Register of Community Forest Gardens

I'd love to see that, spoke with Richard about it at the conference in Manchester. In came up in conversation with some fellow students at CAT (Centre for Alternative Technology) yesterday.

Thats brilliant Felix
I have forwarded your message to four community projects. One in Margate, Faversham, Canterbury and Boughton. I have great plans for a community project but its not ready to share yet.
Thanks Jo

Birchfields Park Forest Garden is in the northwest corner of a green, peaceful and scenic inner-city public Park, near Dickenson Road and Birch Polygon, in Rusholme, Manchester. It is circular, 50 metres in diameter in four arched beds, quadrants in a ring. It’s almost 13 years since this community Forest Garden came to life with the planting of numerous standard varieties of Apple and Pear on M25 rootstock for future high canopy with two Walnut trees, Hazel bushes and various Plums, Damsons, Cherry, Medlar, Mulberries, Raspberry canes, Quince, Gooseberry and Currant bushes. These were followed by edible bulbs including Camassia and Ramsons (wild garlic) the surviving, most robust of perennial vegetables; thornless Blackberries, varieties of Strawberries and mixed donations including Lemon balm and Sweet Woodruff. A south westerly hedge of Elaeagnus ebbingei was soon introduced as were three varieties of Comfrey and many other herbs such as Mints, Oregano, Salad Burnett, Sweet Cicely and Valerian. Sweet Chestnut trees, Loquat, Guelder rose and Jostaberry bushes were added in or near the Garden and expandingly fruitful corner of the Park. Public involvement lies at the heart of the Forest Garden so new volunteers are always welcome: Work sessions take place on the third Sunday of each month, 1 till 3 pm or later, and extra sessions are sometimes held on a weekday afternoon or evening for those unable to attend on weekends or those able to contribute more time. Past events have included a Herbal Workshop, design days, foraging walks and forays into the surrounding area, children’s forest gardening sessions and occasional parties and picnics. Monthly BeeWalks and an annual birdcount are held around this biodiversity hotspot. The Friends of the Park work in partnership with neighbours and the City Council to improve land management around it and increase tree cover in the area.

Hi Jane,

Thank you so much for your detailed response. I was wondering if you could also provide just a few more sentences on how you got the funding and who was involved in setting up your project?

Best,

Felix

Dear Felix
Thanks for developing this Register as I found today, putting the map onto NFGS website with links to online information about each Community Forest Garden. Where did you put (or are you going to put) the fuller information on each of these Forest Gardens?

I find it interesting that it is within the places to visit information where some of the gardens are run commercially/privately in as much as one has to pay to visit. I realise that it would be difficult to do otherwise - we have a meeting on line today & work to do to clarify:

• where the real 'Community Forest Gardens' are
• which Member/partner organisations and practitioners we should promote? and how?

All this in such difficult times for doing anything in communities and open spaces (except walk dogs?!)

Bye for now!

Prestwich Clough has a community FG in public space as does Leaf Street near Hulme Community Garden Centre which has its own too, see https://www.facebook.com/ManchesterPermacultureNetwork/

Thank you everyone for your responses - super helpful!

I'm trying to put together a database of all the forest gardens in the country to spread the Good News. I will do some Google searches to find as many more as I can but If you know of gardens that lack an online presence please do let me know and I will include them.

All the best,

Felix

Hello Felix,

What may well be helpful for you is the Agroforestry and Forest Garden network. This is something put together by Martin Crawford one of, if not the worlds leading temperate climate forest garden expert. He is a busy man but will usually respond to an email. You will find him at the Agroforestry network trust website, he is based in Devon.

Hope that helps

Kind Regards

Thank you Simon!

Hi Felix,

I have a pdf publication produced by the Agroforestry Research Trust https://www.agroforestry.co.uk/about-agroforestry/forest-gardening/ that I can send you. It gives a list of the Forest Garden Network, UK and Europe. It's dated 2011 but may be of interest. If so, please forward your details or route to send a pdf.

Regards,

Richard

Hi Richard, that would be great! my email is felix.pivcevic@gmail.com

Dear Felix,

Thanks for your email. I apologise for not writing sooner. I have responded to the request made to Loomio by Sarah Eiden on 28th January and I have shown my response to Sarah in full below. The comments I have made there are generally relevant to your query. However, there is no register of forest gardens here and the concept is not really alive. I am not aware of “interest from Henry Dimbleby's team at DEFRA” - although I probably would be if I knew more!

I am not sure I can add much more but I am interested in following up any of the [points being made if involvement from this part of the world was of interest.

Best wishes,

Maurice.

Dear Sarah,

My wife and I are members of the UK Forest Gardens organisation – LOOMIO. I saw your recent request asking for a possible location in order to undertake research as “a masters candidate at the University of Montana seeking at degree in International Conservation and Development”.

You may already have made a commitment and I apologise for not having contacted you before now. I am the Chair of a small foundation in The Gambia, West Africa and we operate as a training centre (running ecovillage design, permaculture and community development courses). In addition to this Geri, my wife, and I are interested in the forest gardening movement and how the concept and the action can be promoted in this part of the world.

At present there is wholesale deforestation occurring as 90% of Gambians cook with charcoal or wood and before farming or construction takes place Gambians clear their land. The landscape, both practically and metaphorically, is therefore not very encouraging. However, your request states: “my personal interests are centered around restorative agriculture, specifically systems using woody perennials for restorative purposes, to increase resiliency within a system in the face of a changing global climate and provision of food security for participatory communities.
Part of my degree requires an international work component where I take on new research or work on a collaborative project in the field.”

The Foundation is experienced in intern and students placements as we are working with Kansas State and Brighton Universities, both of which institutions place students with us on an annual basis.

The Gambia has a Department of Agriculture and a National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI). The Foundation is planning to set up a Demonstration Garden is which the use of trees and woody perennials will be a feature, as will soil improvement, water management and tree planting (as the three best and biggest ways of mitigating climate change). The Foundation has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources (MECCNAR) and there is a major ($ 25.5 million) Green Climate Fund Ecosystem Adaptation Programme (EBA) that is reforesting up to 9,000 hectares of forest. The EBA is charged with training people in up to 125 villages in generating employment and improving livelihoods through social entrepreneurship and forest products businesses.

So, if you were interested in a placement in Africa a placement could possibly be arranged on a little or large basis, and a range of organisations could possibly be involved.

I will not go any further and will await your response.

Regards,

Maurice Phillips,

Chair, Sandele Foundation.

Rebecca Coupe on social media asked me for tips on setting up a community forest garden. I'm not actually involved in one (!) but I said I'd put together some resources, a single page article on my website www.forestgarden.wales/articles

It would be great to get some input from people who are actually involved. I'll post the article here as soon as I've written it.

Thanks for sharing this Jake! You probably know we have put together principles for this - all on the website

I didn't know that, thank you :)

Yes do refer her to our website. Also Tomas's book 'Forest Gardening in Practice' is particularly helpful as he reviewed what we are doing in community forest gardens such as ours in Birchfields Park.

Perhaps obviously, the establishment of community FGs depends on the communities involved and consulted and the ownership and access issues are key to such a garden. In public space this needs to include engagement with the public and authorities... hence the work done on Supplementary Planning Documents (SPD) to build on Local Plans and guide planning applications, local government officers, councillors, communities and the public. Friends of Parks and groups managing the grounds of community facilities and Residents' Associations, however, often have the autonomy to make the decisions about how to mange their garden!

Good luck Rebecca - we need more such gardens being developed and more forest gardening in our shared lands, incredible edibles etcetera.

Thank you Jane, that's brilliant, I'll make note :)

Replying to Felix's questions back on Feb 4th! Location is Marston, N Oxford - Court Farm Allotments. Created out of desire to create a publicly accessible Forest Garden in Oxford both for the community and as demonstration. No animals brought by us; defending against deer! PLanted to date: Trees: 4 plums, 2 apples, pear, apricot, Walnut, alder, Eleagnus. Bushes: currants red white black; gooseberries, jostaberry. raspberries. Herb layer to come, and pond. more trees; more space to clear for planting next year phase 2.

Thank you everyone for your help on this map of community gardens around the UK. It's just a start but do let me know if I have missed any! https://nationalforestgardening.org/resources/places-to-visit/

Hello felix, I will send you details of the Forest Garden in Florence PArk in Oxford. MEanwhile are the red boundaries on the map district councils or river catchments?

Hi Antony, they are local authorities

@Liane Webb @Keith I notice we have nothing on the map in the Worthing area? Did you want one of your projects featured - and any others you'd want to signpost us to?

Hi Paul.

Frantic using my emergency response training to try and help Covid-19 emergency at the moment. We have been shut down for 2 months as we saw this coming.

We have a facebook page @safer in sussex if you want any tips (scroll down to early posts) on infection control.

We will get on the map when we get a moment but immediate lives taking priority at the moment.

Thank you for thinking of us x

Keep safe
Keith x

Of course Keith. They're lucky to have you there. Hope you can keep in the best of health.

Halo Felix and everyone, First - sorry that i am a bit late for your list - but i am just starting alot of new things and have had an unfortunate combination of being extreemely busy and pretty exhausted. I am just beginning to feel better - a trend which i am not only hoping but organising to continue. - To settle into the daily routine of writing and gardening that i know is good for my health. Some details of our forest garden are bellow and below that is information about our CIC.

Things have been so hectic that i am not sure if i joined the NFGS - i don't think so - please can some one send me the link to where i can do this? - Also i don't know if i have to do some other technical thing for the loomio connection - i seem to remember that there was some sort of change required. THANKS. All Good Wishes to everyone - Oll an Gwella - from Cornwall in these strange times, Lyla

Worlds End Forest Garden is a 2.3 acre site in Cot Valley near to St.Just in West Penwith. We work in various combinations/groups, including advertised workdays with a picnic. We planted a 1000+ trees and bushes last year - a good variety including shelter belt trees and thick hedging for wildlife, willow fencing and a large willow hut, 100+ fruit and nut trees, many fruit bushes and other food, herb and wildflower planting. We have a compost loo and communiy composting area. Planting is on going on this site and we are planning a pond, bird boxes and a bird hide.

Entrance is free and volunteers are welcome. I hope to soon have a place where people can stay free for volunteer help. Folk on tours may be asked to help with something on the way. My contact details are: Lyla Byrne - meryon@live.co.uk

Red Heart Tree CIC

object/short mission statement:

In West Penwith Cornwall: To provide resources for local participation in permaculture systems; especially the creation, by the community and for the community, of forest gardens that are havens for wildlife, produce goods, and are spaces for healthy exercise, education, recreation and celebration.
COMMUNITY INTEREST STATEMENT – beneficiaries: The company particularly intends to benefit the community that is local to (in walking/cycling distance of) any permaculture forest garden sites; whilst also being beneficial to visitors from farther afield, and by contributing to environmentally sustainable development generally.

ACTIVITIES

1) To facilitate (and collaborate for) participation in permaculture; especially re-wilding, forest gardening and eco-building by the community, for the community. Thus, to increase biodiversity and create resilient, efficiently productive ecosystems.
2) To provide:

i) Spaces for events such as courses, workshops, nature trails and celebrations.

ii) Goods such as fresh food, preserves, withies, wood, propagated plants/trees, and self-written eco-books for children.

iii) Advice about/assistance with forest gardening.

3) To access resources/raise funds for this in the form of donations, grants and by scientific/artistic/musical events.

HOW THE ACTIVITY WILL BENEFIT THE COMMUNITY:
Permaculture is holistically healthy and thus has benefits for the community in all spheres. Personal and social benefits include fresh air, exercise, nutritious food, equitable relationships with people, aesthetic appreciation of place, learning skills including social and eco-friendly skills, and fulfilling work. Forest gardens are designed to provide for human needs sustainably – because it is done in ways that also care for our planetary life support systems of fertile earth, clean air, clean water and a stable climate. Thus, the environmental benefits include protection of wildlife and general regeneration, conservation and enhancement of the ecology locally and beyond.                                                            
Notably, along with many other benefits, trees capture carbon as growth, reducing the concentration of warming gases in the atmosphere.
The C.I.C. model is compatible with principles of humane and environmentally sustainable development; and in particular the intention to use any monies for the wellbeing of the community in these terms. Finances are thus managed to serve life, rather than managing life to serve finances. C.I.C.’s explicitly prioritise community benefit, which helps them to successfully apply for funding, be open for donations, hold fund raising events and provide opportunities for beneficial voluntary work.

Thorntree Park, public forest garden, TS3 9HR; Ran by Middlesbrough Food Forest Collective

Hello all this is the map so far https://nationalforestgardening.org/resources/places-to-visit/ To emphasise, the map is intended to further our aims as the NFGS so it will concentrate on publicly accessible gardens, on land given over to community use. In other words wherever local people can learn in, and enjoy these spaces alongside each other. Please keep posting about gardens you know about so we can keep the map up to date. Many thanks. 🙂

Hello All,

I've been gradually setting up a site in south London (Hackbridge) as part of the Social Orchards project. The wider aims of this project is to create a number of public food resources around London (and sporadically, beyond).
We have managed to plant over six hundred trees in three years, including sites such as parks, schools, churches etc, an outdoor education centre, a bus garage, an adventure playground, a college, a hospital and a food bank. I've worked with a wide variety of organisations to assist this process, each situation is probably unique in terms of land ownership, tenure, organisation of planting etc - but each broadly brings free food into the hands of the public.
Would be keen to get hold of more sites such as train stations and new housing developments, anywhere that's publicly-accessible essentially.
Surprisingly perhaps I have not actually compiled a list but one shall be in progress soon!
www.facebook.com/socialorchards
www.socialorchards.co.uk

Hi Felix. A forest garden is planned at Dry Arch Growers in Bathampton. They currently run a community orchard and allotments and when I went on their intro to permaculture day in the summer they showed us the area they are planning on developing into a forest garden.