We have learned much more about nitrogen fixation since this was published 2014 – Read this first plunge! One of the key roles in the establishment of a forest garden is to provide the conditions for creating and maintaining their own fertility. In a previous post I wrote about the dynamic accumulators which take up […]
A week ago we had the first night frost in the forest garden and it usually means the end of the fruit- and bärsäsongen. The only fruit that lingers now is black and red chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa och A. arbutifolia). Especially black chokeberry is said to be an incredibly healthy fruit, thanks to their dark color. Before the first frost could […]
It may be difficult to imagine how even the forest garden will evolve over time. To get a better sense of how different plants behave and how big they can get, I usually take the opportunity to visit the botanical gardens when I am traveling. Most of these gardens have quite a few trees […]
Late summer in the forest garden is a fun time for those who like berries and fruit. Although we began planting berry bushes on a large scale until last year, we have already received a lot of harvest. Now in late August, many of the most nutritious berries are ripe. One of them […]
It gets a little sparser between the posts so the middle of summer, but here is a brief report of an introductory course in forest gardens that I kept on the farm Bast Fall (www.bastefallarn.se). The course was a fun challenge because we started from a field or meadow which is often the case when dealing with the construction of forest gardens, without […]
Blåbärstry (Lonicera caerulea var. kamtschatica) hailed as Superbar in the last issue of the magazine Time and I can only agree. It is easy to grow and extremely hardy, although it would like to have a little more acidic soil for good fruit set. The flowers tolerate whole 8 Below Freezing, so that they can bloom very early. It also means that the […]
To a forest garden to work, we need to create a dynamic similar to the one we can find in natural ecosystems. It is primarily about creating healthy soil, a good pest balance, good conditions for pollination and especially self-generated fertility, ie. a system covering its own needs for nutrients so […]
Most hasslarna I got from Germany earlier this spring was bare rooted when they came. This means that they have no root balls around the roots. Ordering bare rooted plants are more economical, since you do not need to pay for the land that would otherwise accompany the pot and usually is the actual plants cheaper too. It is […]
A sure sign of spring is usually the first deliveries of plants for the woodland garden. First up this year is four packages from the German nursery "Erzgebirgische Wildobstzucht Jörg Müller" (www.wildobstschnecke.de), who have an exciting range of mainly woody perennial edible plants. The table below shows the new additions to the growing collection in the forest garden that came with your order. In addition to the eight […]
Edible perennial group (http://åretsätligaperenn.se /), which is an interest group to spread knowledge of edible perennials, appointed last week ostrich fern (Mateuccia struthiopteris) to this year's edible perennial. I was very happy with the appointment as ostrich fern is one of my absolute favorites in the spring. The plant is the only edible fern in our climate that I know of. The harvests […]
