hi from greece

[safronsue]

hi all,
what a great site!
I'm a british ex pat living in northern greece. not the beach greece though, think mountain country. we have a large tired 3/4 acre garden with many mature trees already but i am interested in turning it into a forest garden come permaculture haven. we have been doing things traditionally and every year we do more work for less return. something has to give and the words high efficiency and low labour dragged me in. seems to make sense but i need to learn lots to put it into practise. Interested in all things sustainable and hand made really and find this site an inspriration.
sue

[demi]

hi sue!
whare abouts in greece are you? i used it live in Hania on Crete, met my husband there and we now live in Macedonia!
we've got a 1 acre mixed orchard and about another 2 acres of land for crops and are currently on the look out for some more land close by to expand.
how do you like living in greece? how long have you been there? have you got your head arround the language yet?
i was only there for 2 years ( was in macedonia over the winter ) then we moved to macedonia permanently. all my greek that i learned ( which wasnt very good) got replaced with macedonian, which i can now speak reasnobly well, albiet with bad grammer! in greece i was surrouonded by english speaking people from all over the world so i didnt need to speak greek all the time, but there are no tourists in macedonia so i was throwen in the deep end and luckily iv been able to absorb the language reasonably easily and can now have full conversations which my husbands gran who speaks no english at all :)

[Davie Crockett]

Welcome to the forum Sue.

[okra]

Hi, we live in Cyprus. Welcome to the site and happy ishing

[Millymollymandy]

Hi and welcome!

[boboff]

Enough with the Hi's already, the lady wants to know about Forest Gardening!

Martin Crawford is a very good author on the subject, Green A ( lovely site person) recomended him to me!

Basically the thing is to think fruit and nut and spice and herb trees and bushes, cram edible or bee plants on the ground to surpress the weeds, whack a bunch of nirogen fixers in ( trees, shrubs, ground cover ) think about climbers, keep your paths clear, look after the fungi in the ground, wee on your plants allot, change your attitude to having a tidy garden in rows, wait 15 years and Hey Presto a Forest Garden!

I know thats not allot of help but I certainly do not know enough about the climate where you live to advise on any plants, although Comfrey and mint, currants, Alders and strawberries will be in there somewhere.

Oh & hi by the way.

[spider8]

Hi Sue and welcome from Orkney

[demi]

we grow almonds, wallnuts, haselnuts, chessnuts, apples, pears, peaches, apricots, cherries, figs, grapes, quince, japoniese apple, mullberries in our orchard in macedonia. i think theres other stuff too but i cant remember.
we also grow lemons, limes, oranges and manderins in big pots that we take in in the winter because its too cold here up in the mountains.
we are probably slightly colder in the winter here than you are so if we can grow all this stuff you can too.

[Millymollymandy]

although Comfrey and mint, currants, Alders and strawberries will be in there somewhere.

Why alders? They are trees of pond, stream and river banks and require a lot of water, like poplars. I can't see them growing happily in a dry part of Greece!

[demi]

i havent tryed it yet but iv heard that you can plant sweet potatoes inbetween the trees and they grow as a mulch too keep the weeds down. once they're planted they dont need much maintanence, just a little water if it hasent rained in a few weeks.
im planning on planting them this summer for the first time. need to get a packet of organic sweet potatoes from the supermarket in the UK to get started as they dont have them here ( although i have seen them for sale in the supermarket in greece ) .
once you're established you just keep a few potatoes back at the end of the year over the winter for starting again next season.

[safronsue]

thanks for your warm welcomes! I have added the crawford book to my xmas wish list already. we have all the plants you mention in your list demi, and others some, but the way it is set up its high maintenance for a lower return each year. the garden is tired, lacks flowers and is sparcely planted and plague by weeds that have exhausted the soil. it needs another approach. forest garden! the more i read about it the more it makes sense.

to explain. the garden was planted by my father-in-law and so is stocked with mature fruit trees from the regular market stuff to medlars and lotus and vines sets. he had a traditional approach; digging, spraying and growing in rows. we had massive gluts in the summer but little early on in the season. i am keen to spread out production by propagating plants early and fill up the garden with more therapeutic plants. and more flowers. and climbers. and soft fruits like blueberries and gooseberries. and rhubarb but, if the climate allows. good night gardeners.

demi, i love chania! Wish we lived there really and not here. such a nice climate on crete. here the winters can be tough, similar to yours i imagine. we are 800 m above sea level. I speak good (ish) greek, depending on who you compare me to i guess.

[boboff]

although Comfrey and mint, currants, Alders and strawberries will be in there somewhere.

Why alders? They are trees of pond, stream and river banks and require a lot of water, like poplars. I can't see them growing happily in a dry part of Greece!

Italian Alders (Alnus cordata) tollerate dry summer soils, and are nitrogen fixers. The Italian Alders are a nice connical shape which don't throw much shade.

[safronsue]

demi, interesting about sweet potatoes! delicious too. yes they do have them in supermarkets, i think i'll have to get some in!

[Milims]

Hi there and welcome

[old tree man]

Hello