Sweet Chestnut is a staple nut crop, with a similar nutrient profile to rice
The climate and ecological emergency is happening. A forest garden is fundamentally sustainable, reducing carbon emissions & increasing biodiversity, whilst providing a resilient food system in case of emergency.
The Covid-19 coronavirus crisis shines a light on how ill-prepared and unequal our society has become. Essential workers are amongst the poorest paid workers. And it’s also highlighted the fragility in our food production and distribution, hence the massive increase in popularity of Grow Your Own veg.
Now is the time to think about the climate and ecological emergency.
Now is also the time to plant a forest garden. You grow edible crops with nature, so it’s is all about sustainable food production and increasing wildlife in your garden. However, like any system, it takes a while to establish. A Sweet Chestnut tree is a good source of staple carbohydrates, and a mature tree can provide a crop of 60kg of nuts. A Hazel can be incredibly productive, with fattier nuts. Perennial vegetables can provide longer season and more nutritious leafy greens and edible flowers. But they all take time, more time to establish than annual vegetables.
The plus side is that they are much lower maintenance, they don’t require watering, feeding or planting out every year. And they are also planted for future generations rather than just this season.
My advice is, get ready and start your forest garden now.
I’m running free livestreamed forest garden workshops every Wednesday 10am BST on Twitch twitch.tv/forestgardenwales, and sign up for my newsletter to be notified of new workshops forestgarden.wales/newsletter