Garden of Eating Virtual Tour
The Garden of Eating is our demonstration space and commitment to building an edible landscape that is abundant, profitable, beautiful, ecologically diverse, educational, and fun. At the same time, we realize this is not created from a magic wand. It is only through careful years of observation, planning, and adaptation of best practices that we can achieve this.
See our Workshops and Workstays page for more information on property and orchard tours to learn more about the design behind and learn about the paradise of nuts, fruits, herbs, and mushrooms that can grow in our climate.
Technical Overview of the GARDEN of EATING
- Topography: Canadian Hardiness Zone 6a/5b moderated by the Georgian Bay and Niagara Escarpment. Gently sloping with SW winds predominating, upwind of the apple orchard sprays.
- Soil: Vincent silty clay loam which is considered CLI Class 1 soil.
- Water: seasonally high water table, house on dug well.
- Access and circulation: on well-maintained highway 6km NW of downtown Meaford, deep but accessible acreage with 40 acres of hay in front, 100 acres of successional hardwood with mushroom logs accessible by hiking and snowshoeing trails extending to the back of the property.
Our demonstration forest garden orchard contains 90 unique edible perennial species. While we have planted no apples (grafted and wild only), sweet cherries, apricots, nor peaches/nectarines, we do have the following:
- perennials in abundance: heartnut, Asian pear, pawpaw, Saskatoon berry, currants and gooseberries, asparagus, lovage, raspberry, Turkish rocket, sweet cicely, Good King Henry, sea kale, sorrel, Egyptian walking onion, chives, garlic chives
- nut trees: ultra-hardy pecan, ginkgo, shellbark hickory, shagbark hickory, Persian walnut, heartnut, Swiss stone pine, Korean pine, chestnut hybrid, hazelnut, yellowhorn
- additional plants of marginal hardiness: fragrant spring (toon) tree, persimmon, goumi, fragrant spring (toon) tree, schisandra, cinnamon yam, astragalus (huang-qi)