The Permaculture Orchard: Beyond Organic

3.99 USD – 15.00 USD

An educational film about the largest permaculture orchard in eastern North America and on the future of fruit growing.

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.

469 reviews for The Permaculture Orchard: Beyond Organic

  1. Christopher S. –

    Fantastically produced video with so much actionable information! It’s hard not to run out and start preparing our orchard while watching it!

  2. Anna S. –

    Visually pleasing and very informative. This films takes complex strategies and presents them in a lovely movie that is easy to understand.

  3. Andrea J. –

    Excellent information. Thank you.

  4. John C. –

    A wealth of tips and advice for anyone wanting to set up a permaculture orchard. You may not agree with everything he does (such as mulching with plastic sheet) but even then, he makes it clear this is just one option, he explains why he chooses this way and also offers others options. A really broad range of readily comprehensible advice for anyone new to setting up a permaculture orchard. Thoroughly recommend to others.
    I gave this 4 stars but on most days, I would probably give it 5.

  5. Kimberly B. –

    Fantastic, incredible video quality.
    Very useful information, presented in a common sense format.
    Thank You.

  6. Brent K. –

    Loved the practical approach. This movie has really informed the way in which we intend to establish our silvopasture.

  7. Benjamin H. –

    Wasn’t able to review it as in any download the 720p version for some reason and don’t yet have the bandwidth to download the larger file.

  8. Joris L. –

    We really loved the video, so much information and very professional. Thank you very much, it was very inspiring.

  9. Jessie N. –

    Great information. Lovely video.

  10. Nina C. –

    loved it! thanks so much for putting it out there

  11. Lee B. –

    A wealth of information!!! I would love to see more videos from you in the future.

  12. jack b. –

    This was a great video Stefan Sobkowiak did a excellent job explaining his methods growing the permaculture way. This information will help me with my permaculture projects. Thank you so much. I would be interested any additional info.

  13. Sat K. –

    A wonderfully informative and inspiring example of how to start a permaculture orchard – exactly what I was looking for. Thank you so very much for making the video.

  14. Max G. –

    super!

  15. Anne B. –

    I have not yet received the DVD, thanks for asking.

  16. Paul K. –

    I thought it was great.orcharding made simple.great job

  17. Norman P. –

    I think it quite inspirational for anyone wanting to set up a permaculture orchard. Very interesting and practical ideas.

  18. Renee V. –

    Fantastic in every way. What a weath of information from such a knowledgable man. Looking forward to learning more from him on his tour to New Zealand in 2015.

  19. Janet –

    This is an incredible video and very helpful to a couple who just purchased a small orchard. From pruning to maintaining the orchard floor this information is invaluable. Years of experience might not bring you as far as this one video. Thanks so much.

  20. Tycho H. –

    Nothing less but great movie. We use it in teaching permaculture gardening and it’s been one of our students favorites! Thank you!

  21. Alena P. –

    A great source of information, really enjoyed watching the movie.

  22. Rebecca K. –

    Charming, beautifully produced and easy to understand movie about establishing a fruit orchard grown permaculture style! I learned a lot of great information that would have taken me years and years of trial and error to figure out on my own. You will learn something watching this movie whether you are starting off with a few fruit trees or already have an established food forest. Personally I purchased it to learn how to start growing a food forest in my new permaculture backyard and feel more confident in getting started now.

  23. Michael L. –

    The movie was great. Well produced and very informative. However, I would like more info on how to apply these principles in my local region, Sonoma CA.

    m

  24. Bryan H. –

    awesome

  25. Anna S. –

    Fantastic documentary!

  26. Clair K. –

    Nice film, but for the price I paid I expected more new information and not so much of the type of info that most backyard orchardists would know (keeping mason bees, grafting, etc.)

  27. Joseph R. –

    Love this video I own every organic farm model book and video I have ever came across and this is at the top of the list great buy

  28. E M. –

    Enjoyed, was really helpful to get another perspective from an experienced orchardist

  29. Dale W. –

    Great info and funny

  30. Andrew T. –

    Excellent documentory, really enjoyed ever minute of it, very informative and forward thinking. This method of fruit production is likely to become the norm over the coming years. Sustainability is the keyword for future food production.

  31. helio k. –

    I would like to thank this initiative, I am an architect living on a farm and have been studying permaculture a few years and it is a very inspiring film and beyond very didactic !!! I already watched about twenty times and not get tired, now how Estefan said at the beginning of the video “already talked enough, let’s work!”
    Cherss

  32. Ashley S. –

    Short video, but packs a lot of information and ideas. Definitely recommended.

  33. Jamie T. –

    Nice work.

  34. Michael B. –

    Incredibly well made video. The information and production value were top notch. I hope you guys come out with more material because this video was wonderful.

  35. Rachelle R. –

    Really good film! Learned a lot especially about training fruit trees

  36. Alexandre P. –

    A fascinating and inspiring experiment in agriculture. I do not live too far, so I hope to visit one day.

  37. Richard S. –

    Excellent video and service, keep up the good work!

  38. Karen S. –

    The video is organized as if it were a book with “chapters” addressing each topic. It was well organized and presented useful, specific information about what they’ve done & why, as well as what hasn’t worked. It gave me the kind of information I had hoped to find, but didn’t, in Mark Shepard’s & Ben Falk’s books.

  39. Sterling M. –

    Lots of great info and beautifully shot!

  40. Adrien L. –

    Excellent production. The image quality, sound, editing and overall content is excellent.

  41. Rene M. –

    Great film – thanks for your work!

  42. John L. –

    This was an excellent film. This is not just a superficial film about why it would be nice to have an orchard, etc. Stefan actually goes into detail about how to get started and maintain a permaculture orchard – he takes you step by step in a useful and understandable way. As we are looking at starting an orchard we had additional follow up questions – so we tried phoning Stefan – he actually picked up the phone and answered all our questions. Seriously, this was the best money we’ve ever spent on something like this.

  43. Fiona H. –

    Awesome

  44. Dennis S. –

    Excellent film. As someone well-versed in permaculture, I still learned a lot of new strategies and techniques. I took notes while watching it. Beautifully done and highly recommended.

  45. Sarah L. –

    This was a great addition to my permaculture resources. I learned new information and it is all explained clearly. I love that many practices are discussed with multiple options for implementation. So whether you have two trees or a commercial orchard there is technique that fits your needs.

  46. Daan B. –

    I think it is pretty good, though a bit more about the history and current situation and use/exploitation(/U-pick?) of the orchard would have been nice.
    I bought it because I’m involved in establishing a food forest, and I got some tips out of it. Especially the training was something I hadn’t seen before.

  47. GREGORY B. –

    I first came across this gentleman last year and eagerly awaited the video, checking back many times over the months. The video met my high expectations. They did a great job of thoroughly conveying the principles of nature and Stefan’s strategy, techniques, and experience. I like the way it’s broken into a format of chapters. I watched it as entertainment the first time, now I’m going back through to take notes.

  48. Kathryn G. –

    We are in the process of developing a permaculture orchard and your video is proving priceless to us. We have watched it completely through several times and now we go back to specific section to focus on various technics and insights. It’s a big advantage that you have been at this system for some time so the results are visible and your experience level is a huge confidence builder.
    Thank you so much for making your experience available to those of us just beginning our efforts.

    Kathryn and Steve Gray

  49. Noreen W. –

    Excellent. !!!

  50. Cory P. –

    very informative, eye pleasing

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