forest gardening
EARTH CARE, PEOPLE CARE AND FAIR SHARE
THE FOREST GARDENING BEGINS 2025
I have now met with our Vicarage gardening team either in person or on line. We have started peppers and tomatoes in pots. This week we will start the broccoli in pots to get it started before we put it out under the covered beds we are getting ready.
Here is a video I watched on planting the broccoli.
Next come the early greens and the peas.
Oh! I also received our Jerusalem artichoke bulbs.
and the Belgian endive seeds.
HOW WE’RE GONNA DO IT PT. 1
FEBRUARY 1, 2025: TIME TO START THE GARDEN
Well as I said in yesterday’s video, Spring is almost here!
Of course it will be months before the tulips and daffodils poke their heads up through the ground. Like wise it will still be months before I can turn the ground in the garden beds and put the cold crops into the ground.
One thing I know though is that months go fast. So this week I will plan out the garden.
It won’t be that intricate, but you get the idea. Also this week I will be purchasing some of the plants I will be starting from seed or root. I have a whole space I set aside in the fall for Jerusalem artichoke.
I can’t wait to get started!
FOREST GARDEN: JAPANESE KNOTWEED
I believe that part of gardening is looking at the landscape you have around you and figuring out how that works into your garden plan. My garden just happens to be filled with lots of invasive things. On the surface that would seem to be a drawback, but as I think through it all there are lots of advantages that the invasive species bring.
One of the species I deal with is Japanese knotweed.
It grows fast and takes over. I do cut it back every year and I have often thought about getting rid of it altogether, but the birds and the rabbits love to nest in the dense foliage. There are always an abundance of nests wedged into the close growing bamboo-like stalks. In the winter it attracts hosts of sparrows who use it to hide from predators during the day and night. This year our rabbits have built their warren in the heart of the knotweed jungle.
This beautiful fellow has been hunting on our property all this week.
This winter I am trying to learn more about forest gardening and the plants I already have in the forest as I lay my garden plan for the Spring. Here is something I have learned about knotweed.
I think I will keep the Knotweed.
DRY
One of the reasons that the leaves here in New England were so brilliant this year was because we have been cool and dry. We are currently in a level 3 drought here in Winchendon MA which means we are in critical drought. We are also in a severe fire threat. With 518 fires in the state having burned 1500 acres so far, outdoor burning of yard waste has been banned through January 15th here in MA.
That means here in the forest garden my growing pile of brush is not going anywhere at the moment. It’s Ok. I am still putting plastic on the windows inside just now. I don’t really have time for a fire in the fire pit.
WINTER IS COMING
Forgive the Game Of Thrones reference please. Today was the first day of daylight savings time. Two days ago it was 75 degrees here and we had enjoyed two more days of Indian Summer in Massachusetts. This morning the dogs were up at 2 A.M. and it was down in the 20’s when I took them out for a walk.
I got a lot done last month towards the winterizing of The Vicarage and the forest gardens, but there is much more to do before the true winter settles in.
There are still cellar windows to be covered in bubble wrap. It’s a new thing I am trying in the cellar to see if it improves the insulation in the dead of winter. This came as a suggestion from my sister who uses it on certain portions of her apartment in the Netherlands. The plastic at the cellar doors also needs to be hung. It was a big help last year with the winter wind.
Most of the leaves are gone now. Just the Norwegian Maples still hang onto their leaves. They light up the forest garden in the early mornings making the light almost magical. I still have some garden areas to prepare for next Spring. I am planning on planting a stand of Jerusalem artichoke out by the grape vines.
And I have plans for a pumpkin patch next year. So there is some cutting and dirt turning to do before the ground seriously freezes. I also have a few more rocks to move into place around the picket fence area before they freeze together in the winter storms.
It was a beautiful fall. Now it is time to get ready for the holidays and the New Year.
PUTTING IT ALL TO BED.
Our little bout of Indian Summer has ended and the temps are back down in the forties.
It has been a lovely fall, but it is definitely time to begin putting the Vicarage to bed for the winter and doing all that needs to be done to get the forest garden ready for….next Spring. Today I will take the walls off of the prayer tent.
And I hope to get at least some of the garden furniture stowed away in the cellar.
I also have about forty bulbs to plant in the side garden by the pet cemetery.
Usually things get quieter out in the garden as the winter sets in. Somehow I think this long winter’s nap is going to be a busy gardening season, as we get ready for next year’s planting.
DO YOU HAVE GARDEN PLANS FOR THE SPRING?
SABBATICAL DAY 16: AUTUMN SHINES AT THE VICARAGE
One of the things that has made this sabbatical so special is the amount of time I have had to spend at home working, resting and praying fresh vision for the future. The Vicarage is beautiful at this time of year. One of the spiritual exercises I have tried to practice these last sixteen days is to build on the beauty of this little piece of Earth entrusted to me, while being mindful of the wild beauty it already does possess.
I was on the phone with my sister the other day and she suggested that I should photo-document the sights at the Vicarage so that people can see what I am seeing and perhaps they will then understand some of the things I am thinking.
Sing has done such a beautiful job with his yard. It seems always in bloom or full of color. He is someone with a real gift to make the most out of what he has. I hope to grow in that same direction and mindset.
The red maple tree out in back of The Vicarage has broken out into vivid color this week.
One of the projects I want to work on as part of beautifying the Vicarage is cleaning up this side yard and getting some trails cut into the wooded part of the Vicarage property to the left. I know it is too much to do this month, but part of the visioning process this month is to plan the way I want the forest garden to look in the Spring and to decide on the first steps come November.
When the sun shines through the colors of the trees, on these cool autumn mornings, it is hard not to feel hopeful about the future and about the eternal continuation of beauty. I am well aware of the precarious ledge of darkness our world is walking along right now, but in this little corner of the world the sun is shining bright. I know I can not take one day of sunlight for granted.
This leaf strewn pathway is one of the projects I began this summer. It leads out to the vernal brook which is dry most years after June. It reminds me of how much more potential is in this place. It just has to be spoken forth and created.
I am reminded that this season of autumn is quickly passing just like my sabbatical. Soon both will be passed. Then, it will be about beginning the work of bringing the future God has revealed, through this season of abiding, into reality.
WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR THE FUTURE?
Notes From the Vicarage 