Resources

Guidance for Chilkat Valley Fruit Growers

Recording of Zoom Workshop #1:
Starting an Orchard

Presenters Blythe Carter of Haines and Rob Bishop of Hoonah (alaskaapplefarms.com) provide a 1-hr over view of the big ideas around starting a fruit tree orchard.  This program lays the groundwork for subsequent programs in the 2021 Chilkat Valley Orchard Series.  The program was held on Saturday, January 9 and had 80 Zoom participants from all over SE-Alaska.  Learn more about Blythe and Rob under Our Team.

Recording of Zoom Workshop #2:
Planting Fruit Trees

Other YouTube Links for you, related to “Planting Fruit Trees:”

Fungal Influences: Successful Biological Orcharding with Michael Phillips, Part 3

Mulching Strategies: Successful Biological Orcharding; With Michael Phillips, Part 9

Wood Chips: Making Ramial Wood Chips (for Orchard Compost)

Soil Humification: Soil Humification and Ramial Chipped Wood: with Michael Phillips 

Recording of Zoom Workshop #3:
Growing Fruit Trees in a Greenhouse/Hoop-house

Learn what’s going on with indoor fruit growing in Haines, AK and Hoonah, AK.  Two innovative fruit growers are extending their growing season by two months, adding more heating degree-days, a longer growing season and protection from wildlife inside a greenhouse/hoophouse. The results are dramatic.

Workshop Leaders:  Rob Goldberg of Haines and Rob Bishop of Hoonah.  Both grow fruit trees outdoors and in greenhouse environments, and have very different strategies.

Recording of Zoom Workshop #4:
The Power of Pruning

Pruning is a periodic requirement in fruit tree horticulture, one that generates vigor and gives growers more, better quality fruit. Shaping the tree results in better ripening, less disease, less snow damage, gaining access to ALL the fruit and avoiding dangerous ladder moves.  It’s a broad topic!  Our program (recorded February 27, 2021) provides a great overview.  You’ll learn WHEN, WHY and HOW to prune–a fundamental of orchard science.

TOPICS

  • Early pruning and branch training to shape the tree
  • Sunlight penetration for better fruit ripening and less disease
  • Reaction of trees to different pruning cuts
  • Strategies to increase fruit spur development
  • Multi-year/staged pruning to rejuvenate old, neglected trees

Workshop Leaders: Blythe Carter, Haines Orchardist and Ed Buyarski, of Juneau (Ed’s Edible Landscaping)

Recording of Zoom Workshop # 5:
The Five Tenets of the Holistic Orchard

Presenter:  Michael Phillips, award-winning author, educator and orchardist, Groveton, NH

TOPICS:

  • Fungal Stewardship
  • Mineralization
  • Tree Immune Function
  • Competitive Colonization
  • Outrageous Diversity

Michael’s Zoom presentation of his “Five Tenets” including Q&A ran to 2 hours and is very worthwhile. His second presentation for Alaska tree fruit enthusiasts is on Saturday, April 3rd at 10am:  Fungal Duff Management

Presentation Abstract: “The framework by which we perceive health underlies the choices we make to grow fruit. Understanding the ripple effect inherent in these five tenets will help you, in turn, better prioritize the biological connections that make orcharding fun.  Working with Nature is amazingly profound. How we grow ultimately enhances the virtue of the fruit itself. From fungal stewardship and mineralization to tree phytochemistry to competitive colonization and diversity considerations, both, above and below. Hold on to your hats for this is going to be one fast ride!”

 

Recording of Zoom Workshop #6:

Fungal Duff Management–– with Michael Phillips

Fruit trees and berries, indeed most plants, are hard-wired for fungal inter-dependence.  The fungal support team is invested in every aspect of tree health and nutrition; in fact, without them, your trees are incomplete and won’t thrive.

The top-most layer of the soil is where mycorrhizal fungi access nutrients on behalf of themselves, and the trees, even though their water-seeking roots may reach very deep.  “Fungal Duff” is the term Michael Phillips uses for a properly mulched, upper-most orchard soil layer crucial to tree health and productivity.  Michael passed away in March of 2022 doing what he loved–tending his home orchard in Groveton, NH.  Also see his Workshop #5–the Five Tenets of the Holistic Orchard (above), and numerous other Youtube accessible programs by him.

Michael was a superb educator and presenter on all aspects of organic fruit growing.  His books are also excellent: The Holistic Orchard (2012) The Apple Grower (2005), and Mycorrhizal Planet (2017)

“Come learn about fungal allies, fertility ratios, root timing, and the outrageous biodiversity that makes good fruit possible no matter what your level of experience.”         —Michael Phillips