Would you Adam and Eve it! Has the Forest Garden been spared?

Strolling among the alexanders, wild garlic, dormant white mulberry trees and a grove of bamboo, it is hard to believe that this forest garden, a peaceful patch of land on the Dartington estate has been something of a battleground these past few days. Even The Guardian has written it up…

But its pond and its pepper trees have been a cause celebre since the Trust issued an eviction notice to its tenants, the Agroforestry Research Trust. (AFT)

That happened by email two weeks ago, as garden creator Martin Crawford told me on my tour of the site this Tuesday (March 18th). “One of the conifers in the Trust woodland had fallen in a storm and damaged my fence, so I wrote to head of land, to remind him it needed mending. The reply was ‘yes thanks for the reminder. And on another matter, we are giving you a year’s notice. Sorry for the inconvenience.’ Which was shocking, so shocking. Completely out of the blue.”

…you can’t just transplant it.

Clearly still angry and upset, Martin said none of the current executive team had visited the garden since their arrival. “Faced with half your life’s work being taken away just like that and who knows what for it did make me angry, of course it did. I’m not an angry person. But this tipped me over.”

A week later, Martin issued a statement and within hours social media lit up with outrage that this world famous experimental eco system, which has inspired tens of thousands of similar projects, was in danger. There were even calls for an economic boycott of the Trust’s own businesses on the estate (although not the tenanted ones). A petition to save the garden got thousands of signatures.

Martin told me: ”Oh I have been amazed by the reaction. It has been incredible.” Martin’s wife Sandra also works for the AFT, which has five employees – all of whose jobs could be on the line, he said.

The forest garden abutts the back of the Old Postern, which, as the Schumacher College, had a close relationship with the garden. Now the building lies empty and the Trust has to find a new tenant.

Last Friday (March 14) , the Pulse asked the Trust for a comment.
A spokesman said :
“This decision was not made lightly. The Trust recognises 31 years of dedicated work by ART on this project. Nonetheless, as a charitable trust, DHT has a legal and fiduciary duty to ensure economic good sense, long-term sustainability and best use of all its assets. That means fully realising the potential of the former Schumacher site and surrounding areas, with necessary due diligence and compliance.
We understand that this decision will mean a big change for ART, so we are happy to discuss potential options for supporting it in transitioning to a new location or in exploring ways of continuing its valuable work.”

Then on Monday (March 17th) the Trust issued another statement:
“We have now heard back from Martin Crawford after four days to accept our offer of discussing a way forward. During that time an uncontrolled, heated debate has spread much misinformation and neglected important facts. The Trust, for its own long-term sustainability and best use of all its assets, needs to fully realise the potential of the former Schumacher site and surrounding areas, with necessary due diligence and compliance. This is critical in order to accommodate any new tenant and help them
coexist effectively with existing activities nearby, in this case the ART garden.”

The statement concludes; “DHT and ART will update stakeholders in due course on their discussions.”

Martin , though, said he had no intention of discussing the “impossibility” of moving the garden to another site; “It’s a 31 year old tree-based system – you can’t just transplant it.” He said he didn’t think the trustees – apart from Lord David Triesman, the chairman – had been told of his eviction notice. “One of the others told me they didn’t find out until Friday. Obviously decision making is delegated in a large charity like this, but important decisions are referred to trustees. They obviously didn’t think it was important. Little did they know there was going to be quite a backlash.”

By Tuesday morning, South Devon MP Caroline Voaden had added her voice to the chorus of dismay– we published her letter here…

Now on Wednesday = High Noon.

Robert Fedder, the Trust’s interim CEO, together with the head of operations, and Lord David Triesman met Martin at the garden at midday.
Martin told me the day before that he had no inkling what they wanted to say, but he hoped for an apology and a chance to negotiate a long term lease – or purchase the land outright. At the moment he has a lease and pays an agricultural rent, and had spent four years trying to secure a long term lease to make the garden safe in perpetuity.
“Because this is not about me, it’s about this,” he said by the pond where the occasional heron stops by. “This should go on for decades.”

Now following the meeting Martin has now made this statement: 

“We had a good meeting in the forest garden today with representatives from DHT (trustee David Triesman, Interim CEO Robert Fedder and Chief Operations Officer Nick Harris) and look forward to further discussions next week. We are hopeful that long-term security for our site is achievable quite quickly.”