Robert Adrian de Jauralde Hart (1 April 1913 – 7 March 2000) was an English pioneer of

forest gardening Forest gardening is a low-maintenance, sustainable, plant-based food production and agroforestry system based on woodland ecosystems, incorporating fruit and nut trees, shrubs, herbs, vines and perennial vegetables which have yields directly us ...

temperate zones In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

. He created a model forest garden from a 0.12 acre (500 m²) orchard on his farm. He credits the inspiration for his work to an article by James Sholto Douglas, which was in turn inspired by the work of

Toyohiko Kagawa was a Japanese Protestant Christian pacifist, Christian reformer, and labour activist. Kagawa wrote, spoke, and worked at length on ways to employ Christian principles in the ordering of society and in cooperatives. His vocation to help the ...

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Early life

Hart, son of a lawyer father and a soprano mother, was born in London and educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

, after which he was employed at

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

news agency in charge of special Indian mails, work which involved compiling digests of weekly articles by

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

, whose nonviolence philosophy he took on board. At the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

he considered registering as a conscientious objector but changed mind following retreat from Dunkirk in 1940 and enlisted in the Corps of Military Police, later transferring to the Intelligence Corps to work in code-breaking. After demobilisation, he was a dairy farmer in

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

and

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

before moving to

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

where he took on a smallholding on

Wenlock Edge Wenlock Edge is a limestone escarpment near Much Wenlock, Shropshire, England and a site of special scientific interest because of its geology. It is over long, running southwest to northeast between Craven Arms and Much Wenlock, and is roughl ...

Wenlock Edge

Robert Hart began with a

smallholding A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...

called Highwood Hill farm at Wenlock Edge. His intention was to provide a healthy and therapeutic environment for himself and his brother Lacon, who was born with severe

learning disabilities Learning disability, learning disorder, or learning difficulty (British English) is a condition in the brain that causes difficulties comprehending or processing information and can be caused by several different factors. Given the "difficult ...

. Hart though soon discovered that maintaining large

annual Annual may refer to: *Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year ** Yearbook ** Literary annual *Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), ...

vegetable beds, rearing livestock and taking care of an

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of ...

were tasks beyond his strength. However, he also observed that a small bed of

perennial vegetable Perennial vegetables are vegetables that can live for more than two years. Some well known perennial vegetables from the temperate regions of the world include asparagus, artichoke and rhubarb. In the tropics, cassava and taro are grown as veget ...

s and herbs he had planted was looking after itself with little or no intervention. Furthermore, these plants provided interesting and unusual additions to the diet, and seemed to promote health and vigour in both body and mind.

Forest garden project

Noting the maxim of

Hippocrates Hippocrates of Kos (; grc-gre, Ἱπποκράτης ὁ Κῷος, Hippokrátēs ho Kôios; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician of the classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history o ...

to "make food your medicine and medicine your food", Hart adopted a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

, 90% raw food diet. The three main products from a forest garden are fruit, nuts and green leafy vegetables. Hart's forest garden at Wenlock Edge was a vegan organic food production system. He also began to examine the interactions and relationships that take place between plants in natural systems, particularly in

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (se ...

, the climax

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

of a cool temperate region such as the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

. This led him to evolve the agroforestry concept of the "Forest Garden": Based on the observation that the natural forest can be divided into distinct layers or 'storeys', he developed an existing small orchard of apples and pears into an edible landscape consisting of seven dimensions; #A '

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an ...

' layer consisting of the original mature fruit trees. #A ' low-tree layer' of smaller nut and fruit trees on dwarfing root stocks. #A '

shrub layer Stratification in the field of ecology refers to the vertical layering of a habitat; the arrangement of vegetation in layers. It classifies the layers (sing. ''stratum'', pl. ''strata'') of vegetation largely according to the different heights to w ...

' of fruit bushes such as currants and berries. #A '

herbaceous layer Stratification in the field of ecology refers to the vertical layering of a habitat; the arrangement of vegetation in layers. It classifies the layers (sing. ''stratum'', pl. ''strata'') of vegetation largely according to the different heights to w ...

' of perennial vegetables and herbs. #A '

ground cover Groundcover or ground cover is any plant that grows over an area of ground. Groundcover provides protection of the topsoil from erosion and drought. In an ecosystem, the ground cover forms the layer of vegetation below the shrub layer known as ...

' layer of edible plants that spread horizontally. #A '

rhizosphere The rhizosphere is the narrow region of soil or substrate that is directly influenced by root secretions and associated soil microorganisms known as the root microbiome. Soil pores in the rhizosphere can contain many bacteria and other microo ...

' or 'underground' dimension of plants grown for their roots and tubers. #A vertical 'layer' of vines and climbers. Hart had a vision for the spread of the forest garden throughout even the most heavily built up areas, as he explains:

Later life

Hart died in March 2000 aged 86 and is buried in St Peter's churchyard at Rushbury, Shropshire.
Robert Hart's grave photo on Flickr.

Bibliography

* ''Inviolable Hills: Ecology, Conservation and Regeneration of the British Uplands'', Stuart & W (1968). . * ''Forest Farming: Towards a Solution to Problems of World Hunger and Conservation'', co-authored with James Sholto Douglas, Rodale Press (1976). . * ''Ecosociety: A historical study of ecological man'', Natraj (1984). ISBN B0006EHVPW. * ''The Forest Garden'', Institute for Social Inventions (1987). . * ''Forest Gardening: Rediscovering Nature and Community in a Post-Industrial Age'', Green Books (UK) (1991, 1996 revised). .
''Can Life Survive?''
essay published in ''Deep Ecology and Anarchism'' by Freedom Press (1993). . * ''Beyond the Forest Garden'', Gaia Books, London (1996). .

References

External links

*
The Garden of Love
an article on Robert Hart's garden by Ken Fern of Plants for a Future.
Obituary
an

''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', April 2000
Obituary in permaculture magazineRobert Hart and Forest Gardens
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Robert 2000 deaths 1913 births English gardeners 20th-century English non-fiction writers Organic gardeners Permaculturalists Gandhians Nonviolence advocates 20th-century English male writers English conscientious objectors British Army personnel of World War II Royal Military Police soldiers Intelligence Corps soldiers