at Sterling College on Tuesday, June 28, at 7 p.m. at Common House on campus. The talk is free and open to the public. There will be a Q&A and book signing afterwards, and copies of his book The Holistic Orchard (Chelsea Green, 2012) will be available for sale.

He will discuss how to build a healthy ecosystem in an orchard, including embracing forest-edge ecology and working with biology both above and below ground. “As the tree is growing,” he says, “you’re learning.”

Michael Phillips is a farmer, writer, carpenter, orchard consultant, and speaker who lives with his wife, Nancy, and daughter, Grace, on Heartsong Farm in northern new Hampshire, where they grow apples and a variety of medicinal herbs. Phillips authored The Apple Grower and teamed up with Nancy to write The Herbalist's Way. His Lost Nation Orchard is part of a diversified mountain farm in northern New Hampshire, and he also leads the community orchard movement at www.GrowOrganicApples.com.

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