Over the past few weeks I’ve been on a couple of Forest Garden tours run by Martin Crawford of the Agroforestry Research Trust – Honestly, this man knows his stuff!

There are millions of plants on our planet and of course it’s not really conceivable that any one person would know about all of them, but wow, does he come close 🙂

The experiments and test sites he grows on are mainly in Devon although Martin is known all over the world for his books and forest gardening knowledge in general. The photograph here is at a young nursery near Dartmoor on a very full-on weather day – sun, wind and rain while out in the middle of a field is bracing to say the least!

The concept of Forest Gardening isn’t new and research projects have been in flow for many years. The Agroforestry Research Trust was set up in 1992 and has a number of sites, courses and publications available to anyone who has an interest in preserving our land and producing food for the future.

Pop over to the Agroforestry site here – https://www.agroforestry.co.uk/ – and be inspired!

I sound like an advert but I promise they aren’t paying me for this! I’m just very interested in the concept and have seen a couple of sites showing what can be done. Anyway, check it out and if you have the space, start growing 🙂

Happy Gardening!
Linda x

If you just want to grab a book, this one is a good place to start…

Creating a Forest Garden

“Forest gardening is a novel way of growing edible crops – with nature doing most of the work for you. A forest garden is modelled on young natural woodland, with a wide range of crops grown in different vertical layers. Unlike in a conventional garden, there is little need for digging, weeding or pest control. Species are carefully chosen for their beneficial effects on each other, creating a healthy system that maintains its own fertility.”