Own Grown Gardening

As you might know, a few months ago, we moved house. As part of that gargantuan endeavour, we moved our fruit orchard as well. It was a totally mad time of year, at the beginning of summer, to move the young trees. All of them, cherries, apples, medlars, and plums, sulked the entire summer. Some dropped nearly all their leaves, but thankfully all survived. I'm hoping this winter gives them a good chance to establish themselves properly. I'm feeling optimistic. I'm currently feeling so positive, I decided this week to take the orchard to it's next phase. My vision for this little orchard has always been to grow, what I like to call, an Orchard Garden. I think of an Orchard Garden as a lush green grove of fruit trees under planted with a plethora of soft fruits ( currant bushes , gooseberries , honeyberries , etc.) and those bushes still further under planted with a ground cover of strawberries , herbs , and wildflowers . I want to establish an ecosystem focused on food p...

I'd never heard the term propaganda gardening until today. This, however, does not mean I've never contemplated the concept. I just didn't have a name for it previously.  In fact, I've already planted one. Back in the autumn, I planted up my front garden as a tiny orchard garden. The popular term for it would be 'forest garden', but I always find that phrase a difficult one. It feels rather misleading. To me, the word 'forest' conjures up images of vast tracts of giant sequoias, or other such climax tree communities.  This is why I prefer 'orchard garden'. Mine, less than 10 square metres, contains plum trees, apples, black currants, red currants, gooseberries, and at this very moment flower seedlings galore of every description. I threw down literally every wildflower seed I collected last year. Ah, we can't forget the punctuations of daffodil and crocus bulbs either, not yet flowering in the crisp February air. My own little propaganda ga...