Do come and visit and consider joining as an alternative to an allotment. If you are new to fruit and veg growing, we can show you how. Contact us via kingstonedibleforest@gmail.com and join our Facebook group "Kingston Edible Forest". There is space to plant veg between trees while they are young but you won't own your own plot.
We are a group allotment and orchard but do things differently. We have dispensation to grow tall fruit trees which on the main allotment site might over shadow neighbours. It can take ten years or more for fruit trees to grow and its better to plant for others in the future and harvest what has been gifted ot us from the past. Allotment gardening can also be a group activity. This provides flexibility for people to join in and try.
Established in 1992 we now have 200 trees on site, a third to a half of which are fruit or nut, and another 100 donated to local schools and scouts. It is planted in a natural style to create a woodland and a delightful oasis. Produce is shared between participants.
Our vision of sustainability is to plant for the future, while being able to harvest from trees planted in the past. Why "Kingston Edible Forest 2100" ? Children born today will be alive in 2100 and we are planting crops and tending the site for it to be sustainable until and beyond then.
Our edibles include rhubarb in April through to medlar in November, heritage apple varieties, pears, plums, quince, saskatoons, currants, gooseberries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, figs, greengages, sloes, rosehips, blackberries, mulberries, hazelnuts, almonds, chestnuts, walnuts, birch sap, bamboo, asparagus and artichoke, salt bush, jostaberry, myrtle, herbs and vegetables.
Wildlife spotted here is impressive too: jays, blue tits, frogs and newts, field mice, shrews, herons, dunnock, robins, kestrels, bats, woodpeckers, slow worms, butterflies, dragonflies, damselflies and a visiting entomologist identified an impressive range of insects. Mostly though we help wildlife away from the site by trialling practical low maintenance ways people can produce part of their food ecologically and locally.