The temperature has dropped and the leaves have been changing colour and starting to fall. Spiders abound. Inside the polytunnel things are warmer, at least in the day time. Tomatoes have gone but chilli pepper and cucumbers still hang about. Winter salads, daikon and celeriac look snug. Inside the house the woodburner is on most nights. The good apples are in store. The Tydeman's Late Orange are ready to eat now and taste great. The apples that didn't make it have been cooked, dried or are busy being turned into cider. Still bubbling away slowly after a month and keeping me waiting...
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I get really twitchy as the hazelnuts start to ripen on the trees at the end of August. I keep expecting to wake up and look out of the window to see the trees stripped of nuts by marauding squirrels. The nuts go brown as they ripen and apparently they are not as tasty when unripe. For the last few years I've been picking the nuts at the end of August, but of course the weather is different every year. I hung on as long as I dared and picked most of the nuts yesterday. It was a bumper harvest, more than double last year's at 12.6 kg. The Nottingham cobnut tree accounted for most of those at 9.9 kg. I love the shape of the nuts in their husks as a cluster. I tried to get some pictures below. Having such a big harvest is great but the nuts need drying before they will turn completely brown and are easy to separate from the husks ready for storage. I put most of them onto some mesh strung between two broom handles hanging in the garage. For drying apples I've been thinking about investing in a wooden drying rack. The apple harvest was disappointing last year so I settled for a collapsible hanging drier with up to six layers. I'm not sure that it will take the weight if fully loaded with apples, but it works pretty well with hazelnuts.
Only time will tell if the nuts will finish ripening as they dry and whether they will store well. I remembered that I still had lots of nuts in the cupboard from last year. I experimented with some rapid nut cracking using a hammer and the nuts on a wooden board. After a few minutes practice and with a helper we were getting through them at a fair rate and soon had a few hundred. Even though they had been stored for a year they were still really tasty, especially when roasted for about 10 mins at 180 oC. I try to keep track of all of the output from the garden. I'm interested to see how much a small edible forest garden can produce on a domestic scale and in particular how long it takes for the garden to develop to its full potential. There are lots of other great things about growing a forest garden, but when I was planning my garden I found it difficult to get numbers on productivity. Hopefully these records might be useful to someone else going through that process. The plot above shows the total output from the front and backgarden over the last five years. The results are dominated by a major harvest of potatoes in 2011 when I turned the whole of the front garden over to growing them to clear it. The next plot shows the total output, not including the vegetables. This starts to make more sense now. The output in 2012 was particularly bad, but the trend is for a gradual increase since planting in 2008, although 2014 has been down a little on last year. The apple harvest this year was very poor, only 5.1 kg compared to 13.7 kg last year. Most of the apples this year were from the early Redsleeves with the others failing. I have heard others say that it was a poor year for apples in general. In addition, I grafted over the last third of a remaining apple tree and the earlier grafts are still too young to be in production. The two standard apples are also not really fully mature yet, although they did produce well last year. Pears were also down a little from 5.3 kg to 3.7 kg. This year saw did see quite a lot of mulberries though, a promise of more to come as the tree gets bigger. The next plot breaks down the fruit production into tree fruit (top fruit) and soft fruit. This makes clear that the tree fruit definitely took a hit this year. The soft fruit was about the same as last year. Raspberries were by far the most prolific (8.4 kg), then redcurrants (2.5 kg), blackcurrants (1.3 kg) and loganberries (1.2 kg). The garden produced lots of variety of fruit in quantities around a kilo. A nice surprise was the Japanese Wineberry which yielded 0.47 kg, which is a lot of the very small berries! The total fruit output was down this year compared to last, but the hazelnut harvest was a real succes, up from 1.8 kg to 6.1 kg. Rhubarb also did well, up from 3.9 kg to 7.1 kg. This year was characterised by very early soft fruit harvest, with about half of the raspberry crop coming in June. The plot above shows the breakdown by month. It shows a slightly more even distribution than previous years. My hope is that as the fruit trees mature the later part of the year will start to fill in. The polytunnel will also extend the production later in the year and in the early months. It's already producing a lot more salad than last January. The last plot shows how the different crops have been harvested through the year. Garlic and Babbington leeks are some of the first crops, then rhubarb, followed by the soft fruit then the top fruit and nuts. The last harvest in December was of some potatoes and oca from the polytunnel. This isn't the whole story of course. Last year, when the apple harvest was better there was fruit to store into the winter months, extending the time when produce was available. This year, it is only frozen soft fruit and hazelnuts that have made it this far, but they are definitely welcome.
This year has seen a real increase in the variety of harvests from the forest garden compared to last year. At the end of last month I harvested most of the hazelnuts from the garden. The Nottingham cobnut was the most prolific by far with 1.35kg of nuts, next was the Red Filbert with 0.12kg and there have been a handful from the twisted hazel. The Kentish cob is growing nicely but hasn't produced any nuts yet. I picked the nuts just as the husks were turning yellow/brown at the end of August. The husks were home to lots and lots of ladybirds which will hopefully find another home to overwinter in. Once they were picked I dehusked them and spread them out to dry in a metal tray. I've been steadily picking apples this month too. The existing apple tree at the end of the garden has borne lots of fruit despite being grafted earlier in the year. I picked the last ones this weekend totaling more than 15kg. There are too many to eat and most of them aren't in good enough condition to keep so I've been making lots of apple juice after leaving them to ripen for a couple of weeks. I've picked the Court of Wick apples just over a week ago. That's a little earlier than the late September picking time in the book, but all of the fruit has been earlier this year. There were only about 10 of them, quite small with an interesting colour. With the wet summer the snails have been tree climbing and have been eating these and the Tydeman's Late Orange apples. Those are supposed to be picked in mid-October, but I gave in and picked them this weekend to save the rest from snails. Some of the pears have been picked and others are still ripening. There is one quince on the tree slowly getting bigger despite the cold weather. Hopefully I can catch it before it gets blown off in the autumn winds!
As the days shorten and the end of summer is in sight, the garden is still looking lush and green after all the rain. It has felt pretty quiet in the garden recently with not much to do but enjoy being outside. I've been filming a time lapse of the garden since February and just finished the first six months. I'm pleased with the results. I've only missed a day or two in that time. Here are the first three months which show the dramatic change from winter to spring. The next three months aren't as dramatic but capture the steady growth over the summer. There is so much going on that I focussed on the section around one of the apple trees (Tydeman's Late Orange) to show it developing from February right through to August. You can see it blossom just after the pear trees next to it, then it comes into leaf before the fruit develop and swell up. The garden is starting to need a little attention at the moment to keep up with harvesting. Autumn fruiting raspberries are producing a moderate but welcome supply of fruit. Apples on the existing tree at the end of the garden are ready now, although they improve a couple of weeks after picking. They are starting to drop off the tree now so need picking. The nematode treatment I used last year for codling moth has made a difference. There are less magotty apples, but there are definitely still quite a few. The imperfect apples don't keep as long so I have been juicing some of them. The hazelnuts are just about ready too. The husks are turning brown and the nuts too. There is still lots of salad leaves and the nasturtiums are in full bloom as well as the mashua which is grown all over the sour cherry tree. The non-perennial courgettes are still producing daily and I harvested the first of my Desiree main crop potatoes today. I dug up a couple of plants to find more than 6 kg of enormous spuds.
A couple of little things I noticed in the garden recently. The goji berry is in flower. The flowers are small (about 5-10mm across) and purple. They are on the wood that is two years old, coming from the base of the leaves on the stem. I'll report back if it bears fruit later in the year. I knocked a couple of red filbert nuts from the tree when I brushed past it the other day. I picked up the nuts in their husks and peeled back the red husks to see whether the nuts were ripe. Inside one of them four red 7-spot ladybirds had made their temporary home. I have never seen four together in one place and didn't realise that they were so gregarious. I was sorry to disturb them, but was glad to see that the nuts were ripe already. There is a picture of the red filbert nuts in their husk in this previous post.
The cobnuts and filberts in the garden are too young to produce any nuts this year so I was really surprised to see a load of hazelnuts on the lawn. My kids had picked them up on the way home from a large tree at the end of the street that I had never noticed before. Thinking my luck was in I went and collected a few handfuls and separated them from their outer sheaths. It took me a good half an hour to get them all out only to find that thet were all empty! I'm not sure, but I'm guessing that it is because they weren't pollinated. I'll keep an eye on the tree and see if once my trees are bigger they are close enough to pollinate it.
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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
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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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