This will be some of the saddest words I have had to write, but Michael Phillips passed away on Sunday. This will be news to most of you, and a shock to all. He suffered a heart attack while out in the orchard. I know a lot of you in the forum will want to know how to offer condolences or how they may help his family, so we will let you know how that may be possible. This is not the kind of space many would have liked to hear this sad news, but it is important you all know. He was a sweet man, a fine friend to many of us, and an unmatched giant in this nerdy world of apples. He will be greatly missed.

I woke this morning to a phone call from a friend of mine within the orcharding community notifying me of Michael's passing. It was tough to begin my day hearing the news, particularly of a man I admired so much. Nearly a decade ago I began my career as an orchardist. Michael's work touched me deeply; not just in how I manage trees but in my personal life as well. He changed the way I think, my perception, and essentially the course of my life. I will forever remember the times we've met, the things I've learned, and the gentle touch he had for the land. He positively impacted the apple growing community and will live in my heart (and orchard) forever.

I am deeply saddened by Michael’s passing. I owe him so much. I was an orchardist/apple grower for 30 years before I met Michael at a workshop in Virginia. His thoughts and practices about encouraging apple tree health, rather than just treating disease and pest symptoms, was revelatory for me. His teachings have completely changed the way I now nurture my orchards. He was a lovely man, my mentor, and inspiration. I will miss you my friend, and I will do my small part to carry on your legacy.

I was just walking through our orchard, rejoicing in the beauty and resilience of the natural world, and thinking about Michael, his books, the knowledge he shared, and his great appreciation for the life and breath of a tree, of roots, soil, mycorrhiza. His teachings inspired us to see and feel the synergy, the complexity, the joy of embracing a different way. When I opened the Orchard Cheer email today, I was so saddened to hear of Michael’s passing. My husband and I only had the pleasure of meeting Michael twice in the past decade or so, but both times we heard him speak we were inspired to embrace a deeper way of living with the land and our lovely, old apple trees. We love his books and really appreciated his response to our questions. His passion and eloquence created an amazing movement, a legacy of wisdom and a love of life and trees… sending peace and love to his family and friends.

Thank you Michael and family for guiding and inspiring me on this journey.  You have led me in the right direction to better care for our Earth, feed our loved ones delicious fruit, and be a curious student and teacher of the mysteries.

There was a chair for Michael at the apple growers meeting yesterday. This book and this apple were placed on it.

I lost a friend to an avalanche once. He had been instrumental in starting an avalanche forecasting division on a heavily used mountain range in Alaska. If he'd died in the mountains, people could use those meant to be soothing words, 'At least he died doing what he loved.' But my friend didn't set off a slide on some beautiful peak with alpenglow lighting the snow. It was a chunk of ice sliding off a roof when he stepped outside and closed the door. His passing left a hole in the skiing community and one in my heart.

Some of us who were close to him started a telemark skiing festival to raise money for avalanche awareness to the general public and to help us heal. We had a lot of fun and some tears over the eight years the festival was held. It fizzled away due to attrition, friends moved away, knees protested the tele-turn and we had healed. The avalanche center still exists, we kept it funded long enough for it to get a life of its own.

I really hope a similar thing happens with HON. I didn't know Michael well, but when we met, I wanted to know him and his family better. He, and all of you who are active on HON, are an inspiration to the future of ethical orcharding. I'll do my part with regular dues for website upkeep and related costs as well as regularly reading and chiming in when I have knowledge that adds to the forum. Maybe the HON will get that life of its own. Maybe it'll fizzle after eight years, but think of how many new or new to holistic fruit farmers will be affected by then.

He was truly an inspiration.

As an aspiring orchardist in Rhode Island hoping to grow apples without many chemicals, I naturally came across Micheal Phillips's books. I poured through them in that first season and it was so incredibly helpful to have a guy like Michael explaining how to do something that would've taken me years and years to figure out, if at all! I quickly grew fond of his teachings and began to understand what a monumental importance Michael was to the orcharding community.

When I excitedly discovered that Michael's orchard was only a few miles up the road from the camp that my family stay at every year on columbus day weekend, we of course planned a visit. What a joy it was to drink some mulled cider and listen to Michael talk about apples. He could speak to their lore with the best of them.

From then on, we made an annual effort to visit Michael at his orchard. I always had a nervous excitement as we approached the gate to be in the presence of someone I admired so. Kind of like a bushy eyed teenager around their favorite pop singer. But Michael always gave me a few minutes to stumble through my questions about orchard this and apple that. I like to think the last few years he even remembered who I was, but I don't know.

One of my favorite things to ask Michael when visiting was about the speak-easy cider parlor he was planning in the basement of his barn. The vision was magnificent. It saddens me that he's no longer here to continue work on that.

My condolences to Michael's family and friends.

So sad indeed!

I am a modest homeowner with a few orchard trees. I attended one of Michael’s workshops and his book is my go to text for anything that has to do with fruit trees. My small 10 tree orchard has done so well with his advice. I have ordered a Calville Blanc d’Hiver cutting to start the new orchard when we move this Spring, and it will be my tree for Michael Phillips, my own small contribution to honor his memory, speak his name, and carry on his good work. The queen of apples for the king of orchardists. Thank you Michael, for making the world a better place doing what you loved to do.

About 9 years ago, I decided I wanted to add a small organic orchard to our property. I had no idea how to do so and went online in search of information. It was there I found, Michael's book, The Holistic Orchard. I was able to read part of the 1st chapter online and figured he had to be located in Washington State or somewhere similar. NO! He was located 3 hours north of me in northern New Hampshire! Ever since then, I have followed his guidance, attended several of his lectures and have grown based on his love for the earth, apples, and sharing. I will give thanks to him every day I enjoy the peacefulness and bounty of our orchard. Blessings to his family and friends. Let us continue his work and sharing.

Michael Phillips has gifted the world a future for healthy, sustainable fruit. We are ambling down this path he made with our own little orchard enjoying all the sites and rising to all the challenges. We take comfort in the wisdom he so eloquently offered up in his phenomenal writings. Although we never got to know Michael well, we were lucky enough to have met him enough times to observe the genius of a true orchard wizard in person. He will be missed, but a piece of him will live on through ours and, we suspect, a great many other orchards.

I am saddened to hear of Michael's passing. I picked apples with Michael from 1982 through 1987 for the Allen Brothers in Vermont and New Hampshire. Michael was a serious fellow but had a fine sense of humor, something that came in handy out in the orchards. We could get goofy. Nancy came one fall to pick and the rest was history. Fellow apple picker Armando Morales and I visited Michael and family in the fall of 2008, sadly the only time I had seen him since apple camp. He was a good man. RIP. Antone G. Holmquist (Rufus T. Firefly)

I attended college with Mike at Penn State in State College, Pennsylvania from 1975 through 1979. Mike, and the entire group of friends shown in the picture continued to remain in touch through subsequent years, however sporadically. Many of us attended the marriage of Mike and Nancy at the New England Salem Children's Village in Rumney, NH.

I didn’t know Michael well, but I knew him well enough. We met several times over the past 20 years. A few times at conferences, mostly at the Berkshire Roundtable each March. I never made it to one of his intensives or visited him at Lost Nation Orchard, and I hadn’t seen him at the Roundtable since March 2020 because of covid. And we were mere days away from another vigorous “hang,” talking apples, cider, and other true gems of the natural world. We were emailing regularly and feeling energized for the year ahead. But, alas, it wasn’t to be.

I heard about his passing Sunday evening when Alan Suprenant, Michael’s long-time friend and confidant, notified the attendees of the upcoming Roundtable that Michael has died of a heart attack in his orchard while chasing down a rogue deer. I haven’t had many people close to me die too young, so the news hit me like a gunshot. I was stunned and saddened as many of us were. The Berkshire group endeavored to forge forward with the meeting since it was what Michael would have wanted. There was more than a tinge of somberness and sadness at the gathering with sentiments of “where do we go from here” wrapped in love, passion, and honor.

Michael’s legacy is solid, and the mission moves forward. At the meeting, I recalled how I initially came to know Michael, as many of us did, through his book The Apple Grower. My holistic journey to that point had started a decade before as I was embarking on my apple growing career. Though he first few years of my career were without context – what did I know about farming? – as a lover of the wild nature I’ve always had a bone to pick with conventional ag. I didn’t know what sustainable agricultural was – it wasn’t even really a term until the late 80s – and I barely knew what growing apples was all about. Organic farming was a still a hippie, back-to-the-land “thing” that had no place for “real” farmers. By the early 90s things had started to change. The USDA – for better or worse – had established an organic certification, Alar had hit the news and consumers started to become more aware about how their food was grown; there was more focus on how our industrialized food system was killing the planet – and us – in dramatic fashion. But Michael, not single-handedly yet with an intense focus on growing apples, cast a new light on what it meant to be an enlightened farmer and fellow human. He expanded on the work of Rodale, Nearing, Steiner, and too many others to recount.

I did not hear about Michael’s passing until this past Sunday night. My first feeling was of disbelief, and second was how sorry I was (and am) for his family’s unexpected and monumental loss. It has been my pleasure to host Michael on several visits/consultations to my backyard orchard. Since before planting tree number one, I sought out the best help and advice, which turned out to be Michael. Those visits were something I looked forward to. It was great to spend time with someone who was so knowledgeable about growing fruit, had a great teaching style, and was just a good man. I was proud to show Michael that his “holistic” approach was working so well in my location. I think one of his pleasures was to see his influence on potential growers.

I exchanged emails with Michael only a short time ago. I forwarded an article about the benefits of mushrooms in the orchard. He commented that it reminded him that he had put something out on this years ago and he wanted to revisit that idea.

To Nancy and Grace, I am so sorry for your loss. Michael will live on through his books, videos, and memories from all of us that benefited from knowing him!

Michael's death is a loss to us all. He gave much of himself to many. I knew him through the New England herbal community, and am quite sad to learn of his passing. He will always be loved and remembered by all those he touched, in life and through his books and teachings. I offer up this drawing of mine in tribute to Michael, it is my illumination of the medicinal plants of the Rosaceae, which will be a part of my forthcoming book... With respect and loving memory,

I’m deeply saddened to learn that one of our great herbalists and organic orchardists Michael Phillips has entered the spirit realm. My heart goes out to Nancy Phillips and their daughter Gracie. Nancy and Michael were my first formal herbal teachers back in 2003 when I took their foundations herbal program in northern NH. My first herb school, my first time on an herb farm, my first time camping. What a fantastic introduction to the *lifestyle* of herbalism! The whole family is dear, kind, thoughtful, and deeply living a life centered on the plants and ecosystem wellbeing. I always enjoyed chatting with Michael both in and out of class about plants, apples, candid conversations about book publishing, and the world of herbalism, and I consider him a friend, teacher, and colleague.

His writings on apples and organic orcharding are not only informative but also fun to read - I love his slightly sarcastic wit alongside a deep appreciation of the complexities of nature and ecosystems. Here in the northeast, he was one of the very few that considered organic apple growing possible, and then showed us how to do it. His book The Holistic Orchard still sits near my breakfast table.

I remember referring to “good and bad” insects and him checking me in that “good and bad” are a matter of perspective and an oversimplified (and perhaps self centered?) way of thinking about insects and the ecosystem at large. I remember him showing our class his pin-pricked hands after harvesting hawthorn (to which he and Nancy applied yarrow) and us helping him set up a fresh garlic harvest to cure (after which we were blessed to enjoy some of his homemade hard cider as a reward). I always enjoyed running into him in places like D Acres and the NOFA conference circuit and taking his classes.

His impact on my life, the world of herbalism, and backyard fruit growers has been tremendous and positive. He will be missed. My sympathies to Nancy and Gracie as they grieve this loss.

My heart goes out to Nancy and thank you for letting me know. He was a national treasure and his passing was too damn soon. The world has lost a beautiful teacher, observer, and creator who will continue to be a great inspiration to me and my apple journey. I am grateful for his books and videos. I was looking forward to reconnecting with Michael. It is a deep reminder to live life now, now, now! There is no guarantee that there will be another day to go. On the other hand, I keep planting (and pruning!) trees for the future, whether I am here to see the results or not.

1975 was a great year. My first year at Penn State where lifelong friendships were about to be forged. One of the first guys I met was a big guy named Mike. Little did I know then that we would become great friends and ultimately roommates at school.

A brilliant student, determined to be a great engineer, it became obvious that Michael was conflicted as to the path he was on. I’d come home many times to his terrible sing along to Jimmy Buffett songs. It was there in that living room that I know he dreamed of the life of adventure instead of a life of 9-5 servitude.

It came as little surprise when he left his engineering career to follow his heart. I believe he initially wanted to tend to sheep in Australia but found instead a passion to tend to the land instead.

None of his adventures would have been complete however without his finding the love of his life, Nancy. All his Penn State buddies, attended their beautiful wedding. No way that we were going to miss our old buddy in his sweat tent ceremony, wearing handmade clothes being married by an Indian chief!

Mike had a big heart and it was filled with joy when Gracie entered his life. His dreams had been achieved – how very proud he was of his beautifull family and his love of community and of his beloved apples.

Michael’s passing, like for many in the NE orcharding community, hit me like a shot. I’ve known him for near 30 years. He’s danced a merry wassail in our orchard. I’ve used a lot of his approach to orcharding for decades; laughed with him at conferences and orchard gatherings. We were just beginning what would have been a closer collaboration with sap testing and his recommendations. About his same age, with the same sized orchard, and the same passion for organic and the imitation of nature, we were on the same page nearly always. Both of us even had daughters, Grace. We had just visited friends in Alabama and stopped on the way to visit the Kordick HON orchard in North Carolina. Brittany was on her way to New England and the Stump Roots gathering. We gave her a bottle of daughter, Maria’s, hard cider to share. On the way back Maria texted Michael had passed away. Shock! A gentle, generous, kind soul and friend gone!

As I’m about that age when one thinks about what one will leave behind when one passes from this life. I read this psalm last week.

I have so many great memories of time spent with Michael and his family over the years . We were fellow dreamers, plant lovers, and family friends, and while I already miss him greatly, I have such wonderful memories to fill my heart. I have been thinking which of the many stories I wish to share about Michael and what pops up at this moment are those wonderful surprise birthday parties that Michael planned several years in a row for Nancy. Michael was very clever and obviously took great pleasure in planning these surprise parties for Nancy. These were not your ordinary ‘hide in another room and surprise the birthday girl’ kind of parties. No, Michael planned these elaborate parties that involved us all driving to Quebec city, or Montreal, or Lake Placid in the middle of winter (Nancy was a December baby) . . . and, of course, through all of the planning, it all had to be kept a big secret. Michael had code words and secret names for each of us. He was Boris, I was Natasha . . . and so on. There always a small group of close friends, and once we had done the ‘surprise’ part of the party and surprised Nancy again for another year (one does wonder how Nancy could be surprised anew each year, but she always was), the rest of the time we usually just sat around, ate, drank tea and wine, telling stories, philosophizing. Michael was brilliant and his conversations often wafted over me . . . but he was also an apple-pie-kind-of-guy, heartful, filling and sweet.

Some people are soulmates. You both realize that the minute you meet and look into each others eyes. And then 30 some odd years go by enjoying that soulmate, enjoying each others families, and each others apple friends we had in common. Rest in Peace and Rest in Power Michael. Staring to really feel your passing two weeks later.

Aunt Carole's Memorial

Michael was one of the nicest, smartest, and most genuine people I have known. While our paths did not cross frequently enough, he was and is both a good friend and an inspiration. We met as floor mates and became friends at Penn State. I remember many games of Mongo Soccer in the dorm lobby when we should have been studying.

Michael’s passion took him to New Zealand, the world of organic orchards, New Hampshire, Nancy, Gracie, Lost Nation Orchard, and a life of growing, learning, and teaching Most of our fellow PSU alumni went off to the world of corporations and companies. Hearing of Michael’s adventures, most of us were envious, yet not brave enough to follow in his footsteps.

My most memorable Michael experience was while on a hiking trip in Maine and Michael wasn’t even there. We had a guide who was explaining the local fungi. I told him I had a friend who had written a book on fungi and had an organic orchard. I told him Michael’s name and before I could finish, he exclaimed “Michael Phillips!! OF COURSE . . . Michael is the god of fungi.”

Another . . . A friend’s Junior High aged son was interested in growing organic apples. I gave him my copies of Michael’s books and told him I knew Michael. Apparently, he contacted Michael. My friend told me that his son and Michael had an ongoing dialog where Michael provided guidance and patiently answered questions. No surprise to me!

We should all strive to be more like Michael.

Michael, you have had an impact on a lot of lives, you will be missed.

I don’t know what made me call Michael as we usually communicated by email – but I did. On February 28th. Gracie answered the phone – told me her father had died the day before from a heart attaack. Still in shock & denial, like it’s a bad dream. And so very sad. Michael was my friend in Neem. When he first reached out to me many years ago with an order and for information on this magical, versatile oil, I remember wondering where he was coming from – soo many questions that I dutifully took the time to check with the manufacturer, do some research and answer. And benefitted so much, from the new insights and depth of information that he then provided. Such a brilliant, humorous, curious mind! And then, all the great orchard orders from his referrals.

I had the blessing of meeting him twice, both times at MOSES in LaCrosse, WI, where he was a presenter. I remember a young man came to my booth at the trade show and said “there’s a guy out there who is talking about your product and asking people to go over and meet you.” So wonderful.

The second time was in February 2020. Just before Covid-19 paralyzed the US. We were heading to dinner with Jacquelyn Zita of WEI & he asked me how I liked his book he had sent me, Mycorrhizal Planet. I think I said, “um, haven’t read it.” He threw his hands up in the air & walked away! I literally had to run after him and said “No, no, I did! Just a bit.., about garlic mustard killing the beneficial fungi in it’s non native habitat. I’ve been pulling it out!” (Garlic mustard grows wild in our woods). He stopped striding away and we had a nice dinner. Oof! So glad I had read that!

Michael, when you check in to your memorials, dear friend, know that I will miss you! And thank you for all the knowledge, of the life our air, flora, fauna, soils harbor. For opening up my mind, eyes, nose and taste buds! To the various kinds of apples, so many! And garlic! Who knew so many potent varieties were in existence? Not I! And now, I will not settle for less. When you left this earth, our Mother Earth (Amma Earth to me) lost a great soul, a great friend, a great teacher and a great husband to Nancy and father to Gracie.

Seems fitting you crossed over under an apple and pear tree. May you be at peace and one with the cosmos.

What comes to mind when thinking of Michael? A big strong man with a seemingly peaceful demeanor. I would not want to be on his bad side. The quiet presence that feels like the most solid protective essence emitting from those eyes and smile and his “Jamie from Outlander” drop-dead gorgeous handsomeness. Imagine a Scot’s accent… Come tu-h meh! Then I remember he did drop dead. Inconceivable. Stories… Being with the family in a bar after an Organic Apple keynote lecture. Getting into a riff on Dracula with he and I alternating “I vaaant to suck your bllllllood” with Gracie giggling, and us all totally cracking up. Being in a party crowd at one of Rosemary’s birthdays. Seeing the twinkle in his eyes after imbibing a bit of some brewed substance. Enjoying the beauties dancing ‘round. Red haired, round muscled and fiery. All man. The softness of his tone when talking of Gracie, seeing the wonder of his chosen child. Or the passion when speaking of responsibilities of we humans for land, animals, trees, and plants. And Nancy, I cannot conceive of the earth-connection gone. My heart. Their hearts. I think of the shift in space at the farm, the walls wondering where his massive presence has gone. The spirits all having witnessed his flash of departure. The knowing that he taught others well, who will carry on his ethics and skills. That Nancy and Gracie were loved, and they loved him. A good life. I will miss you Michael, I already do.