Crisp apples, tart lemons, lush figs, tender peaches—imagine the bounty of a late-summer farmer’s market, right in your backyard! Learning how to plant and care for fruit trees is a desirable, accessible activity for a wide range of people. It’s a natural extension of many gardeners’ repertoires, and the investment yields generations of results. Growing your own fruit ensures a fresh, delicious, abundant harvest for your family and friends for years to come. Fruit trees diversify a region’s agricultural landscape and ecosystems, attracting pollinating bees, songbirds, and other desirable visitors. And cultivating orchards on your own decreases your reliance on grocery store distribution channels and boosts sustainability.

Inside The Home Orchard Handbook, you'll find:

—Strategies for choosing your orchard's site, taking into consideration soil quality, sun exposure, microclimates, drainage, and more

—Information on plant selection, including what types of fruit trees do well in certain areas and how to decipher critical concepts such as "chill hours," "cultivars," "bareroot," and "cross-pollination"

—Guidance on aftercare, including in-depth watering, composting, and preventative care schedules to keep your backyard orchard fruitful for years

—Advice on troubleshooting diseases, conditions, and non-beneficial insects using only humane, organic remedies

—General tips on jamming, dehydrating, storing, and otherwise making the most of your orchard’s harvest with delicious recipes from chefs Tal Ronnen and Diana Stobo

Start growing your own fruit trees wherever you are with The Home Orchard Handbook!

"Akin and Rottke (executive director and volunteer arborist, respectively, Fruit Tree Planting Fdn.) have developed a creative, upbeat map for growing fruit trees. The earthy, positive vibe of the book is set by some preliminary 'Ancient Orchard Poetry' and delves not only into the how of planting trees but the why, including environmental and social benefits to orchard growing. The authors encourage readers to get to know their particular environments before planting, based on the notion of 'right tree, right place.' Their advice is easy to understand and heavily illustrated with useful, not just pretty, pictures and drawings. This is truly a one-stop shop for all things related to the personal orchard; the majority of the book is a how-to, but sections on canning, preserving, and recipes for cooking with your harvest also are included as is further information on the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation and its work in creating community orchards around the world. Verdict: Solid advice with lots of extras, this offering will appeal generally to those interested in environmental concerns and organizations that address them and will specifically inspire gardeners and arborists who have some fruiting tree experience."—Jenny Contakos, Art Inst. of Virginia Beach, Library Journal XPress