<![CDATA[Sustainable Forest Garden Farm Project

<![CDATA[Sustainable Forest Garden Farm Project - Blog]]>Mon, 13 Oct 2025 01:01:22 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[Catch up]]>Sat, 30 Mar 2013 09:57:00 GMThttps://sustainableforestgardenfarmproject.weebly.com/blog/last-augustFirst of all thanks to our lovely volunteers Stan and Fie who helped to keep everything running smoothly while I was away at my son's wedding.
Work has begun on our second compost toilet with access from the house.
The beginning of September saw one of the biggest fires we have had since 2005. We evacuated the valley and sat at the top of the hill through the entire night watching and waiting to see if the farm would be saved. Thankfully it was. We had four more fires very close by but eventually with some good firebreaks they were extinguished and the threat halted. It's been a scary time with us being very well aware that if the fires come this way we stand to lose all our work of the last 14 years. We haven't yet discovered (and don't want to) whether this edible landscape would withstand the force of an intense fire
]]><![CDATA[Wild Boar]]>Sat, 14 Jul 2012 09:28:44 GMThttps://sustainableforestgardenfarmproject.weebly.com/blog/wild-boarThe wild boar, who in previous years have just wandered through in the winter seem to have taken up residence here and we have regular nightly visits from them. There seems little we can do to permanently exclude them so we have to accept that they are the mobile element of a forest garden and have a job to do. Faced with the devastation of our bamboo crop it's not easy...... no bamboo shoots to eat this year. However, on the plus side, they are controlling the patch and stopping it getting out of the area we want it to stay in. In terms of outputs we also get their manure contribution into the system. You have to look for the positive things in life!
]]><![CDATA[Willow bed and 'problems into solutions']]>Tue, 10 Jul 2012 11:01:46 GMThttps://sustainableforestgardenfarmproject.weebly.com/blog/willow-bed-and-problems-into-solutionsIn thinking about the 'problem' of the grey water from the bathroom we came up in the true permaculture sense with the 'solution'. Create a willow bed and use the grey water to water it with an automatic drip irrigation system. So we set about doing it. It gave us the chance to plant as many different types and colours of willow as we could get hold of, something I had always wanted when making baskets and furniture.
The first steps were to remove all the perrennial weeds from the area and then to dig in the waste pipe from the bathroom under the path in the garden to the point where it emerges and enters a holding tank. The willow bed is on the terrace below the garden so will be easy to keep an eye on.
We laid a permeable membrane down, to suppress the weeds as the cuttings grow, then inserted the cuttings though it.

Burying the water pipe

Planting though a permeable membrane

Drip watering system

14 different types of willow

Planted up and marked with canes

A recycled tank holds the water that comes from the bathroom and the drip system is turned on and off with a tap at the bottom. the overflow is piped to our original forest garden terrace below and waters the trees there.
First experiments showed that we needed to add a filter to the waste water as bits of debris were blocking the very small drip holes.
We installed a home made filter made from netting and are seeing if that will solve the issue.

]]><![CDATA[Mending the Pool]]>Thu, 07 Jun 2012 10:24:05 GMThttps://sustainableforestgardenfarmproject.weebly.com/blog/mending-the-poolWe have had a leaky pool for a while and after several attempts to patch it up went for a clay solution. Thanks to Jon last year who helped to do the repairs.

The pool is in a lovely cool corner of the land so was a nice place to do the work out of the sun.

There seems to be little that we can do to hold the water back indefinitely so we will continue to repair as and when it is required.

]]><![CDATA[Post Title.]]>Thu, 17 May 2012 18:23:35 GMThttps://sustainableforestgardenfarmproject.weebly.com/blog/post-title-click-and-type-to-edit3

We have had a few tours and an Introduction to Forest Gardening workshop this month. They were all lovely days with some wonderful participants. Thanks to everyone who came and shared their own experiences and ideas. It is a pleasure to show people around and see the place with new eyes.

Our new bantams are in their coop and enjoying the upstairs and downstairs levels. The coop was made from recycled old pallets and offcuts of tongue and groove panelling-very tricky to piece it altogether but it turned out fine in the end. We are planning to raise our own chicks so have constructed the new pen and coop for them to raise the little ones in.
We are just waiting for one of the ladies to go broody now!
Hazel the goat joined us last year and has been really delightful, a bit of a Houdini but we think we have outsmarted her now.

]]><![CDATA[The project now]]>Wed, 09 May 2012 19:37:15 GMThttps://sustainableforestgardenfarmproject.weebly.com/blog/the-project-nowWell that was quite some year! My new resolve is to try to keep this blog a bit more regular...we will see.
We have made a lot of progress on the project with a large batch of plants planted in the shrub and herbaceous layers. It's an ongoing planting scheme and it's sometimes hard to wait for the right timing of these layers but if you do it too soon without the shade of the canopy or small tree layer you may lose a lot to the ravishes of the sun.
The land at the moment is at its most beautiful, everything is so lush and green, it's a joy to wander and work amongst it.
Asparagus, tasty wild salads and perennial brassicas are the treats of the moment. We are eagerly awaiting the bamboo shoot season for more tasty dishes. Eating in season and from the plants and trees you have grown gives you a great feeling of anticipation for the forthcoming harvests which are often quite short.
We lost our milking goat Morganne at the end of last year, she died peacefully in her sleep at the age of 14. Thanks Morg we miss you.

]]><![CDATA[Spring in the valley]]>Sun, 03 Apr 2011 10:54:34 GMThttps://sustainableforestgardenfarmproject.weebly.com/blog/spring-in-the-valley

Spring in full flower

Over the winter we have been busy with different projects here. An area of the land, we affectionately called Wales,and have never done anything with, was cleared from all the dense dark growth that had become much too shady for the trees on the terraces below.This slowly revealed a lovely space with huge granite boulders at the back and a mature oak stand above, forming a wonderful backdrop wrapped around three pools.The existing medronhas were coppiced and more chestnuts were planted along with,wild cherry and various berberis species.We will be adding more small trees and shrubs in the future. Thanks to Andy Rees for all his hard work on this area.

Almost there

The bread oven now has its chimney and awaits its final coat of granite. First, sand will be put between the fire bricks and the granite to form a layer that will allow movement and prevent cracking when the oven is heated.
The worktop has been tiled but still needs facing and a general tidy up and then we're ready for our first bake!

Stable and paddock

Our goat has moved into her new stable and small paddock near the house. It was built using old recycled pallets and mimosa posts cut from the land here during the winter.
We are planning to convert her old stable to a workshop.

Morganne

Being an old lady and set in her ways she took a while to settle in but here she is relaxing and cogitating in her new quarters.

Drip watering system being installed

Sadly, Anna a friend of long standing who was very dear to us all, died recently and we decided to dedicate one of the beds, as a memorial garden to her, in a part of the existing gardens. Here it is being planted up with blueberries, cranberries, lettuce,violets, shasta daisies and echinacea.
Anna had a passion for trees like us, and a wonderful generous spirit. We will miss her.

]]><![CDATA[September on the project]]>Wed, 20 Oct 2010 14:08:02 GMThttps://sustainableforestgardenfarmproject.weebly.com/blog/post-title-click-and-type-to-edit2

September was gorgeous, the sun shined warmly without the intensity of previous months and it's been enjoyable to work in the garden and on the land. I have been sowing and planting out all the winter chinese leaf greens, carrots, onions, salad crops and winter black radish.Black radish is a wonderful vegetable they grow quite large and can also be cooked when all the heat will go out of them. Lovely in stir frys and stews.
We are sorting out the winter fire wood and selecting and cutting timber for some construction work that we have planned.

Bread oven base.

Like a few people seem to be doing at the moment, we are in the process of building an outside bread oven with an attached 3x1m work surface for preparing the dough and pizzas etc. It will be a great addition to our workshop area and fantastic to be able to continue to make bread during the summer months when it is just too hot to light the woodburning oven in the house.
In this picture you can see the base of the bread oven, under which we will have a space to store the wood. To the right of this is the preparation surface.

Still a little way to go...

]]><![CDATA[Autumn Harvest 2]]>Thu, 23 Sep 2010 20:18:14 GMThttps://sustainableforestgardenfarmproject.weebly.com/blog/autumn-harvest-2Our second workshop was also great.The weather was perfect for us and we achieved a lot over the weekend.Thanks to those who came and shared the weekend with us.

Preparing fruit for solar drying and chatting round the table.

By the end of the weekend we had made all this.

]]><![CDATA[Autumn Harvest 1]]>Thu, 09 Sep 2010 17:31:14 GMThttps://sustainableforestgardenfarmproject.weebly.com/blog/autumn-harvest-1Our first Autumn Harvest weekend was great,We had a fantastic group of people who were all keen to learn and get going on making all the things we had chosen to do.
It was fun working and preparing the fruit and vegetables together and we had some interesting discussions while we were working and around lunch and dinner. A lot of sharing and exchanging went on and we felt we had made some new friends.
Thanks Pedro,Antonio, Patricia, Paula , Valeri, and Manu for coming and making the weekend so enjoyable.
Thanks too, to Kate, who as always, prepared for us the most delicious meals. She got many compliments from the participants for that.

This is what we achieved in the end.... a wonderful array of produce and lots of happy faces!

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