Work Done 25th April

The Polytunnel cover was put on; it looks brilliant and is already hotting up in there!
We will next be meeting on Sunday, 2nd May from 10.30 to continue with the forest garden project. We can start digging out for the terrace, mark out the path and beds and move the willow fence.

Work Done April 17th

The foraging group met and some delicious food was made from our finds. Everyone seemed to have some plant knowledge to pass on, which is why an activity like this can be so rewarding and beneficial when it's done with other people.

Food made included; Nettle soup (made the previous day); Alexander stew; Wild Garlic foccacia bread; Wild Garlic pesto; Nettle Tea; mixed wild salad (Hawthorne shoots, Dandelion leaves & petals, Lesser Celandine leaves (pre-flowering), Chickweed, young Alexander leaves, Wild Garlic and Cow Parsley leaves) and pure Dandelion salad.
This just goes to show you that nature creates it's own garden for us to harvest and the basic principles behind forest gardening involve mimicry of nature doing this.

With all the eating we didn't get much else done apart from mulching willow with lusciously smelling, partially molded leaves collected from the woodlands in winter. This should probably have been left to rot down more then used for compost mix or something better, but I'm sure the willow appreciated it all the more. The experiment with stuffing clay into the brick cracks of the cold frames has not crumbled out with drying which is good news as it means we can get on with sowing in them next weekend.

Apart form that, next Sunday, 25th April, we can meet at 11 and hopefully start work on the terrace, move the willow fence, start laying out the route of the path and possibly build another bed if we are able to collect enough soil with the volunteer team on Thursday. Also, if it's ready, we may be able to help with putting the cover on the large polytunnel, which would be great.

Work Done, April 11th

It was a beautiful day and a good few of us managed to get together to finish the cold frames and do some planning. The cold frames still need to be sowed in but hopefully any potential mouse problems have been delt with by using clay to stop up the gaps in the bricks...hopefully it wont all crumble out when it drys! If it does we will also be using spikey gorse twigs to deter mice.

It was great to finalise initial plans for the main construction of the garden too and a basic construction plan has been drawn up and put here and on the forum, so please feel free to print it off and scribble some ideas on it. The main issue will be getting enough soil together for the beds. The fruit tree area at the back will be cleared over the summer and autumn so we can look forward to planting in winter.

We will next be meeting on Saturday, 17th with the foraging group from 11am. In between foraging we can do some sowing in the cold frame; moving the low willow fence about 1m closer to the garden boundary and working on the terrace.

Foraging, this Saturday

This Saturday, 17th April from 11am, we will be holding a foraging day on the farm led by some experienced foragers. We will be seeing what we can find and learning what we can do with it.
If you'd like to join us please bring any books, recipies, food, ideas etc that you would like to share:-)

Reading, websites etc

The concept & methods for Forest Gardening (also see Agroforestry) draws from many areas of horticulture & permaculture, so if you can think of any reading material which may even vaguely contribute to this list please add it to the comments:-)

Books:
Plants For a Future, By Ken Fern
Forest Gardening, By Robert Hart
Permaculture (various, e.g Designers Manual), By Bill Mollinson
Food For Free, By Richard Mabey
One Straw Revolution, By Masonobu Fukuoka
Creatng a Forest garden, By Martin Crawford
How to Make a Forest Garden, By Patrick Whitefield, Maddy Harland & Tricia Cassel
Growing Green, By Jenny Hall & Iain Tolhurst
What is Biodynamics? A Way to Heal & Revitalise the Earth, By Rudolph Steiner

Websites:
www.pfaf.org/index.php Plants For a Future site and brilliant Plant Database
www.permaculture.org.uk/ Permaculture Associations site
www.agroforestry.co.uk/ Agroforestry Research Trust
www.veganorganic.net/ Vegan Organic Network, stockfree growing site
www.growingconnectionsproject.org.uk/ Host to the forest garden
www.thebfg.org.uk/ The Bangor (North Wales!) Forest Garden Project site
www.eatweeds.co.uk/ Foraging & wild food site

Other:
The Edible Garden, Wednesday BBC2 8pm
A Year In A Forest Garden, DVD Martin Crawford
Grow Your Own Drugs, Tuesday BBC2 8pm

Work Done April 4th

Rhubarb, Strawberries, Elder, more Raspberries, Mints and other berry bush donated. Seeds also bought and donated.

It was a beautiful Easter day and we first visited a community members allotment to pick up some plants before heading over to the farm.

One mound bed constructed on top of cardboard mulch; vegetation still pretty thick under mulch which has been on for two months. Mound bed planted with strawberries which will later be moved and used as general groundcover. Slate used as edging to hold up mound bed and smaller pieces around strawberries.

A large patch of wild Gooseberries were also pointed out which had been discovered on the permaculture course the week before. Drawn plans started; a small, windy access path could go up the forest garden with keyhole style mound beds coming off it. A water source will be needed; either a pond or just small ponds of sunken sinks. The cold frames need to be finished asap. In future perhaps the cardboard mulch could be removed and instead the newspaper rolls can be used.

We will next be meeting at 1pm, Sunday 11th to finish the cold frames to sow in and do some planning. We will also hopefully do somthing about the water situation and terracing some of the garden area.

So please get in touch if you'd like to join in

:-)

Work Done In March

In Mid-March a large volunteer team came to work with growing connections on clearing for and constructing a woodland pathway and steps. Whilst clearing, the volunteers were good enough to collect the large ammounts of lovly, crumbly, dark organic matter produced by years of dead leaves. Dispite the millions of weed seeds which will also be in it, this will make an ideal compost for planting in the forest garden area.

A Willow archway and low willow fence were planted at the bottom of the garden area. Old brick toilet taken apart and cold frames started using old sash windows. Two windows are fine, one needs some of the wood repairing before we use it. Cold frames must be made higher, mulched with black plastic and made mouse proof.

Work Done In February

Hazel, Rowan, Raspberries , Comfrey, Apple tree and Elder donated.

This Sunday, Valentines Day, we managed to cardboard mulch a large area. This will kill off the couch grass within about a month to 6weeks and hopefully suppress the Ivy and Brambles to some extent too. This picture shows where the mulch has been laid; the beds will be built on top of this mulch, which will rot down over time improving the soil structure below.

The area contaminated with creosote has also been mulched and we have planted the foundations of a willow arbour through it. Some Raspberry canes, Comfrey, Rowan and Apples were also brought and will be planted soon.
This weekend we will be discussing making cold frames soon and the planting; making a rough survey of the area and planning the garden on A1 paper. We can also see about doing some more cardboard mulching if needed. One of the most important things to do though will be to collect and work out how to store as much organic matter as possible from around the farm. This will include fallen leaves from the woods.

Work Done In January

On our first day on the 7th february we cleared some of the main are of brambles using hand tools only as we deciced using tools such as strimmers was against the ethics of working a small piece of land like this in a sustainable way.

Under the vegetation we found a possible old path, slate spoils and an old chicken shed which we found had rotted and left allot of chemical creosote over about a 4m square area. We decided this area should be quarantined but that it would be an interesting side project to plant phytoremediators; plants which are used to clean-up contaminated soil (possibly alfalfa, ryegrass, willow or poplar). We will also have to be careful with what we do with the material we have removed so as not to spread contamination.

We discussed the species on the site, it was learnt that the larch cones make good fire lighters and that as the Ivy is not actually harming the Ash (other than by excluding it's light) it is not yet necessary to cut it down, especially as it is so good for wildlife. The Ash may be more of a problem in itself as they are very water and nutrient hungry trees. The Cotoneasters are also good for wildlife, particularly birds.

We also discussed mulching methods and are planning on using cardboard to suppress growth for now but also unprinted newspaper (which has been acquired) for when we come to plant. We have decided that a no-dig method is best as it will mean less disturbance to the soil structure and dormant weed seeds and no backbreaking digging! We also discussed how it would be interesting to try growing some filed scale alternative crops, such as Quinoa.

Action Plan

· Make site inventory (what is there, how it can be used, what needs to go).

· Clearing the area of brambles, debris etc.

· Cut back any dead material from trees and remove as much Ivy as possible.

· Make basic design and make planting list.

· Mark out paths e.g. from fire area to back of forest garden area.

· Much of the uneven ground could be worked into the design to create a naturalistic and interesting space, as could any features (boulders etc) found.

· Possibly dig small pond or bogy area.

· Start sowing herbs and other herbaceous perennials undercover (see planting list below) as soon as possible so they can be planted out early summer.

· ‘Mound beds’ can be created for fruit bushes, perennial vegetables etc, using some of the cleared prunings.

· Sow basic ground cover, such as Red and White clover, possibly lawn camomile etc in April.

· Plant out selected trees, shrubs and herbs (however larger trees and shrubs can wait until late autumn/winter so they can be planted bare root to save on cost).

· Plant out herbs, perennial vegetables etc.

Introduction

Some of the beautiful clearing in the woodland area of Quarry Farm has the potential to be a nice, sunny, sheltered spot for a forest garden. Hopefully as a community group we can work to create a beautiful and productive space so please get in touch if you're interested in any aspect of this project, be it planning, plant selection, planting, landscaping or just talking about it. Any suggestions are very welcome, especially as for most people the forest garden concept is new and it is an area where experimentation is encouraged and needed.

Overview of Forest Gardening:

The basic design principle of a forest garden is to create a self sustaining system, contrary to labour intensive annual vegetable production, which mimics nature and provides for human needs. This system is also known as Agroforestry and is based around plant associations. To mimic nature, the ecology of the garden must closely follow the environment it is in, i.e. a temperate garden must be created in a temperate climate, however, within this, micro-climates can be established and made use of. Following nature closely also means only using species native to the area; however, to increase diversity for the benefit of the gardeners, non-natives can be carefully selected. The system quickly becomes self sustaining as species are chosen for their longevity (perennials, shrubs, trees) or strong self seeding abilities. A forest is naturally self fertilising as trees and shrubs photosynthesise and bring up water and nutrients from the ground, then return it in ways such as leaf fall in autumn.

Plants such as legumes are also grown in agroforestry to add nitrogen. Unwanted species do not pose much of a problem once planted species at ground level, i.e. clover are established and fallen leaves will form a living mulch. Pests are also kept at a low level by species diversity, and therefore are not allowed to devastate, as they can in conventional horticultural practice and monoculture. This is also achieved by the inclusion of native species, aromatic herbs and flowering plants, which attract pest predators and can literally deter pests by scent. This diversity of species included also means disease is not allowed to take hold of and wreck an entire crop.

A forest garden is so called as it is incorporated into and indeed becomes a forest; the climax community. It comprises of layers and therefore makes maximum use of the space providing a vast range of plant materials. Layers include: the canopy (consisting of large fruit trees); the lower tree layer (smaller fruit and nut trees); the shrub layer (e.g. fruit bushes); the herbaceous layer (including herbs, perennial vegetables and self seeding annuals); ground cover (creeping species); the rhizosphere (root crops; bulbs, tubers etc) and the vertical layer (climbers trained up any vertical surface e.g. a wall or tree trunk). It is the task of the gardeners to try and guide and encourage planting towards the establishment of these layers.