The Permaculture Orchard: Beyond Organic

7.50 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. Brian B. –

    Excellent and thought provoking. Thank you’

  2. Kathy D. –

    I only have a few fruit trees, but the use of nitrogen fixing plants in between the trees was enlightening. I hope to use some of the techniques to grow fruit with a little more ease and quality of crops.

  3. Justin R. –

    amazing!

  4. Bart K. –

    very good , thanks

  5. Matt Z. –

    I love the film. Info is great, speaker is great, music is great. I like the bit at the end sharing the grafting concepts. nice technical info.

    overall, well worth the purchase and happy to support a good farm.

  6. Mike J. –

    Awesome Movie!!!

  7. Douglas –

    Movie Review! Okay, I’m a little late, but my wife and I just watched Stefan’s Permaculture Orchard ( Les Fermes Miracle Farms ) and I’m going to give it 4 stars. A well shot, well edited movie with an engaging protagonist (Stefan) walking us through his orchard, showing us the down and dirty of plastic mulch, grafting, pruning (including all the whys and hows), a neat soundtrack and very interesting and informative graphics, it’s a winner. As to the question I always ask when I buy something: Will I get more $$$ back out of this investment (however calculated, savings, mistakes avoided, etc.) than I put into it? The answer is a resounding yes. If you don’t save yourself (or make for yourself) hundreds or thousands of dollars from Stefan’s wisdom and effort, I’d be surprised. So a ~$40 investment for the library is invaluable. (I have a large property with a 60 year old neglected orchard measuring 2 acres. I plan to use some of Stefan’s methods to reinvigorate, diversify and expand)

  8. keith h. –

    Makes the permaculture movement stronger, Thanks, KH, Canada

  9. lance b. –

    Great stuff! Very informative and well produced

  10. Gregory D. –

    pretty good, wasn’t too sure about the plastic under the trees, why not a living mulch. good info anyways

  11. Shawn B. –

    The documentary has inspired us to follow Stefan’s lead and install a Permaculture Orchard on our farm property in Utah. Stefan has graciously agreed to consult with us in order to shorten the learning curve that would otherwise be required. We’d love to see a follow up that delves into more aspects of permaculture. Thanks again, Shawn

  12. Laura P. –

    Excellent video filled with interesting, practical, useful information but most of all, a real “how-to” presentation so I can go out and start using the information immediately. Love it, thanks!!

  13. Mark C. –

    Movie was great. Very logical and inspirational. It makes designing along permaculture lines much easier to apply to a more standard setup. I would love to have more details! Some specific questions were left unanswered, but I understand the limitations of time.

  14. Robb C. –

    Great content and nice introduction for both the backyard orchard and larger-scale.

  15. Pierre-Antoine J. –

    Genius !

  16. Stephanie M. –

    Great and real info! loved it!

  17. Kevin W. –

    Absolutely fantastic; I will be incorporating several techniques/approaches demonstrated by Stefan in the wonderful video. The information was delivered in a logical, professional, clear and concise way.

    Kevin
    Mindful Living Sanctuary

  18. robyn o. –

    A very inspiring motivating download. We are establishing a home orchard and possible pasture chicken operation in Australia, and the information in the download was really though provoking. The true genuiness of the presenter shone through. His care, logic and interest in long term permaculture left me hungry to grow my education in permaculture and nature working together for happy results. Thank you, really really interesting to watch. Robyn

  19. Simon K. –

    I enjoyed it. Thank you!

  20. michelle k. –

    We’re making plans for our yard because of this film!

  21. Stephanie R. –

    I have been involved in Permaculture for some four years now.This presentation is one of the best I have seen – clear, precise and practical. Thank you

  22. Sándor H. –

    Hello,
    It was so awesome to see how put your efforts to your permaculture orchard! I like your practical approach! Your film is so inspiring and totally complete even for beginners. I watched three times within the first week I purchased! Additionally thank you for your will to make it so high quality and professional way. Easier to persuade the conventional thinking people about permaculture with filmes like yours. I’m happy to buy it but please if you have opportunity make more subtitles in more languages. I wish you very fruitful farming in the future too!
    Sándor from Hungary

  23. William c. –

    Good information….depth less than desired. Video quality was excellent.

  24. Marcel P. –

    What a great DVD. So much information, it really made me want to start my own permaculture orchard.

  25. Chris T. –

    I have really enjoyed it!… I glad to see the video quality is so high… amazing, considering it’s roots are in Paul Wheaton 😉

  26. Charles T. –

    Phenomenal! Look forward to more content like this. I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in sustainable food production.

  27. Anne M. –

    This is a fabulous DVD. A great introduction to the permaculture world!

  28. Matt C. –

    It was the best Permaculture teaching video I’ve seen in the last 5 years. Details, and actual working knowledge that can be directly applied. I was very impressed.

  29. Teigan H. –

    TThis Dvd is excellent. Well worth buying. Works in Australia no problems with region codes.Very informative and well presented.A must have Dvd that can be applied anywhere. Thanks for this I will let you know how we go developing our permaculture orchard in the South west of Western Australia.

  30. Shaun Q. –

    Loved it, hands on how to, demos, great stuff, worth every penny!

  31. Andrew E. –

    Great instructive video. Good info on training fruit trees.

  32. jessie m. –

    I am overwhelmed with the information on “The Permaculture Orchard”! Great production as well. If you had any doubts about being able to establish your own orchard, then please buy this title and see how Miracle Farms is implementing the practice of Permaculture.

  33. Ryan B. –

    It was a very motivational and educational movie. Exactly what I’d like to accomplish on my own acreage.

  34. John H. –

    Excellent quality and excellent content. I learned so many things (big and small). I will definitely be an initial supporter of any follow up video you guys create.

  35. Dennis V. –

    More then I experts, great documentaire.

  36. Jess k. –

    Fantastic, great detail and inspiration

  37. Michelle B. –

    Very informative, much appreciated!

  38. Elizabeth K. –

    I will watch it many times.

  39. Greg D. –

    Informative and enlightening. I have employed several of these concepts on my homestead

  40. Anthony G. –

    You have challeged me.

  41. Daniel L. –

    Stunningly produced, excellent re-watch value,

  42. Brian W. –

    Very informative, easy to follow, inspirational!

  43. Robert J. –

    EXCELLENT A+++++, The video exceeded my expectations in content and quality. The presentation on grafting, pruning, and training was informative and easy to understand.

  44. Burt J. –

    Great video

  45. Kristin P. –

    excellent.

  46. Michael D. –

    I thought it was fantaxtice, and the information will be very useful. I only have about a hundred trees, but I plan to plant many many more using the practices show in the video.

    MOD

  47. Jodi H. –

    Loved your DVD, loved the podcast with Jack Spirko. Hope you consider doing a follow-up to both, would definitely contribute to another kickstarter. Thank you so much!

  48. Kelly W. –

    I love it. Ecosystem, it is so simple. Only humans can take something so perfect and think we could make it better with chemicals. lol So many questions answered. My friends and family are probably getting tired of me sharing your videos and music. thanks

  49. David H. –

    Its a fantastic video to be sure. While giving so much information it also raises even more questions once you realize what you didnt know. I can see this easily turning into a series and I would be at the front of the line for each and every episode. The music was awesome too!

    Well done. Please do more, please!

  50. Gary C. –

    Enjoyable, actually informative and useful information (unlike most), great music, excellent video quality, money well spent (unlike most)!

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