grow

Growing edible plants

• We grow edible plants in our nursery where we can completely control and regulate the growing environment
• We use our plants for teaching and our public Forest Garden
• We grow fruit and vegetables in our public Forest Garden in Florence Park, Oxford
• We maintain the Forest Garden as part of our teaching courses, and voluntarily
• We design growing spaces for schools, colleges and universities as well as cooking schools and catering colleges
• We have experience in growing a wide range of fruit (including citrus), vegetables (annual and perennial), herbs & spices (modern and historic), edible flowers, nuts and honey and egg production

Our growing principles:

• Chemical free - no pesticides, herbicides, fungicides or insecticides
• No digging - minimum interference with the soil in order to maintain soil health and ecosystems
• No bare soil - using mulches and groundcover plants to retain water in soils, reduce weeds & minimise water use
• No walking on growing beds - soil compaction disturbs the soil food web & prevents effective drainage
• Polycultures - always desgining for more than one plant in the growing space - for maximum produce, minimum labour & optimum soil health
• Agroforestry & Perennials - integrating trees within growing systems to maximise produce & using perennials to reduce labour
• Prioritise heritage & UK varieties & named varieties (not hybrid seeds)
• Seed Saving
• Grafting with scion wood (cuttings) from local orchards 
• Peat free growing media
• Minimal use of plastic pots, reusing where possible

At present we sell:

Fruit trees

Soft fruit bushes

Climbers

Perennial vegetables: 

Herbs

Edible flower plants