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Rachel began a food forest in the north of England, a notably cool climate, in November of 2004. In the space of around an acre, she has created a very diverse, low-maintenance, and highly productive garden, planting small sections at a time with a “learn as we go” attitude. The forest garden is now so prolific that it has moved from a lifestyle/hobby choice into a cottage industry – Old Sleningford Preserves (http://www.oldsleningford.co.uk/OldSl... with the overabundance produced.

The more established end of the garden is now 10-12 years old, and Rachel only needs to cut paths and harvest to keep it productive. Her theory is that nature is in there as well, working on behalf of the system, and maintenance activities disturb the ecosystem. The majority of her work is now harvesting, occasionally helping nature by clipping broken or fallen branches. In this way, she notes that forest gardens are different than veggie patches, where weeding is part of it. Here things are left to go, and anything cut or pulled is dropped to be consumed by the system.

Visitors have mixed reactions to the garden’s wildness, but Rachel likes to remind them it’s a woodland, as was intended. In the last two or three years, she has reached the point of feeling it is going to work. She expects its over 400 edible species, from salad greens to fruit trees, to continue on throughout her lifetime and likely beyond. Having set out to cover two acres in edible forest gardens, the high level of production from the first acre has inspired Rachel to convert the other half of that original space into wildlife areas, including a pond and a wildflower prairie/meadow.

Old Sleningford is a great example and verification that this type of gardening can work, both for productivity and profitability.

Key Takeaways

Diverse, low-maintenance, productive forest gardens are possible even in the exceptionally cool climates of northern England.

Established gardens can be looked after by clearing paths, lowering broken/fallen branches, and harvesting, minimizing the disturbance on the ecosystem.

At around 10 years, the forest garden had established into a bona fide woodland with over 400 edible species growing in it.

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