Ben Law's woodland

[sean]

Off to visit Ben Law's woodland tomorrow. Really looking forward to it and hopefully come back with some good photos to post. Any questions people want me to ask?

[john p]

what is the meaning of life? would love to have a poke around his woods

[sean]

what is the meaning of life? would love to have a poke around his woods

 

Will have a poke for you....

[Pumpy]

Should be a good day, I love Bens structures.

 

Could you ask him to point out the swale that's pictured in "the earth care manual" and see if you can get a picture of it, it's probably overgrown by now, but you never know. I wonder how successful it was?

 

I'd also like to ask him which edible perennials he favors in a woodland setting, and which to avoid

[face cord]

Does he have a forest garden?

 

 

I'd also like to ask him which edible perennials he favors in a woodland setting, and which to avoid

 

Stuff like wild garlic & blackberries?

 

Are many crops shade tolerent plants very productive?

 

From the reading iv'e done I think light lvls are abit low in the UK for forest gardens to be very productive due to shading issues, compared to a convention veg plot.

 

See seven layer sytem:Forest gardening - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

They do work well in tropical climates though.

 

Just my opnion though, plenty seem to think they are a viable way to produce food etc.

 

Have you watched that Martin Crawford DVD wood like to visit somewhere like that....

[Pumpy]

I don't know if he has a Forest Garden, I suspect so, if not I suspect he uses some of the principles as he does have clearings in the woods where he grows veg. I bet he has more personal experience of perennial edibles than me, the few of them I have tried leave a lot to be desired in the taste department!

 

I planted my forest garden 3yrs back. If you consider succession planting, and the amount of time it will take the canopy to close, there is plenty of scope for lower layers IMO, then you have clearings and forest edge type micro-climates where they would flourish

 

If we're comparing yields to trad veg plots we'd have to count all perennials Vs annuals IMO, e.g. stuff like strawberries, Asparagus, woody shrub fruits, trees etc. and the less traditional stuff like borrage, good king henry, and maybe even bi-annuals like burdock.

 

I don't think it a fair comparison unless you include labor for maintenance in there I like my perennial onions from a labor POV but they won't yield anything like annuals. I grow a lot of annuals too though

 

I have Martin Crawfords big book, Roger Harts book is good too. I'd love to visit Martins agroforestry research trust, but it's bloody miles away!

 

Edit: If you think about a tropical forest garden, the canopy would close in about 8yrs, understory crops yield less than in open light, but they still yield!

 

Pumpy

Edited February 9, 2013 by Pumpy

[face cord]

Are you using the No-dig method pumpy, just wondering how you are controlling weeds mulching etc.

[Pumpy]

Yeah no dig all the way. I break new ground with spuds in a lasagne bed, flatten weeds down, double cardboard layer to start, then multiple layers of part done compost, or any organic matter, chicken manure, leaves (paddock sweeper is useful) whatever, between layers of straw, up to a ft deep, finally top with a thin layer of soil, (water each layer well while building it) then cover with black DPM, cut 'X' holes for spuds and plant each with a couple of handfuls of soil. Harvest is easy as you pull the DPM back and all the spuds are on/near the surface.

This establishes the beds, subsequent yrs I move the DPM along and repeat.

Once DPM is moved I dig the paths out on contour, use the soil to raise the beds either side, paths are quite deep 10", and filled with woodchip, intend to let the chip compost down on the paths and move it onto the adjacent beds in winter, cover beds with a layer of straw to prevent weeds. I make the beds wide enough so I can reach the middle from a path but not wider. Digging the paths on contour helps drought-proof the beds.

 

I've only had access to a lot of woodchip this yr (thanks arbtalk!), so I'm changing mulch practice to take advantage of it, straw is the best mulch IMO, but it is expensive, once I have a pile of composted chip I'll be using that on annuals too. Perennials are deep mulched with fresh chip.

 

With 6" of straw as a mulch weeds have long thin stems so are real easy to pull out, I leave them on top of the mulch to add organic matter.

 

There aren't many weeds make it though the cardboard/lasagne bed, I get the odd nettle or cow parsley, that was there before, but these get taken out when I dig the paths and establish the beds proper.

 

Deep mulching on no dig beds has to be the easiest method of veg growing I've ever done, it does mean you have to start the plants in a cold-frame/propagator/greenhouse though, then pull back the mulch around the planting site to plant out.

 

There's a good film online about using woodchip in the veg garden, "Back to Eden" (if you can get over the bible bashing in it!)

 

Pumpy.

Edited February 10, 2013 by Pumpy

[JimE]

Hope you took your wellies! It was very, very wet when I was there a couple of weeks ago!

Its a lovely place up there.

[sean]

due to moving house and being v.busy lately i have only just got round to sorting some photo's. As it is i had a disaster on the day as batteries went on the camera....so not as many photos as would have liked.

 

Fantastic and truly inspiring day.