This Forest Garden model, which could be reproduced in even smaller areas, due to the "stacking" system, could, when well established, enable a family to enjoy a considerable degree of self-sufficiency for some seven months in the year, in the very best foods for building up positive health. Herbs for example, are known not just to have remarkable symbiotic effects on other plants but have great medicinal value to ourselves. Many herbs are deep rooting perennials which help aerate the soil.

The Forest Garden system is in direct contradiction to the conventional horticultural view that food-plants should be grown in isolation from each other. As the Forest Garden demonstrates, many plants tend to thrive best when growing in close proximity to each other. The reasons for this are contained in the science of Plant-Symbiosis a study begun by the Greek botanist Theophrastus, some two thousand three hundred years ago.

Robert Hart has also developed a model Winter Garden, the primary aim of which is to grow very hardy vegetables, available during the winter months.

Obviously there are differences, between Shropshire and Skye, such as climate and soil types, but the basic principles remain the same and some of these differences are to our advantage. For example, we are less likely to suffer drought and we experience less severe frosts. By managing carefully, through Permaculture strategies and using soil regeneration techniques and also applying careful selection of species, we are gradually establishing our own Skye Forest Garden on the Rubha.