Grafting in the forest to create GG trees!

It was the first trip to Kingston's Edible Community Forest for Susi, Graham and Matt so they were guided into this magical plot of land so tucked away behind the A3 and allotments.

It is also deceiving larger than meets the eye, a bit like a tardis.

Brian the task owner gave us a wonderful demo and lesson in the art of grafting. It most definitely is an art - a form of propagating new fruit trees using buds or twigs – the ‘scion wood’ from an existing tree using a very sharp knife (yikes we thought) and fusing it onto a branch or stem of another tree.

We split into two pairs - Susi and Matt - the 'grafters' - who did an awesome job grafting about 10 almond and plum trees that should hopefully in a year's time be a 'GG tree' and given to primary schools.

The other pair of Jane and Graham did some hard grafting of a different kind - lopping a bay tree and hawthorn tree that were blocking the light of recently grown grafted apple trees.

We finished with an absolute treat after this thirsty work - a quick forage to find juicy mulberries. And left with a top tip from Brian of where to find a public mulberry tree in Kingston Town Centre that remains a hidden secret!

Thank you to Brian for a top time.

We are back at the Edible Forest in a couple of weeks, and for any GGers with kids on school holidays, they are welcome to come along with you.