A Forest Garden Year with Martin Crawford

Review of Permaculture DVD at the Agroforestry Research Trust

Jun 9, 2009

Martin Crawford, Director of A.R.T. in Devon, England, acknowledged expert in temperate forest gardens, takes viewers on an inspiring and practical gardening adventure.

In the face of the dual threats of climate change and increasing energy costs, Martin Crawford’s new DVD A Forest Garden Year offers an inspiring and hopeful message to gardeners. For fifteen years he has been developing his Forest Garden at the Agroforestry Research Trust from former pasture land, in Devon, England. Martin Crawford recently presented his forest garden on the BBC 2 documentary A Farm for the Future.

What is a Forest Garden?

A forest garden is a multilayered garden of edible, and other useful, plants. Many of the plants are perennial and little known, from perennial root vegetables at ground level to unusual fruit trees forming the canopy layer. The wide variety of species and the rich soil of a forest ecosystem combine to form a resilient, beautiful and productive garden.

Martin Crawford is a Natural Teacher

Viewers are drawn into the magical world of the forest garden by the practical advice offered in A Forest Garden Year DVD. Martin Crawford’s enthusiasm is contagious; he is a natural and inspiring guide to forest gardening throughout the year.

A Very Full Introduction to Forest Gardening

Highly efficient and low maintenance, a forest garden is very productive ecosystem. Martin Crawford’s A Forest Garden Year DVD includes clear instructions on many key gardening techniques for forest gardeners, including:

A wide variety of plants suitable for the temperate forest garden are shown, from shade loving plants, including salad herb sweet cicely, through spring vegetable perennial temperate bamboo, to practical fiber plant New Zealand flax. Other unusual plants include Szechuan peppers, an aromatic alternative to black pepper and ground cover raspberries, a productive plant with tasty fruits that eliminates the need for weeding.

History and Philosophy of the Agroforestry Research Trust

While packed with practical advice on how to develop a forest garden in home gardens, the A Forest Garden Year DVD also explains the history and philosophy of the Agroforestry Research Trust, part of the Dartington Estate in Devon, in particular what drew Martin Crawford to Forest Gardening in the first place.

Martin Crawford’s gentle and persuasive explanations transform what may seem, initially, to be a radical and impractical idea into a seductive and convincing vision. Practical and realistic, The A Forest Garden Year DVD is next best thing to a visit in person to the Agroforestry Research Trust in Devon, England.

A Forest Garden Year (DVD) by Martin Crawford is published by Greenbooks, UK, 2009. ISBN: 1900322617. Distributed by Chelsea Green in the USA.

The copyright of the article A Forest Garden Year with Martin Crawford in Organic Gardens is owned by Joanne E. Brannan. Permission to republish A Forest Garden Year with Martin Crawford in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.