Lesson 2.11 DESIGN - Step 1 CHOOSE PLANTS
FOOD FOREST COURSE
DESIGN - Step 1 CHOOSE PLANTS
If you’ve ever wandered back roads in a
developing, tropical country, you know that many of the locals grow much of
their own food. You might also have noticed that their food gardens aren’t
comprised entirely of small annual vegetables planted in straight rows like
ours are. They are typically wild-looking plantings of edible trees, shrubs,
vines, and ground covers all mingling effortlessly together, as if Mother
Nature had planted the garden according to her own design. These are literally
forests of food.
Forest gardening
has been the standard for millennia in many
tropical regions, but it’s possible in more temperate climes as well.
Food forests have also figured prominently in
the permaculture movement, an approach to designing agricultural systems that
mimic natural ecosystems.
Why Food Forests?
Food forests are like the ultimate organic
garden. Does a forest need tilling, weeding, fertilizer, or irrigation? Nope.
And that’s the goal.
Because they’re mostly perennial crops, there’s
no need to till. Not tilling preserves the natural soil structure, preventing
the loss of topsoil and allowing all the little microbes and soil critters to
do their jobs, cycling nutrients and maintaining fertility. The deep roots of
trees and shrubs make them much more drought tolerant than annual vegetables,
and they shade the smaller plants below, keeping everything lush and moist in a
self-maintaining—in other words, a highly sustainable—system.
Step 1: CHOOSE PLANTS
The first step in establishing a food forest is
to choose your plants. The largest plants will reach into the sun, so most
common fruiting trees and shrubs are fair game. The smaller plants generally
need to be more shade tolerant, as they will be in the under story. But you can
leave sunny patches here and there—like little forest clearings—to accommodate
species that need more light (though see Step 3 for a trick to make the most of
the available sunlight).
Winter is the ideal time to get started, because
most edible trees, shrubs, vines, and herbaceous plants can be purchased and
planted while dormant, which is better for the plants—and for your bank
account. That’s because at this time of year they are sold in “bare root”
form—meaning without soil or a pot—which gives the roots a more natural
structure and costs less for nurseries to produce. Bare root plants are
typically ordered in January or February, for planting in early March, or as
soon as the ground thaws in your area. Naturally, you’ll want to stick with
species that are well-adapted to your region.
CANOPY:
This layer is primarily for large nut trees that
require full sun throughout the day, such as pecans, walnuts, and chestnuts,
all of which mature to a height of 50 feet or more.
UNDER STORY TREES:
This layer is for smaller nut trees, like
filberts, and most fruit trees. The most shade tolerant fruit trees include
native North American species like black mulberry, American persimmon, and
pawpaw, though many other fruit trees will produce a respectable crop in
partial shade.
Vines:
Grapes, kiwis, and passion fruit are the most
well-known edible vines, though there are many other more obscure specimens to
consider, some of which are quite shade tolerant, such as akebia (edible
fruit), chayote (a perennial squash), and groundnuts (perennial root crop).
Kolomitka kiwi, a close relative of the fuzzy kiwis found in supermarkets, is
among the most shade-tolerant vines.
SHRUBS:
A large number of fruiting shrubs thrive in
partial shade, including gooseberries, currants, service berries, huckleberry,
elderberry, aronia, and honey berry, along with the “super foods” sea berry and
goji. Blackberry and Blueberry bushes will work well:
HERBACEOUS PLANTS:
This category includes not only plants commonly thought
of as herbs—rosemary, thyme, oregano, lavender, mint and sage are a few of the
top perennial culinary herbs to consider for your forest garden—but is a
catch-all term for all leafy plants that go dormant below ground in winter and
re-sprout from their roots in spring. This layer is where perennial vegetables,
like artichokes, rhubarb, asparagus and “tree collards” fit in.
GROUND COVERS:
These are perennial plants that spread
horizontally to colonize the ground plane. Edible examples include alpine
strawberries (a shade tolerant delicacy), sorrel (a French salad green),
nasturtiums (has edible flowers and leaves), and watercress (requires wet
soil), all of which tolerate part shade.
RHIZOSPERE:
This refers to root crops. It’s a bit misleading
to call it a separate layer, since the top portion of a root crop may be a
vine, shrub, ground cover or herb, but it’s Hart’s way of reminding us to
consider the food-producing potential of every possible ecological niche. Most
common root crops are sun-loving annuals, however so you’ll have to look to
more obscure species, such as the fabled Andean root vegetables oca, ulluco,
yacon, and mashua, for shade-tolerant varieties. Text Elisabeth Ferkonia
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