On this Earth Day, we think about other species. We all know that honeybees, such as the one feasting on this borage flower, are declining and that their pollination efforts are crucial to the success of the food we eat. We love to attract birds and insects to our edible landscaping, too. The tempting blossoms
Hawthorne/Crab Apple Guild To construct a productive forest system, we assemble plants and animals in “guilds” that create a functionally harmonic effect. Harmonic effects are those that, by putting two or more elements together, will result in benefits not produced by themselves alone higher production, reduced pest or predator problems or maintenance of soil
Is this beginning to feel like a big subject? Just as a food forest has many layers, so too do the principles that govern a food forest. Succinctly put, edible forest gardens are “perennial polycultures of multi-purpose plants powered by the sun.” Lupines, a legume Following the patterns and ecological functioning of established forests, we
Managing forests for their edible benefits to humans is an ancient practice, with evidence and existing food forests having been found in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. As the New World was colonized, many of the first colonists and anthropologists didn’t know that they were looking at managed systems. To them, the forests in front
Working With Nature Rather Than Against It Natural Forest A food forest mimics a forest edge that is planted with edible plants. Picture all of the vertical layers of a forest growing together: Tall trees, small trees, shrubs, herbs, and ground covers. Tall, canopy trees grow inward from the edge. Correspondingly, smaller trees peek out