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Katrina & Peter and their children are a Vegan living family of 5 in East Ayrshire, Scotland. 3 children. Their eldest Clayton who is Autistic and Non verbal has been Home Educated by Katrina since 2018 and has developed a keen interest and eye for the garden and is most happiest when planting seeds, potting up and watering what he has grown. Nov 2022 Clayton completed the Grow and Learn Course with the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society and finished the 2nd level Nurture in 2024.
“ Grow & Learn is a person-centred award, recognising individual progress and achievement in horticulture. Our awards are inclusive, individualised and offer life skills based education for all. Grow & Learn aims to address a large gap in provision in the world of horticulture by offering an alternative learning opportunity for those who find mainstream learning challenging“ The Caley
The family have lived in Scotland since 2013 and decided to finally make it their home in 2019 and bought a property in East Ayrshire with large enough grounds to start building a food forest approx 1/4 acre to start having fresh basic food supplies for their family.
Listen to Our Guest Podcasts here Sharing More Info on Our Lives:
Katrina Gelderbloem Chats About Family Life with 3 Children- Clayton Has Non Verbal Autism and Sensory Processing Needs
GillHB & Friends Spotify
GillHB & Friends Website Ep73
Practising Permaculture Principles with Katrina Gelderbloem
Scotland Grows Show on Spotify
Scotland Grows Show on Apple Podcast
You can follow Katrina & Clayton on their instagram page buildingafoodforest_scotland watching them around their garden while they build up their FooWe had no gardening experience before moving to our new home and we had a full blank canvas to get started with. We were eager to live more sustainably and use this space as best we could, Peter and I took a Permaculture Design Course (PDC PRO) with Oregon State University to guide us. It just gave us that extra boost of confidence and knowledge to design our space, grow food for the family and care for the land naturally and effectively.
Full blank canvas when we moved in in 2019
Our food forest area was the first area we developed, designed to mimic a natural woodland and provide a variety of food crops year after year. We started by planting fruit trees apple, pear, plum & cherry as they take the longest to establish, these were underplanted with fruit bushes, rhubarb, comfrey and wild strawberries in the lower layers, while herbs like rosemary, lemon balm, and chives spread naturally around forming guilds around the trees all working together like they would in nature. We’ve added nitrogen fixers like clover, lupins and sea buckthorn to enrich the soil and flowers such as calendula and borage to attract pollinators. The food forest area is starting to fill out now and grows stronger with each passing season.
In a forest garden, guilds are groups of mutually beneficial plants that support a central species, often a fruit tree. Each plant serves a role attracting pollinators, fixing nitrogen, repelling pests or providing ground cover. Together, guilds create a self-sustaining, resilient ecosystem that mimics natural forest layers and interactions.
Guilds in the Food Forest
Guilds in the Raised Beds
Gardening has been a transformative experience for Clayton. Diagnosed with Autism, Sensory Processing Disorder aged 3 and is still pre verbal, he finds peace and confidence in the garden’s structure, rhythm, seasons, weather and how the world works year on year in a pattern. Tasks like planting, watering, and harvesting give him a clear sense of purpose and achievement. The sensory nature of gardening, textures, smells and colours engages him without overwhelming. It’s a calming, predictable space where he feels in control and connected. Over time, the garden has helped build his focus, patience and communication skills, he knows what month we sow seeds, what days we water when the sun is out, what season it’s time to harvest. Most importantly, it’s a place where he shines, contributing meaningfully to our family’s life and feeling valued for who he is
Since changing to Home Education with Clayton back in 2018, I structured his days around teaching and learning in the home & garden including baking, gardening & DIY projects. Clayton especially loves planting seeds and watching them grow it’s a process that gives him a clear beginning, middle, and end, which suits his way of thinking and a great way to incorporate maths & science skills into the tasks. Together, we enjoy filling up our kitchen courtyard next to the home with salads, collecting fruits and berries from the food forest and Clayton most of all loves picking bunches of sweet peas for his bedroom. We also enjoy building new raised beds or structures together, as he’s very hands on and detail focused. These shared tasks have become special bonding moments, allowing us to work side by side, communicate naturally, and celebrate the joy and rewards of gardening as a team. One of his favourite areas and projects was growing our lavender hedge from seed to cover our slope.
Lavender hedge along the slope into the next tiered piece of garden
Permaculture gardening fosters sustainability, improving soil health, conserving water and reducing waste. It mimics natural ecosystems, requiring less maintenance over time. It promotes biodiversity and resilience & minimising chemical use. This approach supports long term productivity, creating a harmonious balance between humans and nature for a healthier environment and for us it is about working with nature and making it as maintenance free as possible, so we can enjoy all the fun activities. Each year as we put in place the garden structures we plant them up for long term rewards with little to no maintenance. Our large raised bed area is the only area we use for annual veg each year, which makes it easy for maintenance and no weeding, just yearly topping up and adding cover crops to protect the soil over winter after the season has ended and beds cleared
All areas are packed full to avoid pests. Our raised bed path with a chives along the floor.
Recycling plays a key role in our food growing, following the permaculture principle of “Produce No Waste.” A great beginner project is creating a mini greenhouse using household items. Start seeds in toilet roll tubes filled with compost, placed in cut down card milk cartons as base trays. Use clear plastic storage boxes as cold frames simply place them over the trays to protect seedlings and create warmth. This low cost setup gives materials a second life and helps you grow food sustainably. It’s a fun, educational activity for families to find items to use from within their home and a great way to reduce waste while supporting a productive garden.
The variety across our garden zones as vegans, ensures we eat seasonally and sustainably, while raised beds make gardening manageable and rewarding for all of us. It’s a lifestyle that nourishes both body and soul.
Our Raised beds for annual planting and our food forest linear path raised beds
Gardening encourages routine, responsibility and creativity. Most importantly, it creates shared moments of peace and achievement. Whether your loved one is coping with stress, anxiety or other difficulties, time in the garden can be a gentle and empowering path to feeling better. Start small with easy to grow crops in containers or raised beds or even on a warm windowsill and let your child lead at their own pace. Sensory experiences like digging soil, watering or harvesting are grounding and you can celebrate each little success together. For us, it has brought Clayton out of his own world bubble into ours and is a part of daily life through the seasons of gardening with so many small victories to celebrate along the way. The joy of seeing his apple tree grow apples, harvest them and then bake an apple pie for the family to enjoy is the sense of family involvement we could only of dreamed of back when Clayton was 3.
Katrina and Clayton as well as their blogs write Children’s Story books based on the experiences they have in the garden together and how autism plays a part in that. They have 4 in the series out now and more to come. Stories on topics of Growing, Harvesting, Sowing & Composting and a 108 page Sowing, Growing, Weather and Seasons Weekly Gardening Record Book to record all of the years planning and monitoring.
Building A Food Forest in Scotland. Where We Started Video
Where We Started In 2019. From a full grass lawn to a starting a food forest and fruit orchard, a raised bed area for annual veg and a kitchen courtyard for daily herbs and salads. Taking you through to Autumn 2023 in this video.
Latest Updated Video Reel
Happy Gardening!
Katrina & Clayton and family live in East Ayrshire and share their daily life in the garden on instagram. They practice permaculture principles in the garden, reducing & repurposing waste whenever they can. Katrina shows how home educating in nature has helped Clayton thrive.
Clayton Completed The 2 Grow and Learn Courses with the Royal Caledonian HorticulturalSociety. He is Autistic, Non Verbal & has been Home Educated since 2018. Katrina & Peter hold their PDC & PDC PRO Permaculture Design Course from Oregon State University
They featured on BBC Beechgrove Gardens Ep23 2022 and returned in 2023 for an update, Katrina & Clayton are also columnists for ScotlandGrows Magazine, Guest Blog for Caledonian Horticulture as well as working with Gardeners’ World Magazine and many other brands.
They are also Author of the new Children’s Book Series: Clayton’s Garden Journey: Stories of Autism and Gardening. Topics on Growing, Harvesting, Sowing & Composting and 108 Page Weather and Seasons Weekly Gardening Record Book available on Amazon and Kindle. Listen in on their Guest Podcasts to learn more about them.
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Our Children’s Book Series
Author of the new children’s book series: Clayton’s Garden Journey: A Story of Autism and Gardening. Topics on Growing, Harvesting, Sowing & Composting and 108 Page Weather and Seasons Weekly Gardening Record Book available on Amazon and Kindle
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