Orchard

A Year in England’s Eden

By: Benedict Macdonald, Nicholas Gates

Narrated by: Mike Grady

Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

By the Wainwright-Conservation-Prize-winning author of Rebirding

Spend a year in an orchard, celebrating its imperilled, overlooked abundance of life.

England's ancient orchards, collaborations between people and nature, are sources of hope for the future. Protecting them promises a far richer England for the centuries to come, for wildlife and for us.

As the seasons turn, a wealth of animals and plants are revealed: Bumble and solitary bees apartment-hunting in April; spotted flycatchers migrating in May; redstarts, hedgehogs and owls nesting in June; an explosion of life in the summer and the harvest and homespun cider-making in the autumn. And all throughout the year, the orchard’s human and animal inhabitants work together, creating one of the richest ecosystems left in Britain.

Explore this unique habitat throughout the course of a year, and marvel at the beauty and strength of nature.

©2020 Benedict Macdonald, Nicholas Gates (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"Splendid." (Guardian)

"Visionary, illuminating and fascinating." (George Monbiot)

"You may not have come across Ben Macdonald before now; but believe me, you will hear a lot more from him in the future." (Stephen Moss) 

A must listen to for all those who love nature

What more can i say - i will listen to this over and over again.

An extraordinarily enlightening read

An enchanting and enthralling tale which had me gripped from start to finish.
As a retired farmer, I always thought I had a reasonable understanding of natural sciences and their interdependence but this was a truly enlightening experience.
The book imparts an extraordinary amount of detail which comes across very naturally without overwhelming the reader.
I feel slightly blessed at being afforded the privilege of reading this book and highly recommend it.

great read

full of enthusiasm for the wildlife and interesting facts. fills you with awe at the intricacy of interaction in nature, joy that there are still such places in existence and sadness that they are so rare!

Utterly fascinating and very timely

I learnt so much from this beautifully written and well organised book that I’m about to return to the beginning and start again to see what other gems of information I missed first time around, looking at every aspect of Orchard life, from the trees and the birds to the fungal network below the surface this book managed to be at once nostalgic, scientific and a call to arms in the face of climate change. I’ve been left with the urge to make a myriad of changes to how I look after my own (very much not orchard sized) patch of earth and with a list of things I want to research further, I cannot praise this book enough and would encourage everyone to read it! Plus it is excellently narrated by Mike Grady.

Beautiful

Beautiful book, full of interesting facts and memorable moments. Fantastic narration, perfect for the content.

beautiful but scary

Beautiful read and exceptionally written. worrying how little biodiverse orchards / woodland we have left.

Essential reading

A wonderful and very timely book.
Full of in-depth information both historical and contemporary.
A truly satisfying read.

A must read

Eye opening, beautiful read, historical nostalgic and then bringing us bang up to date with what we must do to protect our precious environment and the life it starves to protect..an orchard lost in time..thank goodness!!

Hope this read by the right people

So much more beautiful and powerful than I expected. Could be a gamechanger in English and European countryside if the right people read it.

Beautifully written

I have fallen in love with nature writing this year, and listening to knowledgeable souls talk so beautifully about their own little slices of heaven is just utterly wonderful.