The Essential Forest-Gardener

21 comments on “The Essential Forest-Gardener ”

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1. Glenn 1

   9 October 2016 at 9:28 am

   What a surprise. An enjoyment to read. Thank you for sharing.
2. Jester 2

   9 October 2016 at 9:51 am

   Very much looking forward to your posts Robert. And congrats on your election to the Southland Regional Council.
3. vto 3

   9 October 2016 at 10:12 am

   Good stuff Robert, I have seen your place in the media before and admire what you have created. We follow a similar grow-lots path but nothing like what you have done, especially the edibles aspects, but are slowly heading in that direction.

   Inspirational..

   .. and I hope you don’t mind me saying this but …. always follow the hippies
   • weka 3.1

     9 October 2016 at 10:49 am

     I love how you say always follow the hippies vto.
4. Jenny Kirk 4

   9 October 2016 at 10:14 am

   Great to bring some reality from nature into what is essentially a political scene – thanks Robert G.
5. Stuart Munro 5

   9 October 2016 at 10:27 am

   NZ could use a bit more of the sustainable growth you model – great stuff Robert.
6. Robert Guyton 6

   9 October 2016 at 11:09 am

   Thanks all. I believe also that the hard grind of political commentary needs to be tempered with gentler stories where ordinary people are finding a sweet spot in the often-gritty world. My “stories from the forest garden” will, I hope, reflect the pleasure and rewards that wrapping a natural cloak around one’s self brings and the ease with which such a mantle can be assumed (a bit wordy, I know, but I’m still very chirpy following yesterdays election result 🙂 This post is the first-toe-in to what I hope will be for you all a refreshing dip in the very deep pool of forest garden life. I’m more than happy to field questions about anything that might occur to you as you read. That said, I’ve a new clutch of chicks hatched yesterday that I have to keep a watchful eye on today, so I’ll be in and out as the day goes by. Talking to Tony Murrell on RadioLive this morning, I learned that much of the North Island is sodden, making me even more grateful for having chosen Southland as my place, given we’ve enjoyed the warmest, driest spring on record. The sheep farmers have declared it a “gym-shoe” lambing, it being one where gumboots have sat un-employed at farm house back doors across the province. That’s something no one saw coming.
7. marty mars 7

   9 October 2016 at 11:14 am

   Thanks Robert. You are showing us a real legacy we can leave for our descendents and an example of now-action for us all.
8. RedLogix 8

   9 October 2016 at 11:16 am

   By describing to us what is important to him, Robert is making real the values which motivate him. Each of us can take a portion of what he has shared here, and can add what we choose to the picture of our own lives.

   This is how human lives are nourished, how they expand, how they flourish. It is mana in action. And it is a wonderful way to use The Standard.

   This is a series of 12, so I’ll be patient with my questions. Given that it is a rule of life that nothing worth achieving was ever easy, I’m interested to hear about the challenges and setbacks. The mistakes and wrong-turnings … and most importantly the insights you’ve garnered along the journey.
9. Robert Guyton 9

   9 October 2016 at 11:30 am

   Thanks, marty – I’d love to tell you all about the archipelago of orchard-parks we’re establishing across Southland as well, but should probably wait for another time 🙂
   RedLogix, I’ve described a lot of the things you’ve cited in “chapters 2 to 12” and agree wholeheartedly with you when you talk about the value of perseverance – there’s great value in being patient, something I learned from being a planter of trees in an environment that can punish the vulnerable. I planted 12 ginkgo trees last week and have no concern at all about the slow pace at which they might grow – I’ve a dozen other “tree projects” running concurrently and never find myself drumming my fingers in frustration at the pace at which nature moves.
10. Karen 10

    9 October 2016 at 1:45 pm

    Thank you Robert for sharing your garden with us.

    I heard about you and your wonderful garden many years ago and was very pleased when you started making comments on the Standard. There are very few who comment here that I bother reading any more, but your contributions are always worthwhile (even when I do not agree). Now there will be a weekly treat.
11. feijoa 11

    9 October 2016 at 1:57 pm

    Thanks Robert. Have seen lots of pictures of your garden in NZ Gardener over the years, along with great advice- it’s always a must read section for me.
    Great to see someone giving back to the earth. I try a much reduced version in the city, but it’s great to see what’s possible.
12. Robert Guyton 12

    9 October 2016 at 2:38 pm

    Thanks, Karen and feijoa, your comments are very encouraging. I’m really delighted with the NZ Gardener’s “reach” and how so many of it’s readers, like yourselves, identify with a “wilder-than-the-average-garden-columnist’s” world view. Gardening is good but writing about it is wonderful!
13. adam 13

    9 October 2016 at 2:45 pm

    I like your post Robert. But many in Auckland are locked out of owning land, let along the ability to plant anything.

    There are options I know, like having a plot at a local community garden like I do. This however comes with no long term hope. For example, it could all be over in seconds if the council want the land.

    As for being a renter, landlords end tenancy, and goodbye garden.

    I’m in the wonderful world of having a container garden at home, with bits and pieces leafy greens mainly. So if worst come to worst, and I have to move, then at least I can still have my greens.
    • RedLogix 13.1

      9 October 2016 at 2:58 pm

      True. Some of the smartest solutions don’t involve any digging up dirt at all.

      I’ve a great personal fondness for these:

      http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/
      • Draco T Bastard 13.1.1

        9 October 2016 at 8:17 pm

        My sisters got a few of those on her back deck constantly full of greens, reds and yellows.
    • Robert Guyton 13.2

      9 October 2016 at 5:24 pm

      Hi Adam – yeah, but “King of the Sprouters” is a fine title and a powerful capability. “Prince of Micro-Greens” too. Sometimes being free to move and able to create food in a short time-frame is more enabling than being a landowner and having to labour day in and day out to pay the mortgage and work the soil. Then there’s foraging and mooching – these are Noble Arts. Mahi nga kai has many faces.
      • weka 13.2.1

        9 October 2016 at 6:07 pm

        “Then there’s foraging and mooching – these are Noble Arts”

        Especially if people are planting trees/plants on wild/marginal/council/abandoned land 😉
14. Ad 14

    9 October 2016 at 6:27 pm

    This reminds me a lot of Yi-Tuan’s Topophilia.
15. Philj 15

    10 October 2016 at 8:03 am

    Thank you Robert for being a fine example of positivity. Can’t wait for your series. Courage to face the future rather than fear, is what is required IMO. Your input to The Standard is welcome relief from the usual narrative.
16. Robert Guyton 16

    10 October 2016 at 8:54 am

    Thanks, Philj. I reckon it’s “getting-ready” time and that requires verve and pep plus lots of planting, so there’s not really a place for gloom. In any case, there are great people everywhere who are doing these things also and I want to be part of their movement.

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