14th & 15th November

The Ideas Factory, 28 Bidder Street, Canning Town, London, E16 4ST

Imagine a place where every year there are more birds nesting, more butterflies feeding, more bees pollinating and more life than the year before.

A place where the soil becomes deeper and healthier, where rain is held in the ground for longer, where shade keeps the land cooler during hot summers and where nature does more and more of the work.

This is the promise of a forest garden.

Rather than treating wildlife as something separate from our lives, forest gardening invites us to become part of the same living system. The plants, fungi, insects, birds and people all have a role to play. When we understand those relationships and learn to work with them, we can create landscapes that are both beautiful and productive.

A forest garden is never finished. It evolves over the years, becoming richer, more diverse and often requiring less intervention as the living community establishes itself.

During this relaxed and practical two day course, we will explore how these ecosystems function and how you can apply the same principles wherever you live, whether you have a small garden, an allotment, a community space or several acres.

Over the weekend we will explore:

🌿 Reading a landscape before changing it.

🌳 Designing with nature rather than against it.

🌱 The different layers of a forest garden and the role each plays.

🍎 Growing food in ways that support wildlife rather than displacing it.

🦋 Creating habitats that encourage pollinators, birds and beneficial insects.

🌍 Building healthy soils through natural processes.

🌸 Selecting plants for multiple functions.

♻️ Designing spaces that become easier to care for as they mature.

🏡 Applying these ideas to gardens, community projects and larger landscapes.

Whether you are completely new to ecological gardening or already have years of experience, this course will offer practical tools alongside a different way of seeing the land around us.

This is not about copying nature. It is about understanding the patterns that make natural ecosystems thrive, then applying those patterns to create landscapes that meet human needs while leaving more room for the rest of life.


🥗 === Bring food to share ===

Lunch will be self organised over the weekend.

Please bring vegan food, snacks and drinks to share.


💚 === Conscious contribution ===

Rather than setting a fixed price, this course is offered on a conscious contribution basis.

Rakesh's philosophy is that money should not be a barrier to learning.

If those who are more financially comfortable contribute a little more, it helps make the course accessible to people who otherwise could not attend.

As a guide:

£40 to £80 - Little or no disposable income.

Around £140 - You are comfortably able to meet your everyday needs.

£200 or more - You are a higher earner or attending through an organisation.

If £40 is beyond your means, please get in touch. We would much rather find a way for you to join us than have finances stand in the way.

When booking, simply let us know how much you feel able to contribute.


🌱 === Register your interest ===

If you would like to join us for this Forest Gardening Weekend, please complete the registration form:
https://tinyurl.com/RnP-FG-E16-2026


Come and discover how working with nature can create landscapes that are richer in wildlife, increasingly resilient and a joy to spend time in.