The Permaculture Orchard : Beyond Organic is a feature-length educational film that will teach you how to set up your own permaculture orchard at any scale. Recognizing the limitations of the organic model as a substitute to conventional fruit growing, this film proposes a more holistic, regenerative approach based on permaculture principles.
Based on 20 years of applied theory and trial and error, biologist and educator Stefan Sobkowiak shares his experience transforming a conventional apple orchard into an abundance of biodiversity that virtually takes care of itself. The concepts, techniques and tips presented in this film will help you with your own project, whether it is just a few fruit trees in your urban backyard, or a full-scale multi-acre commercial orchard.
Beautiful, full of hard-won information, humble, practical.
Eric Toensmeier
/ author of Paradise Lot
A visually appealing film that delivers at both the environmental and economic level, while setting the stage for a new modern standard for commercial fruit production.
Jenn Jennings
/ Examiner.com
Film contents
- creating habitat for birds / pollinators
- natural pest control techniques
- the trio system / plant combinations
- the shrub herbaceous layers
- seed planting of annuals
- planting fruit trees / drainage considerations
- tree training vs. pruning
- grafting / overgrafting
- creating habitat for birds / pollinators
- natural pest control techniques
- the trio system / plant combinations
- the shrub herbaceous layers
- seed planting of annuals
- planting fruit trees / drainage considerations
- tree training vs. pruning
- grafting / overgrafting
- starting your own trees vs. buying trees
- mulch options with a focus on plastic mulch and why/how
- drip irrigation
- the importance of cultivar selection
- the grocery aisle concept
- spraying / fungi control
- tree protection
- frost protection
Trained as a biologist and landscape architect, Stefan Sobkowiak has taught fruit production, landscape plants and design, and natural history of vertebrates at Montreal’s McGill University. He owned a landscape design firm for 20 years, developping hundreds of projects for private, institutional and municipal clients. He’s been teaching permaculture in Quebec since 1995 and has given numerous presentations and workshops in Europe, New Zealand, United States and Canada.
Stefan is the owner of Miracle Farms since 1993.
Français
Kris W. –
Very Exciting!
Kerri H. –
Very useful! We really appreciated the opportunity to follow you through the orchard doing what you do, rather than just hearing about it. Thank you for sharing your unique approach!
Curtis S. –
Very detailed and informative. An excellent reference for anyone wanting to plant one or 100 fruit trees.
Stefano M. –
excellent material. I’d really love to be closer to Canada to come and visit in person 🙂
Natasha T. –
Very nice videography, enjoyable score. Great advice and tips. My one disappointment was that it felt like a video of tidbit clips, rather than a comprehensive start-to-finish How To for a permaculture orchard. While it did list companion plants I was surprised there wasn’t more in-depth information about nitrogen fixers or any mention – that I remember – of swales or other water-harvesting techniques beyond drip irrigation and little pools of water for beneficial insect attraction. Overall, however, it was very good, and I would recommend it to others. You won’t be disappointed in the helpful information, the quality, or the language choices. I hope to see more videos from them in the future.
Monique B. –
A really great purchase,thank you!
simon –
The film is great, lots of useful information very clearly presented. Requires several viewing to absorb the various aspects of the orchard covered in just under two hours.
Cool soundtrack, and beautiful picture quality. Definitely worth your money and time.
James B. –
A Great help and insight. Not 100% my style or preferences but there is much to be learned for this video. Beautifully captured and great for multiple viewings.
Jan K. –
Very good!
Jason G. –
Extremely well produced and full of very useful ideas. One of the best permaculture productions I have seen.
Jeremy K. –
left me wanting more and with lots of new questions!
Dawne D. –
I use this book for a lookup reference all the time when my new stone fruit trees go into another cycle.
Karen F. –
I watched this several times and then took notes because this is such an essential guide to orchard management. There are very few materials on permaculture that explain the ideas in such a clear simple way. This is a must have.
Ben C. –
The film was great. Loaded with info we could apply and also things we may not do but it was nice to see an open and honest representation. Great to see how an orchard can include so much diversity. Beautifully filmed. Thanks for pitting this together guys.
Victor R. –
Great DVD! Learned a lot and gave me a lot of ideas for my project… Thank you!
Lorenzo C. –
fantastic and inspiring!!! thanks to Stefan and Olivier for this film!!!
rudy s. –
Have not seen film yet ,is for winter,let you know,greetings rudels.
Derek N. –
Great video
Raymond I. –
Truly amazing and inspiring! Miracle Farms serves as a brilliant example of where more people need to focus their efforts. Stefan has given me so much knowledge to use on my own small permaculture orchard!
David T. –
Well done. Glad I backed the project on KS. Thanks!
Mark D. –
A beautifully made and fascinating film that communicates the thinking, planning, planting and maintainance of a permaculture orhcard. A must-watch for the inquisitive grower
Myk R. –
Attempted to download but download failed due to lack of disk space. Unable to use cupon 3ehtvfzk9 again so no video to comment on… Myk
P H. –
Love this DVD/download (I got both). My family refers to it as “Dad’s apple movie”, since I’ve watched it about a half-dozen times already. Stephan has an engaging persona on-screen, and being a newcomer to the apple orchard (am wanting to plant a bunch on my own property for my kids and grandkids), I found all the info very helpful. And Oliver did a simply superb job in the editing, turning what might be an otherwise bland topic into something fun and very watchable. Heck, I’ve watched it on the plane for entertainment, and it’s attracted the curious seatmates into conversations about what I’m watching…
Well done!!
Estelle D. –
Great and full of knowledge! I was taking a workshop from the comfort of my own home. Thanks to Stefan for sharing his knowledge and experience!
Little P. –
It was such an amazing film, providing me with a large amount of information. Stefan Sobkowiak, the creator of the film, shares his vast experience of creating a Permaculture Orchard in Quebec, Canada. If you are interested in seeing the great production that a Permaculture Orchard can produce, I would recommend this film. Stefan shows various little tips that he has developed over the years, from weeding, planting seeds, guilds, pruning, and even ways to train your trees to promote the fruit trees to produce food. There was much more interesting content than I have just listed. The movie was also very well made, with beautiful visuals of his farm. The film was around 2 hours long, and unlike many other Permaculture films, I did not feel sleepy once (I tend to struggle to watch Geoff Lawton’s films. His New Age music puts me to sleep).
Russel H. –
Very Interesting! I thoroughly enjoyed it
Catherine P. –
Beautifully filmed and highly informative.
Michelle D. –
The Permaculture Orchard is full of new and useful information from the 20-plus years of research at Miracle Farms. The images and sound are a treat for the senses, and it doesn’t hurt that Stefan himself is a humble yet charismatic presence on camera. Loved it!
Stefano M. –
Eccellente è spiegato in modo chiaro. Ricco di idee da applicare nel proprio frutteto/terreno. Grazie!!
Ps. Ho avuto molte difficoltà a scaricare il filmato. Sono riuscito dopo molto tentativi interrotti a metà. In download torrent forse sarebbe da considerare per riprendere se si interrompe. Grazie ancora.
Rob S. –
I thought it was a great documentary. Importantly, specific cultivation techniques are mentioned and demonstrated, lending this video project a more practical bent than others which merely talk about overarching ideals and goals of sustainability.
caroline b. –
Very good and useful
I disco verde many things i did not know
Joseph H. –
Excellent how-to film with great camera work. I cannot recommend it enough!
Dawn H. –
Love it!
Jessica S. –
Makes me want to complete my orchard ☺️
jessica f. –
Excellent!
Chris G. –
An excellent presentation – Accurate, informative and well presented. It has given me both confidence and enthusiasm to go forth and turn my experiment into a productive paradise. Thanks
Chris
Terri B. –
Beautifully filmed and very informative. Can’t wait to start my own orchard!
Erika –
Very informative and fun to watch! The songs stuck in my head all day after watching…
Jan W. –
I love the video. It was beautiful filmed and is both very informative and inspirational. I learn something new each time I watch it. I recommend it to anyone who gardens or wants to grow their own food.
Michael C. –
Well made, lots of good info, a little shinfo but all in all a good film and I would reccomend it to a friend
Kylie M. –
Love it, very clever systems and ideas.
Jeff H. –
Thank you so much for putting this together! It’s a pleasure to watch and listen to. Really well done!
Zbigniew B. –
Absolutely great video
Stefan E. –
I thought it would contain more information about grafting and which rootstocks to use.
Other than that a really good and informative video!
Rebecca H. –
This documentary is very nicely done and loaded with information. I’ll be watching it several times. Thanks so much for making it available!
Gail N. –
Truly love the video. Have a fenced off area to start it. I have 3 fruit trees that didn’t do well, 1 that did. Now I know why it lasted, rose bush in front of it. The stock are good so I plan on using them, apple, cherry and an apricot. These died at the graft spot and are outside the fenced area. I’ll try bending the branches on the apple tree that lived.
James G. –
Inspiring!
Jeff T. –
Great Film!
Louie .. –
Really disappointed I had trouble saving the link and gave up trying to conact you to sort it out and have been unable to save it to my computer. the content was very basic and could have got better info from a basic permaculture book I have in my library. Any chance of a refund?
Mark B. –
Beautifully presented and loved the sections on harvest grouping and pruning. I highly recommend it.