Forest Garden Wales

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Forest Garden Livestream

Wednesday 4th November, 10am GMT

Punk Synthesis

I am too young to be a first wave punk but it has had a lasting impression on me. The ‘Do It Yourself’ ethic was inspirational. Yes, you can be in a band and create a magazine. And yes, you can make your very own forest garden.

Garden designer Xanthe White talked about the need to create gardeners on the Roots and All podcast, as there’s just too many gardens to maintain. That DIY ethic is a central part of what I do, trying to provide people with the tools for creating their own forest gardens.

It’s also the way to engage young people, by reducing the cost of entry and connecting with natural processes, food and wildlife. And it’s a paradigm shift in how you think about gardening. The focus pulls back from the human aesthetic to the wildlife and the balance of nature, from a narrow beauty to the bigger picture of a thriving edible ecosystem.

But we need ways to facilitate this movement. We need accessible data, tools and funds. 

Plants For A Future is fantastic online database of useful plants, and Martin Crawford’s Creating a Forest Garden is a groundbreaking and comprehensive guide. Imagine bringing them together in a shareable and sortable spreadsheet, to quickly find plants based on habit, use and conditions 🤔. Well, that’s what I’m working on at the moment. 

Imagine also, being able to link this to a Forest Garden Gallery, so you can see the plants in different detail and stages. You’re in luck, with some forest garden friends, we’ve started work already at forestgardengallery.uk

And then imagine, what if there was a free CAD library of forest garden plants that you could use in your free CAD software (eg QCAD or LibreCAD)? Well, work has also begun!

Next up, it would be great to make funds more accessible. I’ve tried applying for grants before but needed to set up a Community Interest Company to make it worthwhile. This is beyond the reach of most people, so I’m thinking about some sort of umbrella organisation that could facilitate the grant application process. This could make the grants more accessible by non-professionals, beginners and young people.

All of these ideas and more will be explored and demonstrated in this Wednesday’s forest garden livestream at 10am GMT, and come along to the after-livestream Zoom chat (password sesame).

Ivy (Hedera helix). Cos, how would

you

illustrate Punk Synthesis?

Livestream

• Date: Wednesday 4th November

• Time: 10—10.30am

• Livestream: twitch.tv/forestgardenwales

Zoom Q&A

• Zoom link

• Time: 10.30—11:00am

• Zoom password: sesame

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10 free places

Every month I offer 10 free places on my online course The Backyard Forest to Black, SE & S Asian, indigenous & minority ethnic people, students and the unwaged. If you know of someone who might be interested, please spread the word. No proof required, all done on trust. For more information about the lack of diversity in horticulture and the legal standing of positive action, I’ve written up my notes here.

Merlin Tuttle on Growing Greener

Absolutely fascinating podcast about bats with Merlin Tuttle. They’re a key component of a vast number of ecological systems, with a diverse range of species. I’m really keen to set up my own bat boxes to help with conservation and also for “pest control” for the forest garden. Do take a listen.

Patreon page, DIY with a little help

My Patreon page is a very useful way to help people with the creation of their own forest garden. A subscription to the Stellar Coaching Patron is only £29 per month and this includes The Backyard Forest course worth £99, plus a 40 minute 1-to-1 Zoom call with me every month to cover your questions, and access to the Forest Garden Support WhatsApp group. Much cheaper than having a bespoke forest garden design!

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