Our edible forest began life in March 2011 as this barren landscape…
Today, as I sit munching on one of my favourite `Discovery` apples and a few Victoria plums, our little Eden looks more like this.
What was our dream?
Imagine an urban plot of land with a wonderful view over Belfast Lough in which only organic, non-commercially seeded and mainly native Irish fruit, herbs and edible plants grow. This plot of land serves as an example of the biodiversity of the edible plant world still available in Ireland and of the need to reclaim the last surviving traditional Irish varieties of fruit and vegetables. A plot of land that reminds us that the food, that we need to survive, is literally at the tips of our fingertips. This was the opening of our project proposal on 20th November 2008 for funding for what would become our edible forest garden.
The inspiration
In the two weeks leading to this proposal, I was bedridden because of a dental intervention gone wrong which left me with burned sinuses. I took to my bed with prescribed opiates and arnica and silica and my cat who wrapped himself around my head, his tail curled beneath my chin and his nose purring into my ear where it hurt. I was in a lot of pain, emotionally too, because I was really feeling at a bit of a standstill with my life`s passion! I had just finished reading most of the Ringing Cedar Series about the astonishing Anastasia which had fired up in me a desire to reconnect with nature. With the money that I had been earning from teaching yoga to children, I had already bought an extra third of an acre of land behind our home that we planned to transform into an orchard because I felt it was time to grow our own food on a larger scale.
I had a vision of all the streets everywhere planted with a variety of fruit trees for everyone to enjoy freely and abundantly, and so felt it was time to start in my own back garden.
At the end of the two weeks of rehabilitation of my sinuses, my husband, Ghislain, came home from work one evening to say that his company were celebrating their tenth anniversary by offering ten projects worth £10,000 each for original sustainable projects. The deadline for applying was the following day! I rose from my bed and got writing.
Within a few days our local organic producer appeared at our door with the weekly delivery of fruit and vegetables suggesting I watch a BBC programme on a very original way of gardening called `edible forest gardening` that he thought might just suit what I was trying to achieve, and my husband`s business called him to say that we were one of the projects awarded £10.000. It was time to begin!
What is a forest garden?
We began to look into the whole edible forest garden concept and bought the book by Patrick Whitefield on `How to make a forest garden`. What appealed to me the most was that this form of gardening was relatively low-maintenance and completely respectful of Mother Nature.
As Patrick explains `A forest garden is a food-producing garden, based on the model of a natural woodland or forest. It is made up of fruit and nut trees, fruit bushes, perennial vegetables and herbs. It can be tailored to fit any space, from a tiny urban backyard to a large rural garden.
A close copy of a natural ecosystem, it is perhaps the most ecologically friendly way of gardening.`
Making it happen
To get started we found an expert in edible forest gardens from Leitrim Organic Gardens, Phil Wheal, to design our future forest. Conservation Volunteers, Northern Ireland came and did a phenomenal job at clearing the dense gorse and rubbish.
Planting
We had fences installed, pathways and steps at the entrance made along with rails and gates, and finally in March 2011, just at the end of our ten-year-old son`s 18-month treatment for brain cancer and, with the help of many heroic friends, we planted over 200 plants including fruit bushes, fruit and nut trees and our Eden was born.
Please check out my instagram page for photographic updates on the development of the garden.
