THOUGHTS ABOUT FOOD AND FORAGING FROM HEDGEROWS AND KITCHEN GARDEN HABITATS
- In this blog . . .
- food from hedgerows
- habitat kitchen gardens
- what is hedge laying?
- the historic importance of hedgerows?
- the role of hedge laying in modern sustainable land management
FOOD FROM HEDGEROWS
* blackberries, sloes, rose hips, elder flowers and berries
* nettles and haws; hops and honey
* poppy seeds, hazel nuts, crab apples
* meat such as rabbit, partridge, venison
HABITAT KITCHEN GARDENS
* food from habitats including hedges, coppices, and gardens
* feed people and nature
* every hedge, every habitat, is different
* use what there is
* grow what grows
WHAT IS HEDGELAYING?
* a 4000-year-old technique to create boundaries, living fences, and habitat
* hedgelayers cut stems utilising a natural process of regeneration called pleaching
* hedgelaying is seasonal. Pleaching in winter avoids disturbing nesting birds and active small mammals. Plants are also dormant and leafless shrubs are easier to work with
* hedgelayers first clear excess wood and litter at ground and eye level. They then pleach and lay stems and finally add support with vertical stakes and horizontally woven binders
* hedges are laid uphill because sap – hedge plants’ lifeblood – only rises
HISTORIC IMPORTANCE?
* marking boundaries
* enclosing fields
* source of materials (stakes, binders, wattle, charcoal)
* for food
ROLE TODAY?
* for pollinators and natural predators
* carbon capture, pollution reduction, noise buffering, making cool places
* living hedges are prettier than lifeless fences made of concrete, metal, milled wood, plastic, and barbed wire
* inclusive healthy activity
* satisfying job creation
*sustainable economic sense?
