Introduction to Food Forests
Food forests layer plants for multiple yields
ARTICLE: An Introduction to Food Forests
by Cara Conroy-Low & Clear Sky Farm Team
Forest Gardening / Edible Forest Gardens, or 'Food Forests' are a growing phenomena (in all senses of the word!). They are a major component of permaculture design, and are touted as a promising vision for sustainable food production. We tentatively agree. We want to try it. We feel that food forests could be both a revolutionary, paradigm shifting view of agriculture, as well as an eons old common sense way to grow food.
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!
Annual crops generally require that the soil is tilled every year, and new seeds planted. A lot of weeding & watering needs to happen too. Plowing & rototilling is detrimental to the health of the soil food web. Taking into account the weeding, seeding & fertilising also involved, annual crops are both labour & fossil fuel intensive. Don't get us wrong, we all love our brocolli, peas & carrots. However, annual plants don't need to be our only and main source of nutriment - perennials do a much more efficient job!
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.
We met Richard Walker, one of Canada's most experienced Forest Gardeners, in 2008. We visited & enjoyed the 'fruits' of his food forest in Grand Forks BC. There he had established an abundant 3 acre food forest system from a piece of bare horse pasture over a 20 year period. We were blown away by many varieties of hardy fruit, nuts, medicinals & timber there. We aspire to do the same at our property in the East Kootenay of BC.
We endeavour to establish a food forest at Clear Sky Center for this and future generations. We want to test the theory in real life, to see whether food forest systems are really viable in cold climates. We hope to continue on with the invaluable Food Forest work that Richard & others have done, and share with you what we learn. It is also clear that food forests are ideally part of a larger permaculture (sustainable) system for everything we do, so we are also working on a permaculture plan for the farm & center, and offer two week Permaculture Design Certificate Courses.
Want to learn more about food forests? Please come to our annual Food Forest workshop with Richard Walker or attend the Permaculture Design Certificate Course in April 2011. Also, you are welcome to apply for a volunteer apprenticeship to experience permaculture & sustainable agriculture through hands-on, direct learning, combined with meditation & spiritual exploration.
by Cara Conroy-Low & Clear Sky Farm Team
Forest Gardening / Edible Forest Gardens, or 'Food Forests' are a growing phenomena (in all senses of the word!). They are a major component of permaculture design, and are touted as a promising vision for sustainable food production. We tentatively agree. We want to try it. We feel that food forests could be both a revolutionary, paradigm shifting view of agriculture, as well as an eons old common sense way to grow food.
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!
Annual crops generally require that the soil is tilled every year, and new seeds planted. A lot of weeding & watering needs to happen too. Plowing & rototilling is detrimental to the health of the soil food web. Taking into account the weeding, seeding & fertilising also involved, annual crops are both labour & fossil fuel intensive. Don't get us wrong, we all love our brocolli, peas & carrots. However, annual plants don't need to be our only and main source of nutriment - perennials do a much more efficient job!
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.
We met Richard Walker, one of Canada's most experienced Forest Gardeners, in 2008. We visited & enjoyed the 'fruits' of his food forest in Grand Forks BC. There he had established an abundant 3 acre food forest system from a piece of bare horse pasture over a 20 year period. We were blown away by many varieties of hardy fruit, nuts, medicinals & timber there. We aspire to do the same at our property in the East Kootenay of BC.
We endeavour to establish a food forest at Clear Sky Center for this and future generations. We want to test the theory in real life, to see whether food forest systems are really viable in cold climates. We hope to continue on with the invaluable Food Forest work that Richard & others have done, and share with you what we learn. It is also clear that food forests are ideally part of a larger permaculture (sustainable) system for everything we do, so we are also working on a permaculture plan for the farm & center, and offer two week Permaculture Design Certificate Courses.
Want to learn more about food forests? Please come to our annual Food Forest workshop with Richard Walker or attend the Permaculture Design Certificate Course in April 2011. Also, you are welcome to apply for a volunteer apprenticeship to experience permaculture & sustainable agriculture through hands-on, direct learning, combined with meditation & spiritual exploration.
Check out our updates or sponsor a tree on Clear Sky's Food Forest page. To find out more about food forests, visit the food forest FAQ's. If you would like to help plant or care for the food forest, contact us about volunteer opportunities.