Naturewise
The work of Naturewise is focused on raising environmental awareness and enabling people to move towards living more sustainably. We do this primarily through running permaculture courses, creating and promoting forest gardens, giving advice and consultations.
Naturewise was launched in the summer of 1990. We ran our first two Permaculture Introductory Weekends in 1991, followed by a full Course. Since then we have run a further 20 courses.
In the autumn of 1991, on a 0.2-acre public green space, in north London, Islington, we designed and planted our first Forest Garden. This was the first time that a permaculture course and a forest garden had occurred, in an inner city setting in the U.K.
Margaret McMillan Forest Garden
Those who are concerned with the full implications of the ecological crisis which we now face generally agree that urgent steps should be taken to plant many millions of trees. There is no reason why many of the desperately needed new trees should not be fruit trees planted in peoples gardens and public green spaces
(Robert Hart in his book Forest Gardening)
In collaboration with the school we planted the forest garden in 1995. Forest Gardens are sustainable, edible landscapes designed to work like the natural structure of forests with their tree, shrub and herb associations. These are some examples of what a garden can be made up of: fruit and nut trees (eg: plum, apple, and pear, almond and hazel) fruit bushes (eg: currants, worcesterberries, raspberries, loganberries) herbs (eg rosemary, sage, lavender, mint, borage and grapevines).
Community Forest gardening is about communities learning and working with nature not against it, to fulfill their individual and community needs.
Forest Gardens can be planted in peoples gardens, school grounds, public spaces. They have the potential to contribute enormously to the social, physical, spiritual, economic and environmental well being of communities, for example:
- Environment: increase local biodiversity and environmental quality, encourage wildlife, tackle waste by composting, local production of food with less packaging.
- Education: opportunities to learn experientially about nature - children can directly see where food comes from and curriculum subjects can be taught using nature.
- Health: improve physical health through exercise that has a purpose. Reduce the effects of poverty by enabling people to have access to wholesome fresh food through growing their own.
Increasing levels of physical activity in groups, has the potential to improve mental illness, by relieving stress, reducing social isolation and improving self esteem and confidence
(Tara Garnet, Growing food in cities)
- Economy: provide an opportunity for training, and increasing people's social skills and employability through their experience of community management
- Community development: aiding in community cohesion and understanding, active participation in community life and a practical focus for working with others across a variety of social divisions, providing a valuable tool for multicultural development, disability work and mixing young and older people
What we planted
- Apples: Reverend W. Wilks, James Grieves, Crab
- Pears: Warden
- Plums: Cherry Plum, Shropshire Damson, Victoria
- Nuts: Almond, Hazel, Pine nut
- Berrys: Worcesterberries, Tayberry, Gooseberry
- Currants: Red, Black, White, and Buffalo
- Herbs:
- Bergamots: Wild, Common, and Lemon. Burdock
- Chives: Giant, Garlic, Common
- Comfreys: Dwarf, Common and Bocking 14
- Garlics: Wild and Common
- Lavenders: French, Hidcote, Seal, Grappenhall, Lodden Pink, Imperial Gem, Large White, Royal Purple
- Lemon Balms: All Gold, Common, Variegated
- Lovages: Scots and Common
- Mints: Apple, Curly, Spear, Basil, Lemon, Orange, Bowls, Mitcham, Eucalyptus, Lavender, Black Pepper, Red Raripila, Moroccan, Eau de Cologne, White Pepper, Pineapple, Ginger, Korean
- Onions: Welsh, Common, and Everlasting
- Rosemaries: Lilies Blue, Common, Heavenly Blue, Benenden Blue, Seven Sea, Sudbury Blue, Sisinghurst Blue, Mrs Jessups Upright
- Sages: Broad-leaved, Narrow-leaved, Common, Purple, Golden, Pineapple, Salad Burnet
- Tarragons: French and Russian
- Others:Alecost, Alexanders, Chinese and Jerusalem Artitichokes; Barberry; Creeping Borage; Curry Plant; Fennel; Good King Henry; Hops; Horseradish; Pot Marjoram; Red Valerian; Southernwood; Tansy
- Others: Strawberry Grapevine; Three Corned Leek; Cherry; Quince; Medlar
This is not a complete list of plants in all of the garden.
Funding for the forest garden and the herb patches was received from:
- Margaret Macmillan Nursery School
- Elthorne Park Forum
- Tree Council
- Islington Community Environment Trust
About 1300 was received in total, but the main reason this unique project was made possible is all the voluntaries that enabled this idea to become a realty and maintained the forest garden over the years.