Tree Planting And Forest Gardening

Planting new trees, with edible or medicinal qualities, in our woodland that we can use in our café dishes.

In January 2024, the Forest for Cornwall visited the Fat Apples woodland and excitingly provided funding for fifteen trees of our choice. We have since planted them on the land in gaps that had been exposed by clearing large patches of brambles and dead wood.

Tree choices were inspired by a fantastic talk held at Fat Apples in 2023 by Simon Miles, from The Forest Garden, Falmouth. Simon also visited us on our opening day in March this year with his latest talk titled ‘Medicinal Herbs for You.’

Simon Miles, from The Forest Garden, giving a talk at the café.

We focused on selecting trees with interesting edible or medicinal qualities that we could use in café dishes. We hope to increase the species of edible plants in the woodland, which are low-maintenance and will hopefully add interest to our café dishes. We already use elderflower, plums, apples, primroses, wild garlic, and apple mint as seasonal staples in the café.

Homemade Cranberry sauce sold in the cafe.

Homemade Elderflower cordial.

 The list below shows the most recent plantings:

• Asian Pear: Kumoi (Pyrus pyrifolia)

• Crab Apple John Downie (Mulus sylvestris)

• Plum: Rivers Early Prolific Plum (Prunus domestica)

• Manaccan Plum

• Mirabelle: Gypsy (Prunus domestica susp. Syriaca)

• Chinese Cedar (Toona sinensis)

• Sea-buckthorn

In May, thanks to the Forest for Cornwall, Phoebe will be heading to The Agroforestry Research Trust to attend a Forest Garden Design Course with the aim of more planting and foraging in the future!