Food Forest FAQ's : A knowledge sharing center for the community
Food Forest Frequently Asked Questions: Ask an Expert
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What are food forests?
The basic idea of a food forest system is that we design how we grow food based on natural forest principles & relationships. In other words, we copy the way elements in a forest co-exists. Forests don't need to be fertilised by us, watered by us, weeded by us, or plowed by us. They are self-fertilising, self-regenerating, abundant, diverse and highly resilient. How clever nature is!
In an established food forest system, we don't have to replant, rototill & fertilise every year. Food forests have a natural mulch layer, meaning we don't need to water as much, if at all. We can enjoy a rich and nutritious diet from perennials, though it will take us a while to change our conditioned habits about what we do and don't like to eat! (did u grow up on brussel sprouts & brocolli?) Of course there will still always be room on our plates & in our gardens for annual vegetables (who could give up tomatoes), but wouldn't you also love to try: Ostrich ferns & asparagus followed by Rhubarb Pear Pie with a walnut crust? Wouldn't you like to wander out into your perennial garden to pick seabuckthorn tea...or how about mint? What about roasted chestnuts, asian pears & haskap berries...you might even be able to grow some arctic kiwi, or make wine from prairie grape varieties.
In an established food forest system, we don't have to replant, rototill & fertilise every year. Food forests have a natural mulch layer, meaning we don't need to water as much, if at all. We can enjoy a rich and nutritious diet from perennials, though it will take us a while to change our conditioned habits about what we do and don't like to eat! (did u grow up on brussel sprouts & brocolli?) Of course there will still always be room on our plates & in our gardens for annual vegetables (who could give up tomatoes), but wouldn't you also love to try: Ostrich ferns & asparagus followed by Rhubarb Pear Pie with a walnut crust? Wouldn't you like to wander out into your perennial garden to pick seabuckthorn tea...or how about mint? What about roasted chestnuts, asian pears & haskap berries...you might even be able to grow some arctic kiwi, or make wine from prairie grape varieties.
Root Stock Seed Storage & Stratification
QUESTION: How do I store fruit seed for root stocks? I happened to find a huge box of relatively local organic pears from Creston, and want to save the seed for possible root stock. How should I best store them until spring? In a bag in the fridge? or freezer?
ANSWER (R. Walker): For the pear seed, remove seeds from the fruit and clean them well. Mix the seeds in with 3 to 4 times their volume of damp peat moss in a plastic bag, seal and put in fridge for a minimum of 60 days- 90 days is better. Check once a month for mold. If moldy,remove from peat moss,wash in 20% bleach solution, rinse them, and get new bag, new peat moss and put back in fridge for the remainder of the time.
As for stratifying other kinds of seed:
All willow seeds will not work..their viability is gone within 3 hours. Ribes, Lodgepole pine, Mountain Ash, Prunus, Pinus: Same as above. Maples: same again, best done with seed half green. Vibernum requires something a little different. Put the seed in a deep freeze for 1 month, no peat moss. Then stratify with peat moss for 1 month in the fridge and cycle this way 3 times total.
ANSWER (R. Walker): For the pear seed, remove seeds from the fruit and clean them well. Mix the seeds in with 3 to 4 times their volume of damp peat moss in a plastic bag, seal and put in fridge for a minimum of 60 days- 90 days is better. Check once a month for mold. If moldy,remove from peat moss,wash in 20% bleach solution, rinse them, and get new bag, new peat moss and put back in fridge for the remainder of the time.
As for stratifying other kinds of seed:
All willow seeds will not work..their viability is gone within 3 hours. Ribes, Lodgepole pine, Mountain Ash, Prunus, Pinus: Same as above. Maples: same again, best done with seed half green. Vibernum requires something a little different. Put the seed in a deep freeze for 1 month, no peat moss. Then stratify with peat moss for 1 month in the fridge and cycle this way 3 times total.
Overwintering Seedlings in Pots
QUESTION: We're buying 100x hazel seedlings from the University of Saskatchewan Fruit Research Department this spring! Yippee! We'd like to put them in nursery pots for a year until we have a proper permaculture design done for the food forest & field. What do you recommend we do through the winter? Do the pots need to be buried? And do you have any recommendations for ideal potting soil for them, other than our field soil?
ANSWER: (R. Walker) The best overwintering for the hazelnut plants is to bury the pots. Make sure they are well watered at the time they are buried. For soil type in the pots, use one-third soil, one-third perilite, and one-third peatmoss. Fertilize weakly with fish fertilizer or use a slow release fertilizer such as OSMOCOTE or an organic equivalent in the potting mix once.
ANSWER: (R. Walker) The best overwintering for the hazelnut plants is to bury the pots. Make sure they are well watered at the time they are buried. For soil type in the pots, use one-third soil, one-third perilite, and one-third peatmoss. Fertilize weakly with fish fertilizer or use a slow release fertilizer such as OSMOCOTE or an organic equivalent in the potting mix once.