Are you growing anything "unconventional" for the

SunnyJim · Post by **SunnyJim** » 08 Mar 2009, 12:44

kenneal wrote:
Catweazle wrote:Can I ask what else you have that would be suitable for an English woodland ?
Oak, beech, ash.

You could try some Montia (Miner's Lettuce) as a ground cover crop. Delicious in a salad. Sorrel should grow well in a woodland. It's perennial and will cook up nicely with a rabbit.

How about letting a kiwi fruit (Actinidia deliciosa) loose up a mature tree on a sunny edge? Loads more ideas for woodland plants over at plants for a future.

Andy Hunt · Post by **Andy Hunt** » 08 Mar 2009, 17:55

biffvernon wrote:I planted a couple of goji berry bushes last year.

My mum is going to get one this year, to see how it goes.

dotty · Post by **dotty** » 09 Mar 2009, 12:42

Of my own:
I've got loads of chestnut
There are some little wild strawberries that grow in the woodland
I've got hazel
Quince
Cherry
Elder
I've got rasberry and black currant but only one of each
couple of grape vines
I got a myrtle bush for my birthday
Got sorrel
Kiwi
Apples and pears but they are very old and not productive
Couple of peach
Red currants growing wild
A log with mushroom spores started last year hope it will produce soon
Huge bay tree

For scrumping or finding wild:
Walnut
Wild garlic
Blackberry
Rosehip
Beech
What I think are damson or a small plum
Apple
Pear

Blue Peter · Post by **Blue Peter** » 09 Mar 2009, 12:52

hardworkinghippy wrote:None of the animals eat Holly except when it's very soft at the ends in Spring. We're careful about what we let them eat. If we want to protect a little woodland with new growth, flowers in seed or whatever, we shut it off. In a soggy winter they don't go down to the stream. Of course, everyone's banned from the woods in the Cep and Chanterelle season.

We get a good selection of game too.

Probably a stupid question, but how do you shut off an area of woodland?

Peter.

sam_uk · Post by **sam_uk** » 09 Mar 2009, 17:16

I am trying two 'unusual' plants this year;

Yam (Dioscorea batatas) - "Few people realise that Yams can be grown outdoors in Britain. This is a perfectly hardy perennial species from China and its root is delicious baked. The only drawback is that it can be 3 foot long in good soils with the thickest part of the root at the bottom - quite a task to harvest, which is probably why it is not commercially cultivated. " http://www.pfaf.org/leaflets/yam.php

Siberian Peashrub.
Caragana arborescens Seed - cooked. Small but produced in abundance there are 4 - 6 seeds per pod. A bland flavour, it is best used in spicy dishes. The raw seed has a mild pea-like flavour, though we are not sure if it should be eaten in quantity when raw. The seed contains 12.4% of a fatty oil and up to 36% protein, it has been recommended as an emergency food for humans. More than just an emergency food, this species has the potential to become a staple crop in areas with continental climates. Young pods - cooked and used as a vegetable.
http://www.pfaf.org/leaflets/peatree.php

hardworkinghippy · Post by **hardworkinghippy** » 09 Mar 2009, 18:43

This thread is a mine of information, thanks.

Peter,

Probably a stupid question, but how do you shut off an area of woodland?

We split the woods up by fencing on the natural boundaries like streams and clearings and EDF (Électricité de France) bulldozed large paths through the woods in three different sections where their lines are and we use the cleared areas to erect fencing. You can see the lines in the woods on the map.

The goats graze parcels of a few hectares in size in rotation. We've a system of corridors with fences and open them according to where we want the goats to go. In the winter the goats are up nearer the house so we leave all the forest gates open for deer and wild boar and the hunters and their dogs.

To keep an area clear of boar, deer and goats - all destructive in the nicest possible way

- we close off the fenced areas and add solar electric fencing which is the only way to keep the boar out.

Blue Peter · Post by **Blue Peter** » 10 Mar 2009, 09:29

hardworkinghippy wrote: This thread is a mine of information, thanks.

Indeed, so I'll mine a bit more if I may....

We split the woods up by fencing on the natural boundaries like streams and clearings and EDF (Électricité de France) bulldozed large paths through the woods in three different sections where their lines are and we use the cleared areas to erect fencing. You can see the lines in the woods on the map.

The goats graze parcels of a few hectares in size in rotation. We've a system of corridors with fences and open them according to where we want the goats to go. In the winter the goats are up nearer the house so we leave all the forest gates open for deer and wild boar and the hunters and their dogs.

Interesting. Do the goats get enough browse from the woodlands? or do you have to feed as well? (and are they milk or meat goats?). Goats are notorious escapologists, so do you have much problem with them getting out?

Peter.

Catweazle · Post by **Catweazle** » 11 Mar 2009, 13:58

I can now add Blackcurrant, Redcurrant and Gooseberry to the list.

Post by **adam2** » 13 Mar 2009, 12:42

Friends are planning to grow oil seed rape, whilst a common crop on industrial farms it is seldom grown on a small holding.

The intention is to extract the oil, for kitchen use and if supplies permit as fuel also. The residue still contains a fair bit of oil and therefore makes very good winter feed for animals.

hardworkinghippy · Post by **hardworkinghippy** » 13 Mar 2009, 13:20

Peter, I've started a new thread to answer your question.

Irene

Blue Peter · Post by **Blue Peter** » 13 Mar 2009, 13:42

hardworkinghippy wrote:Peter, I've started a new thread to answer your question.

Irene

Thank you. Very interesting,

Peter.

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 13 Mar 2009, 16:48

adam2 wrote:Friends are planning to grow oil seed rape, whilst a common crop on industrial farms it is seldom grown on a small holding.

The intention is to extract the oil, for kitchen use and if supplies permit as fuel also. The residue still contains a fair bit of oil and therefore makes very good winter feed for animals.

Now I'm not sure about that. IIRC there's something about OSR oil that makes it non-ideal for eating. Either, lots of people are allergic to it, it's a mild irritant or it just plain doesn't taste very nice. How would the oil yield of, say, a field full of sunflowers compare?

Blue Peter · Post by **Blue Peter** » 13 Mar 2009, 16:53

RenewableCandy wrote:
adam2 wrote:Friends are planning to grow oil seed rape, whilst a common crop on industrial farms it is seldom grown on a small holding.

The intention is to extract the oil, for kitchen use and if supplies permit as fuel also. The residue still contains a fair bit of oil and therefore makes very good winter feed for animals.
Now I'm not sure about that. IIRC there's something about OSR oil that makes it non-ideal for eating. Either, lots of people are allergic to it, it's a mild irritant or it just plain doesn't taste very nice. How would the oil yield of, say, a field full of sunflowers compare?

There is something nasty in it, but I think that there are varieties bred without it now.

I think that it is more productive than sunflowers - The Land had an article which mentioned this recently,

Peter.

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 13 Mar 2009, 16:58

Blue Peter wrote:There is something nasty in it, but I think that there are varieties bred without it now.

Peter.

I hope you mean literally bred, and not GM'ed

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 13 Mar 2009, 17:32

I just heard today that there exists such a thing as small-rootstock walnut trees...(Ferna and Lara) and chestnuts (Maraval)WANT WANT WANT (there doesn't seem to be a toddler-having-screaming-tantrum emoticon)