Our food forest garden
On September 1, 2023, my wife Anuk and I bought a 'new' house. At that time, we had lived for over 5 years in a small old farmhouse in northwestern Jutland, Denmark, close to the coast of the North Sea.
About half of the garden at that house (total land area was 1000 m2 / 0,25 acre), we had set up as a permaculture garden.
But the garden was a bit too small for our liking. And we longed for a garden with many trees / a bit of forest, so that we could create a food forest garden.
The main reason for us wanting to 'build' a small food forest garden: to make our food supply one with a more 'wild' environment than a fully landscaped garden. Say with a little more variety of vegetation than a permaculture garden.
The house we bought is about 50 kilometers inland, still in Jutland. We have 3000 m2 (0,75 acre) of land, about a third of which is a landscaped garden with lots of flowers. The rest is a somewhat wild, wooded garden with many tall trees and has been left alone for years. So there the fallen leaves from the trees along with all kinds of undergrowth and creeping animal life has created a beautiful, rich soil.
Right after buying the house we moved many plants from the 'old' garden into our new paradise, no nicer time for such a job than autumn !
This spring (2024) we took an important step in establishing our small food forest garden. We planted new apple trees, plum trees, chestnut trees, aronia berry bushes and about 16 herb plants.
Along with the walnut trees, apple tree, plum tree, wrinkle roses, hazel bushes, various herbs and dozens of berry bushes we moved from our previous home last fall, this is a great start for a future bountiful harvest.
Oh yes, and we also have a huge pear tree that was already here....
We have also planted several perennial vegetable plants in recent weeks, such as wild asparagus, sorrel and kale, which will provide us with green food for many years to come.
And, of course, in the meantime we have started to pre-sow several annual vegetables, which we will germinate partly in the house, partly in a small greenhouse. So in the near future we will be planting the garden with pumpkins, zucchini, lots of peas and beans and tuber and root crops.
Below we will keep you informed about the further establishment of our food forest garden by adding links to (sub)pages:
Photo at the top: Jacob plants an apple tree (Malus domestica 'Red Belle De Boskoop')
Photos below: Anuk plants herbs on a rainy day / Jacob plants a plum tree
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