Food forestry and forest gardening

Designing and establishing a temperate climate food forest in rural North Canterbury, New Zealand.

Using permaculture principals to work with and mimic nature, we are guiding natural processes and directing the outcome with human intent. By selecting practical plants that serve multiple functions we build diversity in all layers of the biological system.

This approach guides natural processes towards a productive ecosystem. By introducing human knowledge and planning we can encourage and accelerate the growth and development leading to beautiful, abundant and nutritious habitats.

  • Natives and exotics. Something for everyone

    Natives and exotics. Something for everyone

  • Exploding with flavour and colour

    Exploding with flavour and colour

  • Visit, explore and learn

    Visit, explore and learn

  • Pattern based function stacking

    Pattern based function stacking

  • Attractive, productive ecosystems

    Attractive, productive ecosystems

    Details   Whether you're here to deepen your knowledge, immerse yourself in nature, or be inspired to embark on your own ecological journey, Blockhill is a place where growth - both personal and environmental - thrives. Join us in celebrating and cultivating a sustainable future, one seed at a time.
  • Book your relaxing stay today

    Book your relaxing stay today

Foodscaping - Edible Landscape Design

Foodscaping - Edible Landscape Design

Our consultancy specializes in foodscaping, an innovative approach to edible landscape design that transforms your outdoor spaces into productive and beautiful gardens.

Through our comprehensive garden design service, we empower you to create a sustainable, delicious landscape that nourishes both body and soul, bringing beauty and bounty to your outdoor space.
Foodscaping Service
Buy fruit tree scion and bud wood for grafting

Buy fruit tree scion and bud wood for grafting

Check out our current selection and availability of scion and bud wood for grafting onto your own rootstocks and existing trees

We sell a selection of named and known varieties of fruit trees so you can add new flavours with multi grafting
Scion / bud wood for grafting Related info

 Related

Spring grafting season for fruit and nut trees August - October

Spring grafting season for fruit and nut trees August - October

Wood is cut and graded in June for dispatch in July – August. On receipt, scion wood will need to be stored refrigerated until the appropriate local grafting time.

Length: 150 – 170mm with 3 - 4 buds

Diameter: 5 – 12mm


Grafting is the process of adding part of a known, desirable tree onto existing, growing roots of a similar species. This process offers many benefits such as having many types of apple on a single tree or influencing the characteristics of the tree such as size, soil requirements and disease resistance.
  May   June   July   August   September   October  
  graft  fruit  trees 
Scion / bud wood for graftingAll about Fruit Tree Grafting
Grafting After Care

Grafting After Care

In the weeks and months after completing the graft it is important to check back and follow up with basic care to ensure the graft stays healthy and has the best chance for success.
  • It is usually obvious after a couple of weeks if the graft has failed as it will have dried and shrunken. If the wood looks alive and the buds are full or opening then there is a good chance your graft will take.
  • Remove active growth and buds from below the graft point as this will take energy required by the healing graft.
  • If any of the buds on the freshly grafted wood are blossoms then these should be removed. Just pinch them off carefully with fingernails or clip with secateurs. This allows the branch to focus on healing the union and prevents any breakage caused by heavy fruit. This may be necessary on the following year also, depending on the style and state of the graft.
  • When the graft is part of a larger tree consider periodic pruning or bending down of old wood to encourage development of grafted part(s)
  • After several months check grafting tape / bindings are not strangling / girdling the healing graft. Some tapes are biodegradable and will split or peel after exposure to summer sun, others require manual splitting with a sharp blade to release the pressure.
  • Excessive sun and wind exposure can dessicate or dislodge grafts. If your rootstock is in a pot keep it in a sheltered location until the union is solid. A high humidity environment is ideal.
Start Your Own Forest Garden

Start Your Own Forest Garden

Are you ready to embark on your very own forest garden journey but feeling unsure where to begin? Don't worry - we’ve got you covered.

Creating a thriving forest garden is an exciting and rewarding endeavour, but it’s not as simple as planting a few trees and hoping for the best. There are numerous factors to consider to ensure success. From site analysis and soil health to plant selection and long-term maintenance, each step requires thoughtful planning and execution.
Key Considerations

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Foodscaping - Edible Landscape Design

Foodscaping - Edible Landscape Design

Our consultancy specializes in foodscaping, an innovative approach to edible landscape design that transforms your outdoor spaces into productive and beautiful gardens.

Through our comprehensive garden design service, we empower you to create a sustainable, delicious landscape that nourishes both body and soul, bringing beauty and bounty to your outdoor space.
Foodscaping Service
Bracken fern for black birds

Bracken fern for black birds

October 10, 2014
Every spring we get an influx of black birds and thrush. The birds make the garden their home while they build nests and rear their young. It sounds nice but they cause quite a bit of destruction considering their small size. Mulch and young seedlings get tossed about as they explore and scratch for things to eat.
One technique we have devised works rather well. After planting seeds or small plants we protect the area with a covering of bracken fern, sticking the rigid cut end into the ground and sort of weaving and layering the pieces together to create a wiry but biodegradable cover.
  zone1  zone2 
Plant leaf deficiency indications

Plant leaf deficiency indications

Details   Identify common mineral deficiencies based on plant leaf colours.
Plants require a range of essential elements for optimal growth and health. If these are not be present in the soil or are depleted then the affected plants will develop visible symptoms and remediation may be required.

If in doubt give plants a regular feed of seaweed to boost a wide range of micro nutrients.
Planting shelves

Planting shelves

I grow a lot of plants and trees from seeds. One space saving way that I have come up with is to use the vertical wall space at the back of the house where my nursery is located. Adding these metal 'gutters' as plant growing shelves has given plenty more growing area situated at perfect working height.
March 23, 2019
  tree  seedling  planting  zone1 
Olmec Sinclair
The forest garden tool belt

The forest garden tool belt

When wandering around the forest garden I often notice something that needs to be trimmed or weeded or a space where I could plant something. But what if the tools are back in the shed....?

Using a cheap tool belt I have assembled a collection of useful tools and accessories that frequently come in handy.

From left to right:
  • nested plastic plant pots hold larger seeds such as beans and lupins
  • secateurs or pruning shares
  • jars of seasonal seeds
  • serrated sickle
  • hand hoe (niwashi)
  • small dibber
April 22, 2014
  tools  garden 
External inputs

External inputs

March 31, 2015
One of our aims is to eventually reduce or eliminate the need for external inputs for the orchard and garden. The goal is to keep fertility on site and make the most of that which enters naturally, such as rain and bird droppings. In the meantime, as we work towards this, there is always a use for biodegradable organic matter.

Commonly used materials include: sawdust from local joiner, seaweed from Kaikoura, rotten willow logs from the river, pine needles, organic grain straw, Conway river lime and dried animal manures.
Why Biomass
Finding the culprit

Finding the culprit

Details   A lime tree that had been performing well, several years in the ground and producing plenty of fruit quite suddenly turned yellow, dropped its leaves and died. I quickly ruled out any insect damage and wondered if it had been too wet or too dry. Also it happened to be planed in close proximity to where a sickly apricot had been when we arrived. Could it be something in the soil? Some time passed and I decided to prepare the site to plant something else. When I got the old root ball out of the ground I could see that it was a gnarled, tangled mess. I think I found the culprit, myself, poor planting practice and failing to carefully spread out the roots from a pot bound plant.
Date   October 06, 2021
Tags     citrus   
Dealing with root bound plants

Regenerative planting - 10 year update

Details   The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best time is now...

When we arrived most of the land was grass, exposed to the sun and wind. Heavy clay soil added to the challenge and progress was slow initially but as our knowledge and understanding improved things accelerated and once our pioneer, nurse trees reached shoulder height then things really kicked into high gear.

Lifting the wind off the surface of the land, blocking some of the strong sun and increasing biomass all helped to improve the conditions for our subsequent plantings as well as the earlier, initial attempts that did not enjoy life out in the open.

Grass has mostly been replaced by deep rooted, perennial plants, many of which we chop heavily and regularly to feed the soil and aid the productive fruit, nut and berry plants.

The photos show 10 years of progress looking North
Date   December 30, 2020
Tags     progress  zone2 
Related info
Tree growth on terraces

Tree growth on terraces

Details   6 years of growth from 2014 - 2020
As part of our water wise landshaping, we spent considerable effort creating a number of hand dug terraces as well as having a mini digger create an access track on a sloping amphitheater.
Terraces allow for improved rainwater infiltration, reducing runoff and erosion while also making it easier to work and harvest from the trees.
This particular area is a nice sun trap and has excellent cold air drainage. The biggest challenge is the dry and, in some places, the blackberry. Here we grow a number of fruit tree types with a focus on apricot.
Date   April 28, 2020
Tags     terrace  trees  progress  zone3 
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Shitake Harvest

Shitake Harvest

September 09, 2019
Finally, after several years of waiting, shitake mushrooms are sprouting from the logs. I inoculated these fresh willow logs using the wooden dowel method and kept them in a damp shady location, checking periodically but as time went by and nothing happened, the logs inadvertently dried out and I assumed it was a failure. I ended up partially burying the logs as part of some minor earth works near a small pond. Surprise when month later mushrooms began popping. So harvested and ate.
  fungi  harvest 
Growing Shiitake on logs
Polycultures

Polycultures

The other end of the spectrum from monocultures, polycultures are mixed plantings of various species that work together and may imitate naturally occurring collections.

Unlike monoculture, which is prone to pest and disease, depletes and degrades soil, polycultures are ecosystems in themselves, utilising the balancing and collaborative effects of nature.
November 13, 2011
  Mixed planting  polyculture  permaculture 
olmec
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Practical uses for flax

Practical uses for flax

New Zealand Flax, the native Phormium tenax, is an excellent plant to include in the forest garden. Not only does it grow in almost all conditions from wet to dry and full sun to shade, flax has some great practical applications.

The plant produces tall flower stalks that feed native bell birds. These stalks can be over 2 meters long and can be used for poles in the garden. While not as long lasting as bamboo, the flax poles decay after a season or 2, they are extremely light and easy to work with.

The flax leaves contain extremely tough fibres making them ideal fro tying and weaving. From simple rope to intricate baskets, woven mats and dental floss, the flax leaves and fibres are very versatile and durable.

I use flax constantly for tying and training plants. Being biodegradable is an added bonus as it breaks down into the soil and trees tied with flax will not strangle.
Olmec Sinclair
Working with Flax
Setting of expectations

Setting of expectations

The expectations we have about what we should be eating and when determines what options are open to us in terms of where and how we obtain our sustenance. By adjusting our requirements and evaluations of what makes something desirable food we open up new sources and types of fruit and vegetables. This is a prerequisite of low input forest gardening.
November 22, 2015
  food forest 
Expectation setting
Boosting plant and ecosystem health with compost tea

Boosting plant and ecosystem health with compost tea

Fertigating is the practice of irrigating and fertilising simultaneously. To achieve this we brew liquid compost 'tea' using an assortment of fresh and decaying plant material. Learn how to easily make, brew and deliver compost tea or other liquid fertiliser. You can use all sorts of organic, nutrient rich, biodegradable substance.

The breakthrough come with the venturi mixer which allows for easy distribution of the heavy, smelly liquid.
  compost  nutrient  fertigate 
olmec
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