It's been a busy weekend. Lots of fruit picking in the garden, topped up with some blackcurrants at our local PYO farm. Gooseberries, jostaberries, raspberries, strawberries, tayberries and raspberries. The freezer is getting pretty full so time for lots of jam making. As well as gooseberry and jostaberry there was redcurrant jelly and blackcurrant jam. The shelves are now full too and the fruit keeps on coming. Fruit leather next I think.
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Over the last couple of weeks I've been pruning the bushes and trees in the forest garden. First up were the gooseberry cordons. I originally planted three cordons: Invicta, Hinnomaki Yellow and Hinnomaki Red. From cuttings from those I've now got nine cordons on two boundaries. I summer prune the cordons to keep them compact and them again in winter. I try to video how I prune them so that I can see the effect that it has year on year. This year I went back and compiled them all together. I'm pleased with the way they have grown. I think I could have been more conscientious about tying in the new growth and I would probably have cordons that were a bit less wiggly, but they are fine really. One thing that I have been disappointed with is the yield though. The older cordons do produce fruit, but not a great deal. I keep a fairly close eye on them during the flowering and fruiting season and I don't think anything is eating them then. The leaves look fine so I don't think I have saw fly. I read that hungry bullfinches can eat the buds in winter which is a possibility I suppose but I don't really want to net them. I did wonder about the soil and growing them on chalk. I read that potassium deficiency can be a cause of poor fruiting and that this can occur on chalk soils. I'm trying a little wood ash added to the mulch around the plants and I will use diluted seaweed extract as they start to grow this year to see if that helps. I've also been pruning the redcurrants, whitecurrants, worcesterberry and blackcurrants. I also had to repair some of the supports on the boundary after the high winds that hold up the tayberry and some of the gooseberries. I've tied in the climbers like the tayberry, loganberry, blackberry and Japanese wineberry. A little later I pruned the apple and pear trees. For most of the trees in the garden I'm still working on developing the framework of branches. It's nice to look back and see how the pruning has shaped the tree. I compiled all the videos for the Redsleeves apple which I'm growing as a bush tree. Looking back at it now I think I could probably have left the leaders alone this year instead of cutting them back to half the new growth. I think from next year I will revert to maintenance pruning only and see how the tree develops.
The other apple trees got similar treatment. The only apples that didn't get pruned were the cordon (Blue Pearmain) and the Annie Elizabeth bush. That has been growing really slowly ever since it was planted. It has a dodgy graft from the nursery which is really swollen. I was hoping that it would recover as it got bigger but it doesn't seem to be the case. I think I might have to take it out or try some fancy bridge grafting on it. It's a shame because it is the only cooking apple in the garden. I decided that it would be good to have a better balance so I am planning to graft three new cooking apple varieties onto the existing apple at the end of the garden. I've had some success with grafting half of it with Egremont Russet and Merton Russet. There are still three or four branches of the original unknown variety that I am happy to lose so I ordered scions of Newton Wonder, Grenadier and Rev W Wilks from Deacon's nursery that I will graft onto those. I will have to wait a while but if they all take I should eventually have cookers from August through to March. I pruned a couple of other trees too. I reduced the height of the quince tree as it was getting a bit taller than I wanted. My intention was that it would sit below the Tydeman's Late Orange standard apple behind it. The top was starting to compete with the apple for light so I took a few feet from the side closest to the apple, cutting back to the next main branch below. I also reduced the height of the Nottingham cob which was getting up to about 2.5 - 3.0m, a bit taller than I wanted. Hopefully it won't reduce it's productivity too much. Only time will tell. It feels like it has been a long time coming, but finally there is fruit in the garden. I've been harvesting salad for a quite a while now from the raised beds, but as of last week I got a nice surprise - lots of the fruit on the blackcurrant Ebony had ripened. Since then the garden hasn't looked back. There have been a few gooseberries, more blackcurrants and now lots of raspberries. The Glen Ample variety I put in a couple of years ago has been steadily cropping with lots of large well flavoured fruit. I've been picking most days and today got more than 350 g and there are only three large canes. The other raspberries are starting to ripen now so hopefully there will be a continuous supply for weeks to come.
There are lots of other promising looking fruit this year, with apples on all the trees including the first fruit on the Blue Pearmain double cordon. The sweet cherry is also covered in fruit that is nearly ripe. One other great surprise was to find the first few mulberries on the black mulberry tree. I had read that they could take up to seven years to fruit so its exciting to see it fruiting after four years. I'll post some pictures soon. Time seems to have been flying recently. I look forward to pruning the trees and fruit bushes in the garden but all of a sudden it seems like there are only a couple of weekends left before March. I ended up pruning the currant and gooseberry bushes in mid-Feb and then the trees the next weekend. The weather has been cold, but not too cold, so hopefully the plants will be fine. I like to record the pruning process so that I can look back and see what effect it has had. The worcesterberry grew like mad last year and looks as though it will make a good sized bush. The new whitecurrant had also grown strongly. The other red and whitecurrants had done ok, but some of the growth didn't look terribly healthy so I pruned them back quite hard. All of the gooseberries in the garden are grown as cordons so they are easy to prune. They haven't been terribly productive so far, but they are starting to develop a decent set of fruit buds. Maybe this year I'll get enough to make a pudding out of. I take a bit more time over the apple tree pruning. It always makes me nervous as it is such a final process. The Redsleeves apple is being grown as a bush. It has grown really well this year so there was a fair amount of wood to remove to keep it open in the centre. There are two apple trees in the garden that are being grown as full standards, a Court of Wick and a Tydeman's Late Orange. The Court of Wick is doing ok, but gets a little less light and is on a different rootstock (MM111). The Tydeman's Late Orange isn't shaded at all and is growing on MM106 and is growing more strongly. I'm leaving some of the lower branches on to help thicken the trunk up. When the trunk is thick enough I will remove some or all of these. I had a disaster whilst pruning the upper branches. I pulled down one of the branches to prune the leader and the whole thing snapped at the base! I tidied up as best I could but it will almost certainly change the final shape of the tree. Lesson learnt - don't try to bend branches in cold weather. Hopefully the tree will be fine, although I saw one of my cats climbing the tree today and he looked as though he might do more damage than me. The garden has been looking pretty dormant since my last post, but if you look closely there are a few signs of new life. The garlic is coming up in the raised beds and around the trees where I planted a few cloves. New chives are springing up from clumps that had well and truly disappeared. Daffodils are starting to shoot up and I saw a tiny yellow crocus flower appear today. The rhubarb has lots of tiny pink buds pushing up now on one of the plants. I split the other one this winter and the remaining part is not looking too healthy, but I'll keep my fingers crossed. My favourite plants at the moment are the hazels - the catkins on half of them have opened up and if you look really carefully you can see the tiny red female flowers. The garden hasn't needed much attention either recently, which is a good thing with the days being so short. I made some time at the weekend to do some pruning. I started with the gooseberry cordons. Although I had pruned them in the summer before last, I forgot to cut the laterals back last winter. As a result they put more of their energy into the lower stems than into growing vertically. I pruned them again this summer (and potted up the cuttings). So this winter I made sure to cut back all the laterals to about 2.5cm. I also cut back the leader to about half of the length of the new growth. They are looking a lot more like cordons now. Next up were the red and white currants. I took out the branches crowding the centre (although I probably left too many). Then I trimmed the leaders by one half of their growth and the laterals to about 5cm. I know that not everyone is in favour of pruning redcurrants in a forest garden. I think the idea is that it is obviously less work and they bear higher up if left unpruned. However, given the small amount of space I have and the limited number of plants I am happy to prune them if it makes them bear more. I have two blackcurrant bushes that I had cut a few branches earlier in the year for cuttings. Apart from that I left them unpruned as they are only one and two years old. Pruning the three gooseberry cordons and five redcurrants only took about 15 minutes and it was good to be out in the garden again.
Spring has been a time of anticipation in the garden. There have been lots of signs of promise, but little that's ready to harvest. The rhubarb plants have been the mainstay so far delivering four good crops, with plenty more left. There have been a few other small harvests - lots of herbs, salads and sorrel, but nothing substantial. There are some plants that will fill this gap in future years. I've put in two rows of asparagus plants and last weekend planted some Soloman's seal (Polygonatum multiflorum) whose shoots are ready in the spring. There should be more perennial veg as well by next year that will provide more greens at this time of year. I will probably grow some potatoes to supplement the perennial crops as well. I've got three lots in planters this year and they are growing well. Anyway, this week has seen the first fruits ripen in the garden. We've had a handful of strawberries from the plants put in last year. We've hardly let them ripen, but they are still delicious. There are lots more on the plants and so far the slugs and snails haven't had any. They are mulched with bark chippings at the moment and that seems to do the trick. There are a few other plants that are looking as though they are nearly ready. The gooseberries are swelling up and the blueberries too. The tayberry has lots of fruit and the raspberries are starting to appear. There are hundreds of green sour cherries waiting to ripen and a handful of sweet cherries - although some of these have shrivelled up and gone brown, maybe because I haven't watered the tree much? There are still lots of bees in the garden and there seems to be a steady succession of flowers for them to feed on (more by luck than judgement). Also, there are still lots of small moths on the mints. In the mulch the spiders are busy and I've seen two nursery-web spiders (Pisaura mirabilis) carrying their egg sacs underneath them. I got a nice surprise too when I saw a large frog hiding under one of the hazel trees. He was some way from the small pond in the garden in a spot with some really dense vegetation. I hope he's working on the slugs.
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AboutA blog following the development of a small edible forest garden in Salisbury, Wiltshire, first planted in winter 2008.
AuthorA forest gardening enthusiast with an interest in growing food sustainably, locally and with minimal effort. More blogsAnni's Perennial Veggies
Bangor Forest Garden Project Forest Garden Plants Fruit Forum Graham Burnett Have Some Pi Help Save Bees Il Giardino Foresta Maddy Harland Moulsecoomb Forest Garden Mortal Tree Oak House Permaculture Project Of Plums And Pignuts Otter Farm PermaculturePower PermieHomestead Plants for a Future Plant Trees, It's Self Defence Really Useful Gardens SelfSufficientish Southwoods Forest Gardens Sustainable Forest Garden Farm Project The Cultural Wilderness The Field The Unconventional Gardener Transition Culture Two Go Forest Gardening Wiltshire Wildlife Trust Food Champions Ynysmon's Blog Other links
Check out the resources page for lots more forest gardening websites, books and videos.
Details of my young forest garden are here and photos here. Produce 20161 Jan - 31 Mar
0.640kg Babington leek 0.417kg Cabbage 0.742kg Celeriac 0.005kg Coriander 0.343kg Daikon 0.003kg Fennel 0.091kg Garlic shoots 0.005kg Goji berry leaves 0.259kg Lettuce 0.002kg Mint 0.020kg Pak choi 0.233kg Parsley 2.100kg Potatoes 0.041kg Radish 0.006kg Red veined sorrel 2.069kg Rosemary 0.888kg Ruby chard 0.002kg Thyme 0.065kg Winter purslane 1 Apr - 30 Jun 0.008kg Alpine strawberries 0.555kg Babington leeks 0.003kg Basil 0.989kg Beetroot 1.987kg Celeriac 0.019kg Chillis 0.076kg Chives 0.466kg Cleavers 0.227kg Coriander 0.075kg Courgettes 0.034kg Fennel 0.045kg Garlic shoots 0.004kg Gooseberries 0.048kg Holly leaves 0.006kg Lemon balm 0.541kg Lettuce 0.005kg Lime leaves 0.012kg Mint 0.108kg Nettles 0.440kg Oca 0.295kg Parsley 0.003kg Radish 0.241kg Raspberries 2.570kg Rhubarb 0.052kg Rocket 0.001kg Rosemary 2.338kg Ruby chard 0.022kg Sage 0.099kg Spring onions 0.464kg Strawberries 0.001kg Sweet violet 0.064kg Wild garlic 0.001kg Winter purslane 1 Jul - 30 Sep 0.030kg Alpine strawberries 22.360kg Apples 0.003kg Basil 0.317kg Blackberries 0.706kg Blackcurrants 0.595kg Blueberries 0.085kg Chillis 0.002kg Chives 8.255kg Courgettes 0.003kg Fennel 0.205kg Gooseberries 2.674kg Hazelnuts 0.429kg Japanese wineberries 2.404kg Jostaberries 0.209kg Loganberries 0.025kg Mint 0.167kg Mulberries 0.006kg Nasturtium 0.004kg Parsley 4.068kg Pears 4.097kg Rapsberries 3.988kg Redcurrants 0.016kg Rocket 0.522kg Rosemary 0.026kg Spring onions 0.837kg Sweet cherries 0.234kg Tayberries 2.142kg Tomatoes 1.229kg Whitecurrants 1 Oct - 31 Dec 2.263kg Apples 0.317kg Chillis 2.697kg Courgettes 0.060kg Mashua 0.030kg Mint 0.250kg Oca 0.080kg Parsley 0.581kg Pears 1.360kg Potatoes 0.011kg Rocket 0.056kg Rosemary 0.050kg Sage 0.651kg Tomatoes Produce 20151 Jan - 31 Mar
0.187kg Babington's leek 0.031kg garlic shoots 0.005kg mint 0.560kg salad 1 Apr - 30 Jun 0.021kg alpine strawberries 2.074kg Babington's leeks 0.017kg basil 0.975kg blackcurrants 0.434kg cabbage 0.016kg chives 0.095kg coriander 0.009kg dill 0.156kg garlic shoots 0.443kg gooseberries 1.801kg kohlrabi 0.297kg lettuce 0.015kg lime leaves 0.035kg mint 0.033kg mustard leaves 0.231kg nettles 0.089kg onion 0.470kg oregano 0.013kg pak choi 0.013kg parsley 0.626kg peas 0.107kg peppermint 0.871kg purple sprouting broccoli 4.219kg raspberries 1.406kg red onion 0.048kg red-veined sorrel 1.751kg rhubarb 1.618kg ruby chard 0.324kg spring onion 1.157kg strawberries 0.577kg sweet cherries 0.242kg tayberried 0.001kg thyme 0.160kg wild garlic 0004kg winter purslane 1 Jul - 30 Sep 0.003kg alpine strawberries 0.002kg apple mint 37.964kg apples 0.033kg basil 0.753kg blackberries 7.207kg blackcurrants 2.441kg blueberries 0.073kg cabbage 0.039kg celeriac 0.019kg coriander 6.329kg courgettes 15.960kg cucumber 0.012kg dill 0.466kg french beans 0.312kg garlic 1.447kg gooseberries 12.822kg hazelnuts 0.967kg Japanese wineberries 2.390kg jostaberries 0.205kg lettuce 0.001kg lime basil 0.848kg loganberries 0.018kg mint 0.203kg mulberries 0.005kg oregano 0.041kg pak choi 0.004kg parsley 2.010kg pears 0.006kg peppermint 8.529kg raspberries 6.138kg redcurrants 0.005kg rocambole 2.198kg ruby chard 0.024kg sage 1.605kg sour cherries 0.191kg strawberries 0.843kg strawberries 0.651kg tayberries 0.001kg thyme 15.138kg tomatoes 0.977kg whitecurrants 1 Oct - 31 Dec 0.117kg chilli peppers 0.018kg coriander 0.022kg courgettes 6.716kg cucumbers 0.008kg dill 0.223kg french beans 0.115kg hazelnuts 0.025kg lettuce 0.002kg mint 0.065kg parsley 0.524kg pears 1.412kg ruby chard 0.072kg spring onion 6.489kg tomatoes Produce 2014
1 Jan - 31 Mar
0.308kg Babington leeks 0.034kg garlic shoots 0.001kg parsley 0.004kg red veined sorrel 0.011kg rosemary 0.025kg sage 0.016kg thyme 1 Apr - 30 Jun 0.010kg alpine strawberries 1.350kg Babington leeks 0.104kg blackcurrants 0.012kg chives 0.210kg garlic shoots 0.092kg gooseberries 0.006kg lemon balm 0.529kg loganberries 0.015kg oregano 0.006kg parsley 0.035kg peppermint 5.655kg raspberries 0.177kg redcurrants 0.051kg red veined sorrel 7.180kg rhubarb 0.120kg salad 0.006kg salad burnet 0.896kg strawberries 0.509kg tayberries 0.084kg wild garlic 1 Jul - 30 Sep 5.121kg apples 0.008kg alpine strawberries 0.857kg blackberries 1.190kg blackcurrants 0.904kg blueberries 1.840kg garlic 6.102kg hazelnuts 0.467kg Japanese wineberries 0.716kg loganberries 0.313kg mulberries 3.742kg pears 2.752kg raspberries 2.349kg redcurrants 0.054kg rocambole 0.050kg sage 1.655kg sour cherries 0.021kg sweet cherries 0.298kg tayberries 0.242kg whitecurrants 0.078kg worcesterberries 1 Oct - 31 Dec 0.113kg salad 0.382kg oca 0.200kg potatoes Produce 2013
1 Jan - 31 Mar
0.024kg garlic shoots 1 Apr - 30 Jun 0.326kg Babbington leeks 0.222kg blackcurrants 0.363kg garlic shoots 0.147kg gooseberries 0.002kg lemon balm 0.121kg lettuce 0.004kg lime leaves 0.058kg mizuna 0.121kg oregano 0.010kg pea shoots 0.015kg peppermint 0.223kg raspberries 0.020kg red veined sorrel 3.900kg rhubarb 0.400kg salad 0.005kg salad burnet 0.008kg shitake mushrooms 0.076kg strawberries 0.013kg thyme 0.136kg wild garlic 1 Jul - 30 Sep 0.101kg alpine strawberries 13.653kg apples 0.276kg blackberries 2.816kg blackcurrants 1.380kg blueberries 0.159kg broad beans 0.965kg courgettes 1.340kg garlic 1.808kg hazelnuts 0.118kg Japanese wineberries 0.493kg loganberries 0.008kg mulberries 4.368kg pears 0.036kg peppermint 1.143kg potatoes 0.063kg quince 9.226kg raspberries 0.699kg redcurrants 0.223kg rocambole 0.150kg salad 1.448kg sour cherries 0.064kg spearmint 0.660kg spring onions 0.863kg strawberries 1.622kg sweet cherries 0.156kg tayberries 0.721kg whitecurrants 0.010kg worcesterberries 1 Oct - 31 Dec 0.938kg pears 0.095kg quince 0.091kg oca 0.242kg mashua Produce 2012
1 Jan - 31 Mar
0.050kg fennel 0.009kg garlic shoots 0.030kg goji berries 0.050kg rocket 1 Apr - 30 Jun 0.004kg alpine strawberries 0.480kg cabbage 0.323kg garlic shoots 0.050kg lemon balm 0.002kg loganberries 0.050kg mint 0.402kg mushrooms 0.360kg potatoes 0.730kg raspberries 0.030kg red veined sorrel 0.130kg redcurrants 4.000kg rhubarb 0.540kg rocket 0.020kg sorrel 0.134kg strawberries 0.007kg tayberries 01 Jul - 30 Sep 0.020kg alpine strawberries 0.180kg apples 0.552kg blackberries 0.178kg blackcurrants 0.711kg blueberries 1.020kg garlic 0.201kg gooseberries 0.263kg hazelnuts 0.051kg Japanese wineberries 0.028kg loganberries 3.354kg pears 1.610kg potatoes 0.910kg raspberries 0.353kg redcurrants 0.063kg sour cherries 0.049kg strawberries 0.014kg tayberries 0.192kg whitecurrants 1 Oct - 31 Dec 7.690kg Jerusalem artichokes 0.211kg oca 0.010kg peppermint 0.820kg potatoes 0.010kg thyme Produce 2011
1 Jan - 20 Mar
Firewood Rosemary Sage Chives Salad burnet 21 Mar - 31 May 0.035kg chives 0.070kg lemon balm 0.005kg nasturtium leaves 0.017kg raspberries 4.060kg rhubarb 0.060kg rocket 0.020kg rosemary 0.280kg sage 0.070kg salad burnet 0.050kg sorrel 0.065kg spearmint 0.429kg strawberries 0.012kg sweet fennel 0.003kg tayberries 0.010kg thyme 1 Jun - 31 Aug 35.2kg 29 different crops: 0.030kg alpine strawberries 8.884kg apples 0.492kg beetroot 0.258kg blackberries 0.377kg blackcurrants 0.337kg blueberries 0.010kg chives 7.095kg courgettes 0.001kg fennel 0.946kg garlic 1.481kg hazelnuts 0.001kg Japanese wineberry 0.007kg lemon balm 0.005kg mashua leaves 0.004kg nasturtiums 0.100kg pears 0.005kg peppermint 11.920kg potatoes 1.130kg raspberries 0.262kg redcurrants 0.005kg rocket 0.064kg salad burnet 0.460kg sour cherries 0.024kg spearmint 0.558kg strawberries 0.311kg sweet cherries 0.086kg tayberries 0.087kg whitecurrants 1 Sep - 31 Dec 11.633kg apples 0.040kg aronia berries 1.299kg beetroot 0.036kg blackberries 2.472kg courgettes 0.034kg hazelnuts 6.205kg Jerusalem artichokes 4.250kg mashua 1.801kg pears 37.135kg potatoes 0.371kg raspberries 0.024kg strawberries 0.044kg whitecurrants Produce 2010
A record of produce from the garden in 2010. I expect this list to get much longer in later years.
1 Jan - 20 Mar 2010: Firewood - kindling and small logs for wood burner Herbs - rosemary Vegetables - 5 leeks Greens - Handfull of sorrel, salad burnet and dandelions. 21 Mar - 4 Jun 2010 3.600kg rhubarb 0.250kg sorrel rosemary salad burnet mint chives rocket a few strawberries 5 Jun -> 1.120kg garlic 1.063kg raspberries 3.430kg rhubarb 0.165kg strawberries 0.104kg sweet cherries 0.065kg tayberries 0.130kg gooseberries 0.029kg alpine strawberries 0.100kg loganberries 1.710kg sour cherries 0.486kg blackberries 0.039kg blackcurrants 0.220kg blueberries 3.264kg courgettes 0.240kg lettuce 8.375kg pears 3.820kg potatoes 9.300kg apples 0.076kg hazelnuts See archives from October 2009 below for last year's produce. Archives
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