The Old Vicarage B&B, Little Ouse

In the Victorian Kitchen Garden, I had planted several fruit trees in a row about three years ago. Around each one I would weed two or three times a year, with the land between them being grass. In the vegetable plot I have rows of fruit bushes and a strawberry patch. Why not save space and use this redundant space between the fruit trees to make an orchard Guild/Fruit Forest.

Putting a plumb line down to get a. straight edge.

Two sections dug and the grass removed. The fruit bushes are red and black currants that I grew from cuttings.

Digging and weeding the last two sections. I have already planted the first two.

The ground here is very dry, so I double water. Before planting I water the hole and then water on top once I have planted.

You can see the three levels. The highest being the fruit trees, followed by the fruit bushes and then the strawberries. Planting the strawberries in the gutters and on brick piers means that they are higher then the fruit bushes. They also dry out quicker, in the gutters. This is great as I water the strawberries and the drain onto the soil around the fruit bushes.

I have used old bricks and left over guttering to plant up the strawberries. When they have finished, I’ll just lift these gutters, with the plants in them and move them to a quiet area of the garden to recover for next year.

I can now also protect two crops fruit bushes and strawberries with the same netting. I just place bamboo canes (with corks on the end) along the rows and drape netting over. The fruit is too high for slugs and covered from the birds.

I have three types of strawberry at the moment, Elsanta, Fenella and I’m growing some wild strawberries from seed. The strawberry patch is now vacant and is making room for more vegetables.

I would be lost without a wheel barrow! Everything I need goes in it. It saves many a journey back to the shed.