Michael Phillips (2) (1957–2022)

Phillips does an excellent job covering many topics. I found the pruning chapter most revealing. I've skimmed the topic before, but it never made as much sense as presented here. He offers pros and cons for many of his practices, and that is particularly helpful for independent decisions for the reader. I'd love to read something most recently by him to see whether his practices have evolved.

An excellent manual for understanding how soil life affects plants, which in turn affects the nutrition we humans are able to obtain from our food. Phillips is an orchardist, so many of his refernces relate to his apple trees, however this is applicable to any sustainable farming endeavor.
I had taken Plant Physiology years ago, and so was able to skim over much of the 2nd chapter, which my partner was struggling thru. His struggle was not so much the language the author used, which is show more user-friendly, but because the concepts were new & he wanted to understand them completely, not just gloss over. From my perspective, I was surprised at how much has been learned about soil life interactions in the years since I studied it. I had been under the impression that mycorrhizal fungi only coexisted with a few species, and that they were more parasitic than mutually beneficial. Now I learn of fungi and bacteria species which are necessary partners in a plant's ability to access nutrients.
Includes resources (and I will be checking one of these which purports to list which plant species have mycorrhizal associations), glossary, chapter notes (which are somewhat of an aside, explaining a bit more of what he said), bibliography, index. show less

The information and quality of this book makes me wish I had bought it in hardback copy instead of just an ebook. I really feel like it gives me a beginner working on bringing back an abandoned orchard all the primer skills I need. I'm sure I will be referencing this year after year. The only thing that I struggled with is the third of the book isn't as clearly organized as later on. The author tries to stress the importance of "holistic" care. I think many wonderful points are made. It was show more just a bit overwhelming for a beginner. show less

Everything, I mean EVERYTHING to do with growing apple trees, in the warm language of a learned orcharder who knows his stuff and loves his apples. Wonderful just to read, as well as useful and practical how-to advice, background, and why.