The Institute for Social Inventions can take full credit for promulgating Hart's ideas on forest gardens and Albery's on learning poetry. These postpone decrepitude in those who do them, while network-marketing spreads the good news and so brings benefit to both land and people.
Anyone who wants to start a forest garden should look for land that no one wants and be prepared for no help with any cost. With us, Forest Garden No. 1 was the rubbish-tip for a closed village school, uncleared for 90 years, which besides eleven tons of stone and one ton of glass and metal, also contained the foundations of the school stable, which would have taken six ponies - the school buses of their day. Now it has a micro-climate, topped at 6 feet, of bullaces, sloes, hawthorn, alder, hazels and mirobalan. It has trees of apples, plums, quince and crabs and morello as well as well-stocked herb beds for salad, veg and flavour and buddleia and nettles to encourage butterflies and a small poly-tunnel to up the strawberry crop.
Forest Garden No. 2 contains the foundations of a deserted village and major electricity board poles, a microclimate of crabs, mirobalan, sloes, bullaces, hazels and buddleia, the same bunch of trees as No. 1, plus a walnut called a Broadview. It is a Canadian variety which will fruit in five years, if it likes you. There is also a plat of cob-nuts. It has a duck pond as well, with marginal plants which are growing well, but even so the farmer's ducks turn up their bills at it, and this March we completed the planting of a willow cabin.
Forest Garden No. 3 has just received the go-ahead from the owner, who needs it for her red squirrels. She has a cadre of them who live in her garden and whom she feeds on imported hazel nuts. She has now agreed that she might as well grow her own rather than feed the spotted wood-peckers who help themselves to her bought ones. So the plan now is (1) A hedge of sloes to exclude the livestock, planted in a prepared trench and watered during its first summer. (2) Common hazels, with a few Cosford Cobs etc to pollination, each growing 7 to 9 rods, pruned annually to four feet. This means more nuts lower down, so less climbing for the squirrels. The whole plat will be much denser than normal because the harvesting will be done by squirrels, who will eat them immature and on the spot. (3) Then will come the usual plums, Victoria, greengage and a Czar, for pollination, for human use, because why should squirrels have all the fun? Lastly blackberries around two sides, because these are good squirrel grub too.
So, to summarise what we have learned. (1) If you see land not being used, ask for it - you may easily get it. (2) Never buy, for the full price, trees that you can swap for something, get as a gift or buy in an auction. A lady we know filled four acres with trees that she got by running a nursery bed with the pips and stones from her bought fruit. (3) Grow all the comfrey you can to feed your other plants and trees. (4) Be mindful of time, temperature and water.
So, more power to the elbows of Hart and Albery - 'Come let us now praise famous men, / Men of little showing - / For their work continueth, / And their work continueth, / Broad and wide continueth, / Greater than their knowing.'
Ian Dodds, 1 Windsor Place, off Correction House Lane, Alnwick, Northumberland, NE66 1SU.
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