Edible Food Forests 101

And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” Isaiah 2:4 American King James

It’s obvious to us that these words mean  people who have been destroying the earth, and that includes us, will be and are now being made aware of their actions and as a result of this we will come to our senses, stop making war and start growing food as a way of living!  

Let the new heroes of the future not be the conquering, warlike, oppressors, but the farmers and growers who labor to provide food for everyone… who dare to lay down their swords to embrace forest food generation as an art, a gift and an intensely pleasurable occupation..

If we spent all the military budgets on planting food forests across the world and all countries did the same, people would have enough food to eat and not have to go to war for resources like oil so they can create processed food.  Doh!!!

How to create a food forest for beginners

We are preparing a weekly e-learning series that covers a number of topics on how to create an earth-based, sustainable life that will leave an earth worth living in now and for the future.
 

One of the topics we will cover is ‘food forest gardening’.  We have gathered heaps of information from many sources and distilled it down into an easily understandable, clear, 101 e-learning course.

The Food Tree of Life

Food forest gardening is part of a process and strategy that we call the ‘Food Tree of Life’.  The Food Tree of Life has many branches of food cultivating

Kitchen Gardens – consist of pots on windowsills, sprouting seeds, growing mushrooms, herbs and wheatgrass

Winter Greenhouses – for cultivating seedlings for spring planting, herb growing, some tropical and non-seasonal food

Annual Gardens – are for growing food and vegetables that are suitable for your region. For example here in Georgia, our staple carbohydrate is the potato family. Sweet potatoes grow easily and the tops are also edible.  Kale and Mustard greens flourish here.  In the Caribbean mangos and coconuts grow like weeds.

Forest Food Gardens – are perennial gardens, planted with careful design to create a harmonious group-serving environment for growth.  They yield fruit, nuts, berries, herbs, medicinal plants, mushrooms and each species is carefullychosen to provide a service to another species.  After a few years they need very little maintenance.

It’s important to know what plants will flourish in your temperature zone.   It is also possible, according to some experts we’ve talked to to ‘push the zone’.  For example what grows well in Southern Georgia might grow as well in Northern Georgia with the right ‘micro-climate’ conditions.  i.e. you might find a patch or create one in your garden that more mimics the features of another zone’s climate like excess sun or more shade.

The ArborDay foundation has created a little widget for you to put in your zip code and look up your zone hardiness area.

Click here to look up your arborday.org hardiness zone.

Animal Husbandry – The Forest Food Gardens are fertilized through the symbiotic  process and with the help of chickens, goats and worms.  

By turning your chickens loose in your garden before planting they will scratch and poop thus fertilizing your soil.    Ducks do the same thing and can be left in after planting as they don’t scratch.   These lovely animals will in turn produce occasional meat [if you wish] and eggs.  Goats who are notorious grass mowers can be used for occasional meat and their milk for cream and butter if you’re so inclined.

Worms can be raised in a worm bin and provide amazing fertilizer.  You simply keep the worms in a 5 gallon closed bucket with a tap on the side, throw in food scraps, regularly tap out the liquid they produce and throw it on your garden.   You can even make money with your own worm farm!

Horses are not an essential part of a forest food garden, but you may want to consider them for transporting logs and humans to gradually replace gas-hungry machines.  It’ isn’t necessary to discard machines, YET, only to mindfully use them for the heavy beginning work such as land shifting and creating facilities to shift water from one spot to another.

We will be covering all of these and more including repurposing, natural building adaptation, alternative natural methods for everything from cooking and healing to heating and water supply.

We will be recommending to you the experts in the business so that you may investigate the areas which interest you in more depth.

Sign up for this comprehensive, 101 e-learning course on how to transition into a more earth-based, earth-sustaining lifestyle.