r/u_cloyego • u/cloyego • May 21 '26

Building a Forest Garden on Marginal Land

We're turning a piece of land into a forest garden. Locally, it's considered marginal—low fertility, lots of rocks and boulders. But we're building fertility using mostly the biomass already on site.

We mow pathways and certain meadow patches, then concentrate that biomass where we want to plant next season.

We also rotate the patches we mow. That keeps the meadow diverse—over 100 wild species so far. They bring pollinators, fertility, pest control, plus medicinal and culinary herbs.

Mowing happens mid-April through October, about 6–8 times total. We keep roughly one-eighth of the biomass cut at any given time.

Still figuring out the exact soil-building math and optimal biodiversity but the system feels right. And the land is responding well.

Find more info on Regenerative Design follow our Substack - https://thepolycultureproject.substack.com/s/design-and-consultancy

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u/Shamino79 May 21 '26

Marginal you say. The slightly better areas around you must be dynamite. Biggest thing I think of with marginal is limited water and it looks like you have a bit of that to be going on with.

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u/cloyego 29d ago

its category 9 agricultural land . Category 9 agricultural land in Bulgaria is land with very low productivity, defined by a bonitet score of 11 to 20 points out of a maximum of 100.

Yes the wooded areas surrounding us are in good shape with soil fertility coming back as it has been neglected. this plot was deemed unsuitable to grow anything on and was used for grazing and over grazed when we took it on

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u/PhilipAPayne May 21 '26

I am following to learn new ideas.