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Posts from Forest Garden Wales Blog for 04/04/2019
By [email protected] (Jake Rayson) on Apr 03, 2019 09:09 pm
Both of my apple grafts from The People’s Orchard workshop have taken! Beginners luck methinks…
A couple of months ago, I went on a grafting workshop run by Steve Wilson and organised by The People’s Orchard. I was amazed at how much I enjoyed it, that sense of accomplishment when you create something beautiful and unique (if a little Frankensteinian after I’d hacked them with the grafting knife).
I grafted two varieties, one is Ashmead’s Kernel, a rather delicious eater from the 1700s. The other is Poppit Persawrus, as the cutting comes originally from a self-seeded apple tree in Poppit Sands, and Persawrus is Welsh for aromatic, because the apple tastes rather like bubblegum!
The good news is that both grafts have taken and are in leaf, the Ashmead’s Kernel a couple of weeks later than the Poppit Persawrus. That is 100% success rate and I am feeling rather chuffed with myself 😏
In the autumn, I’ll plant them out in the Ornamental Forest Garden.
By [email protected] (Jake Rayson) on Apr 03, 2019 10:17 am
These are some of my favourite flowers, simple but colourful flowers, adding a splash of nectar, pollen & colour to that verdant forest garden green
I like forest gardens, obviously. Although they can be very… green. In the midst of this wintry spell here in West Wales, I’ve sown some flowers, pollinator friendly flowers, that will also add a zing of colour to the borders.
I’m buckling down on the perennial vegetable front, inspired by the likes of Alison @BackyardLarder (see her 2019 review), Mandy @IncredibleVeg and Stephanie @Steph_Hafferty, so I planted up a grouping of sorrel, 3 x Broad-Leaved Sorrel and 3 x ‘Blood Veined’ Sorrel. I’ve found it’s much more productive to plant in groups rather than individually, otherwise you’re often scrabbling around for enough to harvest.
As you can see from the photo, there’s plenty of room for flowers. The ones I’ve chosen are all easy to grow, a bonus for my clumsy propagation skills, and excellent for beneficial insects:
Bergamot (Monarda didyma)Perennial, leaves & flowers in salads, make aromatic tea
Pot Marigold (Calendula officinalis)Annual, edible leaves & flowers, dye from petals
Borage (Borago officinalis)Annual, amazing bee plant, edible flowers
Poached Egg Plant (Limnanthes douglasii)Annual, supereasy to grow, great for bees & hoverflies, will self-sow
Marigold ‘Naughty Marietta’ (Tagetes patula)Annual, classic companion plant for veg plots
Total cost £7.05GBP, which is a total bargain, and I’ll make sure to collect the seeds for even more colour next year.
