Holistic Orchard Network Support

Remember the baseball movie, Field of Dreams? Build it and they will come spoke to a different theme than ours. And yet we're planting a community orchard (of the virtual sort!), holding faith that enough growers will see the worth of supporting an active website and coordinating orchard research based on holistic parameters. We could say plant it and you will come . . . and now, thankfully, you have indeed arrived.

So let's talk in detail about what the Holistic Orchardist Network is about. Here in the Northeast, a couple dozen "alternative-minded" apple growers have been meeting every March for nearly 20 years. The lessons shared in this inquisitive circle have helped each participant become a better orchardist. A book appreciated by many, Michael Phillips's The Apple Grower: A Guide for the Organic Orchardist, took form at this Berkshire Round Table (as this apple meeting has come to be known) and has been refined again and again, with the latest revised and expanded edition published in Fall 2005. Michael saw a need to provide updates to fellow growers, and accordingly shared articles and launched the notion of orchard research pages within his farm website, HerbsAndApples.com. An author gets to speak before many groups across the country, and Michael soon came to realize that if holistic-minded orchardists could share a network center, then great goals could be achieved. That set the stage for the fuller vision you now find laid out at GrowOrganicApples.com.

This network is about bringing Orchard Health to the fore. Health is not a concept emphasized in the national organic certification standards. Nor does Health necessarily have value in research trials where a "natural spray" must match the results of the chemical it's being tested to replace, more often than not in a non-holistic setting. Reductionist agriculture will never be able to grasp the worth of woodsy compost, fungal allies, herbs, biodiversity, tree-ripened fruit (with flavor to boot!), and grassroots marketing. The Health contained in nutrient-dense fruit supports our Health. That is "the word" driving all we are going to achieve in community-based orchards as we learn how to grow wholesome fruit.

State-of-the-art thinking emanates from growers who love the trees and the soil and the community they serve. Networking allows us to discern biological nuance, communicate results that build Orchard Health, and fine tune local challenges in the light of holistic thinking. GrowOrganicApples.com is the place to do this; a Holistic Orchardist Network makes connections happen. End of sales pitch, okay?

Any such effort requires support so that the burden isn't all on one set of shoulders. Network funding covers the direct costs of keeping this orchard website up and running. The financial past as well as future budgetary prospects of this vision are spelled out on a separate page we're calling The Boring Bit. Please spend a moment and evaluate for yourself what it takes to make this site possible.

So? Will you consider making a supporting donation now to the Holistic Orchardist Network? Our "public radio model" for accepting donations is set up in increments of $5. You decide the value of what this networking effort is worth to you -- one suggestion on the table is that appreciative growers consider a support level of $20 per year. Growers who reach the cumulative support level of $100 (whether in increments or right-off-the-bat) will receive a "free web listing" in our Community Orchard Listings, provided your growing philosophy comprehends and agrees to certain Holistic Core Values. And if the years roll by successfully . . . yes, yes, yes! . . . please know that your ongoing support will continue to be just as vital beyond this basic membership amount. All contributors will be recognized in upcoming Community Orchardist newsletters, be you a grower, apple lover, organization, or company promoting healthy orchard products.

The network as it now exists is set up as Michael's baby, if you will. Going the route of non-profit status and an advisory board is perfectly acceptable to "our coordinator" if indeed the energy builds to go that route. That kind of step is definitely about mutual commitment to the cause. If we reach the level of funding coordinated research trials -- and maybe even helping to send an "orchard ambassador" to other countries to report back on organic innovation elsewhere -- then it may indeed be time to enact a more formal organizational step. Trust and honesty can take us a long way in the meanwhile. Again, every penny will be accounted for in The Boring Bit as best as Michael and other core members are able. This is about as flexible a group as you might ever join!

Knowing that tangible support is forthcoming calls for a toast.

Cider glasses, everyone . . .