While I wrote a rather basic overview of what a food forest is years ago (read it HERE if you like) I wanted to do more of a beginner’s guide to help you all start if you haven’t already.
This is really important to me because it is not only my favorite form of gardening, but I also truly believe that it is the most resilient and timeless food system when done well.
What is a “food forest”?
For those who don’t already know, a food forest is “a diverse agricultural system that mimics the structure and function of a natural forest to produce food, fiber, fuel, fodder, and medicine in abundance” or put more simply, a perennial garden that is designed to mimic a natural forest.
It’s important to note that there are other similar perennial systems that function the same way depending on your biome, they aren’t all forests.
For example, I’ve heard of people making edible or medicinal meadows that mimic how a natural prairie functions.
The type of ecosystem isn’t really important. The main thing to remember is that you are trying to tap into the natural rhythms and cycles in your local microclimate so that instead of being reliant on regular maintenance, the ecosystem over time starts to manage itself more (although it will likely always need SOME management).
Getting Started
The first thing to do is to observe your property. Sometimes you might have a very flat and honestly uninteresting area to work with (like one of my sites) but you still need to make some observations!
Take note of:
Sunlight amount (Remember, “full sun” only means “at least 6 hours”!)
Heat/Cold pockets (Watch where the snow melts last or freezes over first)
What grows there already (Are there any significant invasive species? Tons of bare spots?)
What kind of soil do you have? (There are TONS of free resources for doing basic soil analysis!)
Does water pool in any specific areas?
All of these will ultimately determine the success of your site.
One thing to note: Do NOT get analysis paralysis! I know there are a lot of factors, but frankly sometimes the best way to figure it out is to try! There is no harm at all in planting something and it dying if it means you understand your site on a deeper level!
One of my baby rhubarb plantings
Planning
The next thing you’ll want to do is map your site out using zones. I won’t get too much into the zones here since I’ve already written a pretty good article on the subject HERE.
Planning out (even rough planning!) what makes the most sense where goes a long way!
Soil
The next thing is to start building your soil in the areas you intend to grow in. For various reasons I don’t necessarily recommend using potting soil as your main garden soil. If you know how to make some kind of special soil mix you love with compost and all that then cool but for the average gardener I wouldn’t!
This is mostly because it is generally very low in nutrition and doesn’t hold water particularly well in my experience. I would start by adding either compost (or worm castings, manure, composted hay, whatever) and/or some kind of biomass that can decompose over time.
I tend to use compost and mulch (or sometimes just mulch if the soil nutrition isn’t too bad). This is for two main reasons: water retention, and building fertility over time. I have also written more in-depth about this subject HERE, and I highly recommend you read that!
Strawberries hit different home-grown!
What to Plant?
For most ecosystem types that will be relevant to my readers, you will want to keep a pretty heavy emphasis on perennial plants.
Obviously annuals are great for so many reasons (I mean who doesn’t love tomatoes?) but bear in mind that over time as your perennials grow older, you want to decrease the amount of annuals in your system. I would aim for about 10% or less of annuals by the time your perennial system is well-established depending on the context. If you have setbacks or perennial crop failure, then bring that percentage back up higher!
While it can be an adjustment, try to change your perspective about what kinds of plants must be grown in a garden, and think more about what can be grown for food. The answers may surprise you!
For more specific plant recommendations, check out these previous lists I’ve made:
Cold Climate Vegetables
Seed & Plant Resources (Other than yours truly!)
Blackberries
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