Food Forest Winter Prep

Trust me, I’ve been there; wanting to start a food forest but you realize it’s the end of the season and there’s nothing you can do…right?

Actually there’s a lot you can get a head start on before the spring!

Today we’ll go over the basic things you can do to get a massive head start and make future-you less stressed!

Bed Prep

The first big chunk of work is bed prep.

For me, this usually consists of laying wood mulch down, chopping and dropping plants to use as mulch, or laying out hay and leaves. Basically anything to get the ground covered.

The biggest benefit of doing this in the fall or early winter is that it has more time to start breaking down before the next spring hits.

Depending on what I have at my disposal, I also may start a cover-crop to add nitrogen to the soil. See my article on nitrogen fixation HERE.

I highly recommend a book called The Woodchip Handbook if that is your chosen mulch. I also recommend checking out THIS article on mulch that I’ve previously written.

(And no, I don’t earn anything from you clicking that link, I just really like the book!)

Other than that, I may move any soil around or add any compost where I need it. This is all great fall/winter work!

Planning & Design

Fall and winter is prime planning time.

At this point in the year you have a clearer head when it comes to the garden because less is happening (if you live in a cold climate) and there isn’t much to do.

This is usually when I will plan out what I want to grow, where I want to put it all, what my plant guilds are, and what I need to purchase or gather before next spring.

In your first year, you might spend it growing either annuals or less permanent perennials (aka ones you can move around if needed in following years) so that you can take time to observe where things do best.

In later years, it will be mostly adjustment and taking into account how the past season has gone and what you need to change.

This is also a great time to figure out where your main “zones” are, what kinds of microclimates are present on your site, what seeds to plant, and what kinds of perennials you want to get started early.

What To Plant

Deciding what to plant can be a little bit of a challenge sometimes, especially when fruit trees cost so much money.

While I will probably write a whole article on this topic at some point (maybe next week?) here are the basics of what you want to look for:

• Will you eat it?

• Is it low-effort? (If not, how much effort are you willing to put in?)

• Does it take forever to produce? (The earlier the start the better)

• Can it grow well in your climate? (Think cold hardy vegetables, and fruits)

• Will planting it now have consequences? (Is it hard to move? Is it somewhat invasive? Would planting it make it hard to get rid of?)

This time of year, there are a few things you can do to minimize your spring planting:

• Plant seeds that require stratification. (Plants like ramps, plums, and apples all require cold winters to actually grow from seed)

• Plant bare root trees and shrubs.

• Plant hardy plants (Walking onions for example will be just fine growing through the winter and will have a head start on their roots for the following spring)

Bare root plants are essentially dormant perennials that look like sticks with roots. This time of year they’re in stasis, so putting them in the ground will help them instantly start growing as soon as it gets warm in the spring giving them a nice jump-start!

It’s also just satisfying to put a stick in the ground knowing that like magic, it will start branching out and forming leaves very fast when things warm up!

Another benefit to bareroot plants is that they’re more well-adapted to your soil rather than expecting a special potting mix. This makes for hardier more resilient trees.

Here is my recent list of resources for online plant nurseries and seed stores to buy from (again, no affiliate links or anything, I just like the companies):

Plant Resources and Seed Suppliers

Finally, I try to always learn a new skill if I can. It’s hard with things being busy but usually I can squeeze in one more useful skill that will help me either in everyday life or in the garden.

Here’s a list of skills for you to learn:

Skills For Resilience

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