Comments on: Fruit and Nuts at Derryduff http://zone5.org/2008/08/fruit-and-nuts-at-derryduff/ ...on the edge between Nature and Culture Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:05:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Liam Murtagh http://zone5.org/2008/08/fruit-and-nuts-at-derryduff/comment-page-1/#comment-37072 Liam Murtagh Sat, 09 Aug 2008 19:23:51 +0000 http://zone5.org/?p=194#comment-37072 <p>Graham, This is my first communication with you since you stayed in Clones some years back! Well done on your work since and in particular on the zone5 website. I attended the course with Martin Crawford in the Agroforestry Research Trust (ART) last year and enjoyed it and would highly recomend it. It is located on the grounds of Dartington Estate and not far from Schumacher College and Totnes - well known as the main centre of the Transition movement. There is a lovely walk along the River Dart between Dartington Hall and Totnes. Martin's forest garden there is magnificent. It is much larger than Robert Hart's. I well remember picking and eating the rubus tricolour fruit which surrounds the entrance to the garden. Two of the key features that struck me were (1) the emphasis he put on good quality windbreaks and their positive effect on the range of edible plants in the forest garden and (2) instead of a straw mulch which Robert Hart used Martin uses a wide range of useful ground cover plants such as mints.</p> <p>I just got a copy of the 08/09 catalogue from Martin. It is also available on the ART website which has useful info on forest gardening and agofforestry. The ART website is www.agroforestry.co.uk</p> <p>I have been through the experience of the seperation of ornamentals, veg path, orchard and lawn. Now having been to ART and having read the forest gardening books by Robert Hart and one by Patrick Whitefield I am convinced that forest gardening approach is the way we should use much of our garden spaces. (There is a clip of the late Robert Hart on YouTube)</p> <p>Re my own patch in Co Monaghan - the trees (oak, ash hazel for coppicing) which you planted for us , have done very well despite an early setback from a number of wandering goats. The fruit trees I neglected a bit because of a focus for quite a number of years on house restoration. I notice quite a crop of cobnuts on one of the nut trees this year. I am now planning to work getting the ground ready for the shrub and perennial layer (long overdue). In the coming months I am going to start work on cutting back much of the bramble and blackthorn and putting down some clearance mulch and begin to apply some of what I learned from Martin Crawford.</p> <p>Liam</p> Graham, This is my first communication with you since you stayed in Clones some years back! Well done on your work since and in particular on the zone5 website. I attended the course with Martin Crawford in the Agroforestry Research Trust (ART) last year and enjoyed it and would highly recomend it. It is located on the grounds of Dartington Estate and not far from Schumacher College and Totnes – well known as the main centre of the Transition movement. There is a lovely walk along the River Dart between Dartington Hall and Totnes. Martin’s forest garden there is magnificent. It is much larger than Robert Hart’s. I well remember picking and eating the rubus tricolour fruit which surrounds the entrance to the garden. Two of the key features that struck me were (1) the emphasis he put on good quality windbreaks and their positive effect on the range of edible plants in the forest garden and (2) instead of a straw mulch which Robert Hart used Martin uses a wide range of useful ground cover plants such as mints.

I just got a copy of the 08/09 catalogue from Martin. It is also available on the ART website which has useful info on forest gardening and agofforestry. The ART website is http://www.agroforestry.co.uk

I have been through the experience of the seperation of ornamentals, veg path, orchard and lawn. Now having been to ART and having read the forest gardening books by Robert Hart and one by Patrick Whitefield I am convinced that forest gardening approach is the way we should use much of our garden spaces. (There is a clip of the late Robert Hart on YouTube)

Re my own patch in Co Monaghan – the trees (oak, ash hazel for coppicing) which you planted for us , have done very well despite an early setback from a number of wandering goats. The fruit trees I neglected a bit because of a focus for quite a number of years on house restoration. I notice quite a crop of cobnuts on one of the nut trees this year. I am now planning to work getting the ground ready for the shrub and perennial layer (long overdue). In the coming months I am going to start work on cutting back much of the bramble and blackthorn and putting down some clearance mulch and begin to apply some of what I learned from Martin Crawford.

Liam

]]>