• Environment

SHARING EXPERIENCES FROM: POLAND Getting trees from your own tree nursery made easy - how to establish a tree nursery on your farm

In Poland MIXED is engaged with the Stanisław Karłowski Foundation, a foundation which is at the core of Juchowo Village Project that runs the acreage of a former state farm now as organic and biodynamic. To improve soil and growing conditions trees and bushes are planted as windbreaks and hedges – to stop erosion and drying out of soil. In times of climate change and unreliable rainfall, this has become important to maintain productivity on the farm. Producing own seedlings to save purchase and transport costs and careful management to ensure that hard work is not wasted are simple but useful methods. Lessons learned to share are: For growing seedlings, you need: a little space (it can be any size, depending on how much space you have at your disposal, and how many trees or bushes you want to grow); seeds which you can either collect yourself from the wild or purchase at your local forestry center; a simple method for irrigating the seeds. This can be a perforated hose, connected to a canister or water tap; time - after giving the seedlings some time to grow (mostly 2 years, depending on the species), you can take the young trees from your tree nursery and plant them where you want them in the field.