Forest Gardens

[docsquid]

Not exactly a permaculture woodland, but we have done some things. First of all, part of the wood by the building was clearly formerly a garden - there were fallen down walls and some cultivated roses growing wild. In this area we have built a greenhouse. We use this to raise saplings in winter but in summer grow tomatoes and veggies for ourselves. We also have some raised beds for spuds and onions, and a small potato patch on a small piece of land. In the old garden area we have planted a few heritage fruit trees and cobnuts. The land is still DEFRA registered as we are paid by them for our FC grants, but there has been no objection to us using a former garden as an allotment garden as it comprises a very small proportion of the whole.

There are lots of other things we can do, such as encourage herbs and wild garlic already growing there. On open days we charge for a punnet so people can do PYO blackberries and that brings in a few pennies.

[northmetking]

That sounds lovely, docsquid!

I would have thought that in many ways, having little patches like yours within a larger woodland will mean many people may spend more time in their woodland, encouraging more effective management than if it were visited only occasionally.

Do some people have problems with having a greenhouse? It seems sensible to have a smallish one for helping on saplings, as you say.

[loghouseman]

I have found an American website entitled Edible Forest Gardens http://www.edibleforestgardens.com/about_gardening

Although it is written for the US the same basic methods and principles still apply even if some of the species used differ.

[docsquid]

northmetking - the greenhouse needed planning permission, but it was easy to obtain. We needed something to protect saplings from bunnies and squirrels - the squirrels ate all the first batch of acorns that we planted.

We were told that yellow wagtails like potatoes (Warwickshire Wildlife Trust) and since we started a small potato patch we have had yellow wagtail on site. So gardening isn't always bad for wildlife. Having our veg patch at the woods also keeps our chickens from eating it all (they get out of the fencing all too easily).