Orchard Supplies

Connecting with plants—a guide to belonging, ecological resilience, and permaculture design.

The plants in our world not only nourish and sustain us, they root us within our human and ecological communities. Mulberries in the Rain explores these vital connections, combining evocative storytelling with detailed crop profiles and permaculture design tools to mentor and inspire you.

Central to permaculture is the art of creating beneficial relationships—crafting inherently regenerative food systems modeled on nature. As growers, we tend to interpret this idea literally—think companion planting, edible ecosystems, and food forests. Where do social relations and community-building fit in?

Authors and permaculture experts Ryan Blosser and Trevor Piersol:

• Demystify plant guilds, showing how to create biodiverse, low-maintenance ecological systems
• Integrate tried-and-tested permaculture frameworks such as the Scale of Permanence and the Ecology of Self, with tools from economics, mental health, and other disciplines
• Provide cultivation primers for permaculture plants classified according to function, identifying out- standing anchor plants, nitrogen fixers, barrier plants, beneficial attractors, and dynamic accumulators
• Use plant narratives to illustrate how our inner landscapes are inextricably intertwined with the way we show up in the world.

This unique, beautifully illustrated handbook breaks new ground in social permaculture while providing a deep hands-on dive into creating thriving foodscapes. Required reading for anyone who seeks a deeper connection to people and place, and a more resilient future.

Exploring the science of symbiotic fungi in layman’s terms, holistic farmer Michael Phillips (author of The Holistic Orchard and The Apple Grower) sets the stage for practical applications for working with mycorrhizal fungi across the landscape. The real impetus behind no-till farming, gardening with mulches, cover cropping, digging with broadforks, shallow cultivation, forest-edge orcharding, and everything related to permaculture is to help the plants and fungi to prosper . . . which means we prosper as well.

Building soil structure and fertility that lasts for ages results only once we comprehend the nondisturbance principle. As the author says, “What a grower understands, a grower will do.” Mycorrhizal Planet abounds with insights into “fungal consciousness” and offers practical, regenerative techniques that are pertinent to gardeners, landscapers, orchardists, foresters, and farmers. Michael’s fungal acumen will resonate with everyone who is fascinated with the unseen workings of nature and concerned about maintaining and restoring the health of our soils, our climate, and the quality of life on Earth for generations to come.

Unsulphured blackstrap molasses are a great way of getting some much-needed nutrients to your trees in a more natural way, generally being considered high in iron, calcium, and magnesium. It is also a key ingredient in our Holistic Spray if you are using effective microbes.

Please note the molasses we carry is not food grade.

Contents: Organic, unsulphured, pasteurized, non-GMO blackstrap molasses

Size: 945mL bottle

Application: 

• Root Drench - 1tsp per 1L of water during vegetative state every 7-14 days
  
• Root Drench During Bloom - 2tsp per 1L of water every 7-14 days
• Foliar - 1/4tsp of water per 1L of water every 14 days

Soil: Any

We use this in our orchard for all trees (both in our experimental orchard and nursery stock) as part of our holistic spray system. You can download the holistic spray recipe here.

Cold-pressed, live and nutrient-rich, this liquid fish hydrolysate is not sterilized with high heat like an emulsion. 100% no chemicals added, suitable for organic production. Excellent source of probiotics and mycorrhizae that aid the roots in nutrient and water absorption, and for earthworms that increase organic matter in the soil. 

Bottle contains 1L.  Enough to make 50L of spray mix.

 Pawpaws is the first in-depth guide to small-scale commercial cultivation of pawpaws. Also known as Indiana bananas or hipster bananas, this almost forgotten fruit, native to North America, is making a huge comeback with foodies, chefs, craft brewers, and discerning fruit-lovers.

In this DVD—a culmination of workshops recorded in Mexico, Florida, and Massachusetts—plant specialist Eric Toensmeier introduces gardeners to more than 100 species of little-known, underappreciated plants. Ranging beyond the usual suspects (asparagus, rhubarb, and artichoke) to include such delights as ground cherry, ramps, air potatoes, the fragrant spring tree, and the much-sought-after, antioxidant-rich wolfberry (also known as the goji berry), Toensmeier explains how to raise, tend, harvest, and cook with plants that yield great crops and culinary satisfaction. Toensmeier also takes viewers on a plant-by-plant tour of his garden in Massachusetts.

Author and plant specialist Eric Toensmeier (Edible Forest Gardens) introduces gardeners to a world of little-known and wholly underappreciated plants. Perennial vegetables are perfect as part of an edible landscape plan or permaculture garden.

Profiling more than 100 species, illustrated with dozens of color photographs and illustrations, and filled with valuable growing tips, recipes, and resources, Perennial Vegetables is a groundbreaking and ground-healing book that will open the eyes of gardeners everywhere to the exciting world of edible perennials.

Fueled by a failing economy and a passionate desire for a return to simpler times, a new wave of homesteaders is seeking the good life, and the kind of true satisfaction that can only be built, not bought. Many of these modern pioneers are cash poor, but rich in energy and creativity. Plowing with Pigs and Other Creative, Low-Budget Homesteading Solutions offers them a set of fresh ideas for achieving independence through sweat equity and the use of unconventional resources.

This highly readable and entertaining guide brings together answers to common problems faced by homesteaders young and old, urban, suburban, and rural. Traditional knowledge is combined with MacGyver-style ingenuity to create projects that maximize available resources, including:

• Animal management strategies for the yard, garden, and field 
• Pole building and construction techniques from woodlot materials, including living fence how-to 
• Replacing farm machinery with homemade hand tools and implements 
• Leveraging increased self-sufficiency into a home-based business.

Whether you are a dreamer or a doer, Plowing with Pigs will inspire, challenge, and enable you to do more with less (and have fun doing it).

Paperback – 272 pages
7.5 Inches × 9 Inches (w × h)

Weight: 705 Grams
BISAC: TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / Agriculture / Sustainable Agriculture
Publisher: New Society Publishers
ISBN: 9780865717176
Pub. Date: 2013-02-01

Root Rescue is a certified organic mycorrhizal inoculant designed to set your plants up with a symbiotic relationship that will provide benefits such as establishing new roots more easily, improving nutrient uptake, and increasing disease resistance. This company has been working with the University of Guelph since 2009 to create this  cocktail of 18 species of fungi. This inoculant is suitable for any transplanting a variety of plants including hardwoods and softwoods, bushes, flowers, veggies, etc.

World-renowned expert Martin Crawford covers both common fruit bushes and lesser-known edible shrubs. He takes us on a journey into the world of exotic spice trees, shrubs with medicinal parts, and nitrogen fixing plants. All these can be grown in temperate climates, allowing us to diversify our diets and design beautiful, productive gardens while showing us how we can integrate agroforestry into our smallholdings and farms to create new income streams.

Martin Crawford's expertise has been a great resource for us and much of the information he has collected over the years has helped us to understand our own plants better.