This one day course will cover the practical steps involved in starting a new forest garden, including understanding your site, planning your garden, access, starting a nursery bed, ground preparation and plant propagation and acquisition. It will be taught by Alan Carter, author of A Food Forest In Your Garden. The course will take place on a working family croft that is setting up a forest garden. Soup and bread will be provided for lunch.

This one day course will cover the practical steps involved in starting a new forest garden, including understanding your site, planning your garden, access, starting a nursery bed, ground preparation and plant propagation and acquisition. It will be taught by Alan Carter, author of A Food Forest In Your Garden. Most of the course will take place in a working forest garden. Bring a packed lunch.

This one day course will introduce the principles and the plants of edible forest gardening. Topics will include how a forest garden works, the forest garden year, forest garden plants, and harvesting and cooking forest garden crops. The course be particularly aimed at those who want to grow in an allotment, small garden or community setting. £40 per person. Most of the course will take place in a working forest garden in an allotment. It will be taught by Alan Carter, the author of A Food Forest In Your Garden. Bring a packed lunch.

This one day course will introduce the principles and the plants of edible forest gardening. Topics will include how a forest garden works, the forest garden year, forest garden plants, and harvesting and cooking forest garden crops. The course be particularly aimed at those who want to grow in an allotment, small garden or community setting. £40 per person. Most of the course will take place in a working forest garden in an allotment. It will be taught by Alan Carter, the author of A Food Forest In Your Garden. Bring a packed lunch.

This one day course will introduce the principles and the plants of edible forest gardening. Topics will include how a forest garden works, the forest garden year, forest garden plants, and harvesting and cooking forest garden crops. The course be particularly aimed at those who want to grow in an allotment, small garden or community setting. £40 per person. Most of the course will take place in a working forest garden in an allotment. It will be taught by Alan Carter, the author of A Food Forest In Your Garden. Bring a packed lunch.

2 day course to introduce forest gardening.

Saturday 18 June and Sunday 10 July 2022.

At a small forest garden in Alfreton, Derbyshire. The garden is in its 6th year.

We will have use of the community hall next door, benefiting from the kitchen and toilet facilities.

On the course, we will cover:
- Ethics and principles of permaculture
- Starting designing for a forest garden
- Observation – working with what you have and what works
- Plants, their roles and functions
- Propagating plants
- Ways to make a start on a forest garden

The course is to be led by Ryan Sandford-Blackburn, who has been forest gardening for 9 years. He holds a permaculture design course.

Ryan has taught permaculture courses locally and online with the Permaculture Association (Britain).

Earthed Up! is a workers co-operative in Belper, Derbyshire. We grow and sell edible and useful plants and their seeds – vegetables, fruit and herbs, preferring perennials. Without harmful chemicals, peat free, off-grid.

Learn everything you need to know about starting your very own food forest, agroforest and experience living on an off-grid farm on a permaculture project in Portugal. Aso the opportunity to join the Permaculture Design course the week before this course and the Natural Building course the week after.

Click here for more information on the food forest course

Schedule

Day 1: Arrival and settle in
Day 2: Tour of farm and off-grid living induction. Tour includes Natural buildings, silvopasture with pigs, reforestation, vegetable production, agroforest with sheep and our chicken food forest
Day 3: Organic fertilising. Make and apply various fertilisers such as compost, manure, biochar, vermicomposting, bio fertilisers, compost teas and cover cropping.
Day 4: Food Forests
Day 5: Agroforests
Day 6: Silvopasture
Day 7: Departure

This is a 2-day introduction to the concept and techniques of forest gardening, involving theory and practice from visioning to harvesting, at a beautiful venue where forest gardens have started to be established over the past 6 years.
The 2-day course will cover:
Benefits of forest gardening
Ecological principles
Site selection and design
Integration of permaculture principles and design process
Species selection
Plant propagation
Site preparation
Establishment and maintenance; harvesting
Integration with other household, farm and garden systems

Socially-distanced camping available!

Gardening like a Forest. How to maintain and utilise your Food Forest

Creating a biodiverse system that integrates pest management, feeds itself and needs minimal looking after. Depending on where your food forest is will determine how much and what work is needed. Top tips from experienced forest gardeners. We will cover making phase and ongoing maintenance phase. Interventions. Soil, Plants, techniques. Connecting with your land. Foraging. Perennial and annuals and lots more.

A stand alone day that also forms part of the Forest Garden / Food Forest 2022 Series.

The rest of the Food Forests/ Forest Gardening Series 2022
Spring. Sat 21 May. Introduction to Forest Gardening and Food Forests. How to be a Forest
Summer Sat 11th June Regenerative Food growing techniques. Permaculture and food growing.
Summer Sat 16 Sun July. Designing Forest gardens / food forests. How to think like a Forest.
Autumn Sat October 15th. Practical Permaculture. How to Garden like a Forest.

Facilitated by experienced and passionate Forest gardener and Designers at our Permaculture Learning Centre.

Designing Forest Gardens / Food Forests. How to think like a Forest.

Inspired by principles found in the natural system and Permaculture Design, Jo will take us through how to design our own Food Forest system. We will learn about how to survey a site, how to utilise sun, soil and other energies moving through the site, plant selection and some different design techniques. We will do a group design together to practise this learning.
Before the course you will have a chance to prepare by collecting information. During the course there will be time to develop your ideas and access experienced forest garden design/ makers. After the course you will have a chance to share your ideas in an optional online call.
If you are fairly new to the concept this course will help you get started.
If you are fairly skilled this course will help you go deeper.
We recommend that you sign up for this series of them as they all have elements of design.

The rest of the Food Forests/ Forest Gardening Series 2022
Spring. Sat 21 May. Introduction to Forest Gardening and Food Forests. How to be a Forest
Summer June 11th Food Forests and Regenerative Food growing techniques.
Summer Sat 16 Sun July. Designing Forest gardens / food forests. How to grow like a Forest.
Autumn Sat October 15th. Practical Permaculture. Gardening like a Forest Day. How to Garden like a Forest.