Lesson 2.12 DESIGN - Step 2. - Prepare the ground

 

FOOD FOREST COURSE

AGRO-ECONOMY Lesson 2.12 

DESIGN - Step 2. - Prepare the ground

 MORE VALUE TO YOUR GARDEN

PREPARE THE GROUND

Choose an open, sunny location for your forest garden. It can be as small as 100 square feet - a single fruit tree and an assortment of understory plants - or multiple acres. At the larger, commercial-scale end of the spectrum, forest gardening is often referred to as agroforestry. 

A number of tropical crops, including coffee and chocolate, are grown commercially in this way, though commercial agroforestry is uncommon in North America (other than in the context of timber plantations).

Unlike preparing for a conventional vegetable garden, there is no need to till the earth and form it into beds in preparation for a forest garden. Instead, dig a hole for each individual plant, just as if you were planting ornamental shrubs and trees. However, if the soil quality is poor, you may wish to “top-dress” the entire planting area with several inches of compost prior to planting.

One situation in which raised beds are desirable in a food forest is where drainage is poor. But rather than make the effort to construct conventional raised beds from wood, you may opt to sculpt the earth into low, broad mounds at the location of each tree. Smaller plants may then be positioned along the slopes of the mounds.

A variation on this approach is to sculpt the earth into long linear “swales,” which consist of a raised berm (to provide a well-drained planting location) and a broad, shallow ditch (to collect rainwater runoff and force it to percolate into the soil beneath the planting berm).

You will need to eliminate any weeds, grass or other existing vegetation prior to planting. This can be done manually, or by smothering them under a “sheet mulch,” a permaculture tactic in which sheets of cardboard are overlaid with several inches of mulch on top of the vegetation, starving the plants for light and causing them to compost in place. Compost may be added as a layer between the cardboard and the mulch to add extra nutrients.

Perm culturists often employ sheet mulching in conjunction with swales to enhance the area prior to planting.


 

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