By Pippa Chapman
It seems like an age since our assessment to become a LAND Centre. So much has happened and I have learnt so much. We first began developing our site on a NW facing slope in West Yorkshire about 12 years ago. Our aim was to create a closed loop system by creating our own fertility for the fruit and vegetable gardens and using our waste products by returning them to the land. It was at the beginning of the project that I completed the permaculture design course. This made us review our plans and as a result we added patches of forest garden in a field that had previously been grazed for hundreds of years. I went on to do the Diploma in applied permaculture design with most of my designs being on aspects of the site such as fertility and water, the yard design and the vegetable garden. It included a whole site design to ensure we were looking at it as a whole and how each element could support the others. Over the years we have run many courses and open days and during lockdown, we created videos to keep sharing our knowledge even if we couldn't welcome visitors.
I have been a professional gardener for many years and had only really started out to practice permaculture at home but very quickly, opportunities kept presenting themselves to move towards designing and maintaining permaculture gardens. So we became 'Those Plant People' and our journey as permaculture garden designers began. The first was at Ecology Building Society when they needed to find a new gardener. My husband Andrew and I jumped at the chance to take it on and it is still one of our favourite gardens we manage and develop. The board are very clear they want the garden to be managed along permaculture principles and beyond basic organic growing. We have worked hard to improve the very poor, stoney soil with deep mulches. It really paid off this year with weeks on end with no rain, the majority of plants still looked great without any watering. The brief was to create an attractive, productive garden, stuffed full of edible and wildlife friendly plants. The garden also serves as a space for staff to grow their own vegetables and for the local community to enjoy a sanctuary in nature.
The previous gardeners had created a wonderful layout and put in a great backbone of trees and shrubs but there were very few flowers so the first job we were tasked with was to increase the forage for pollinators. Our design ensured there was something flowering during each month of the year right from snowdrops in December/January to Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm', often still clinging on in November. We have changed the garden quite considerably and have been developing the community area with the addition of a forest garden, willow dome and seating for the local community. Our next project is a sculptural bug hotel and a larger pond to increase the diversity of habitats we have on site. It is wonderful to work for an organisation who share your passion for sustainable and regenerative gardening.
In February I was lucky enough to start as Kitchen garden manager 2 days a week at Esholt Hall Gardens, a community and wellbeing garden on a Yorkshire water site near Bradford. This is a brand new project being managed by Sponge Tree, an organisation who run creative and outdoor projects for all ages. It is such a treat starting at a new site with a blank canvas. There is so much creative freedom to develop a community permaculture garden which needs to be financially sustainable in the long run. We have designed areas such as the apothecary garden, created in handwoven keyhole beds,to provide fresh cut herbs for teaching. The mandala forest garden is yet to be planted and includes themed sections such as 'weaving and dying plants' and 'pollinator and habitat' to give materials for a wide range of courses in the future. Our raised beds were build by carpentry students from the local college. The site is rich in resources such as a willow coppice, a large greenhouse, mountains of woodchip from on site tree felling and a wide variety of self seeded plants we have been transplanting into the garden. We are looking forward to welcoming visitors on 19th and 20th September as part of My Green Community.
When doing our first experiments with Forest gardening at Fern Cottage, I could never have imagined that most of my work would be designing and maintaining permaculture gardens. It is incredibly uplifting to know there is so much demand for sustainable and organic gardening practices. I have gained so much knowledge over the last decade or so and have been sharing where I can via social media, teaching courses and on our youTube channel 'Those Plant People'.
I felt I wanted to put all this information into one place which led to the writing of my first book 'The Plant Lover's Backyard Forest Garden'. This is a step by step guide to design, plant and maintain your own small scale forest garden in your own garden, whatever it's size. I am excited to be holding the book launch at the Festival of permaculture in Oxford where I will also be part of the 'Forest gardeners question time' panel and will be helping with a hands on propagation masterclass. I am currently creating my dream forest garden tour roadtrip of LAND centres around the UK and hope to tick some off the list over the next year or so.
There are so many inspiring projects, it's hard to know where to begin. Perhaps we will come and visit you!