[Fluff]

On Radio 4 this wednesday Gardeners Question time discussed or mentioned a concept I think they called Forest gardening.( i was driving so did not give it full attention)  The premise was to cover the ground to get the most out of the soil and maximum harvest. in this instance they suggested chives or alpine strawberries growing under raspberries. The other benefit was that it kept weeds at bay which was my main interest.

I have gone to listen again radio 4 but so far the last programme is sundays I have also put the term forest gardening into google with limited results.  Anyone listen to the programme or know anything about the practice.  Thanks Alan

[WhippetMaster]

Sounds similar to the Square Foot system. Just reading the books it is based on maximising your space and minimising weed growth and watering.

Efficiency and ease of use, sounds good to me but I am listening to the voices of experience on this site and I would like to crop rotate using entire beds. It's my first year and I am astounded by the number of ways you can cultivate!!!

[matron]

Gardners Question Time is repeated on Wednesday so you will only ever find the Sunday programme on the listen again facility as this is the original programme. So, in theory, if you listen to last Sunday's the article you want will be there.

[richyrich7]

Forest gardening is a permaculture principle there some excellent books on the subject by Patrick whitfield, you may be able to get a book from the library, but Permaculture Magazine is THE best source of info in the UK.

[David.]

I recalled reading an article on Forest Gardening in 'The Telegraph' gardening pages.

It was last October:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/main.jhtml?xml=/gardening/2007/10/23/garden-edible-forest123.xml

[Yorkie]

I was listening to this edition this morning on iPlayer through the computer.  It will have been replaced by now by this afternoon's edition  

The wider concept of forest gardening is that one makes use of all the layers of the forest - high, medium, and ground levels.  The principle applies in other gardening situations too.

One thing they did say was that fruit bushes have relatively shallow roots, so it wasn't advisable to grow much too close to the stem of the fruit bush / cane.  Better to concentrate on the area which effectively starts at the edge of the spread of the bush.

Sorry, can't recall any other plants which they suggested would do well under fruit bushes.

[spud]

Here's another link to the video, I think?

http://www.viddler.com/explore/PermaScience/videos/4/

Its certainly worth watching all of it ...

Cheers

 

[WebSiteEvo]

This appears to b the main forest garden thread though old! Anyway here is a very good video to inspire you.

A walk through Martin Crawford´s beautiful forest garden, a model for resilient, local food growing.

GFbcn06h8w4
You can use this approach on a smaller scale.

[Aunt Sally]

Lovely idea for those with a piece of forest. 

I'd love to have enough knowledge to try it.  A 10 rod allotment (1/16 acre) is suposed to be large enough to feed a family of 4 all year round.  I wonder how large a piece of forest you would need to achieve that.

[Aunt Sally]

Watching the video he says you could feed 4 or 5 people off of an acre of forest.

[WebSiteEvo]

I am just using a piece of land the size of an allotment, which I had planned to use as a small orchard. Started with a lawn 2 and bit years ago (no forest). I now have 3 apple trees, 1 pear, 1 plum, 1 cherry, between them and under them I have redcurrant x 10, black current x 10, blue berry x 5, gooseberry x 5, goji berry x 2, juneberries x 5 and between them I have strawberries and herbs, but plan to introduce lots more ground cover crops and perennial veg and climbers. I have also planted a hedge of hazel in the hope of getting a nut crop. I also placed spare annual vegetables, from my small veg patch throughout the garden, which seem to be thriving (courgettes, swedes, tomatoes, cabbage. I think heavy mulching is the key in the first few years using this approach.

[Aunt Sally]

That sort of planting would not be permitted on allotments unfortunately and would not provide all the fruit and veg for the family, just a small part.

Lovely thing to try if you have your own land though.

[amckeen]

There have been articles about this topic in the past 2 issues of Grow Your Own magazine (August and September)

[WebSiteEvo]

Interest in the technique does seem to be growing. It can work at any scale, but it seems best suited to larger community based projects. You may not be able to grow as much as a traditional allotment in a set space, but when you consider the amount of energy needed for traditional horticulture and agriculture against an established Forrest garden you find its more energy efficient. You don't need to weed as much, you don't have to plant as often, maintenance requirements are low, the system provides all the energy or nutrients the plants need (in theory) and its high diversity = less pest problems.  Basically you are working with the land instead of against it..

[WebSiteEvo]

My Small Forest Garden: Update August 2010....




Currents growing well in there first summer since planting in spring. Good crop in the first year, made some nice black current cordial. Apples look very healthy this year, planted two years ago now. Squash growing up the apple tree.



Another Squash, this time crossing the strawberries and climbing the hedge. Currant and tomato plants in the background.


Last years leeks allowed to flower. Many different bees and hover flies love these flowers. Thousands of hover flies in the garden .




Clover is very good at attracting bees and its working hard fixing nitrogen. Its my main source of nitrogen fixing at the moment.


Calendula planted in with the annual veg.


Plenty of compost to keep those hungry veg happy.