© Molly Danielsson
Food Forest / Forest Gardens
A food forest, also called a forest garden, is a diverse planting of edible plants that attempts to mimic the ecosystems and patterns found in nature. Food forests are three dimensional designs, with life extending in all directions – up, down, and out.
Generally, we recognize seven layers of a forest garden – the overstory, the understory, the shrub layer, the herbaceous layer, the root layer, the ground cover layer, and the vine layer. Some also like to recognize the mycelial layer, layer eight (mushrooms). Using these layers, we can fit more plants in an area without causing failure due to competition.
Forests are life
Forests are home to approximately 50-90% of all the world’s terrestrial (land-living) biodiversity — including the pollinators and wild relatives of many agricultural crops (Source: WWF Living Planet Report 2010)
Tropical forests alone are estimated to contain between 10-50 million species – over 50% of species on the planet.
Rainforests cover 2% of the Earth’s surface and 6% of its land mass, yet they are home to over half of the world’s plant and animal species.
From these basic facts, it should be evident that forests themselves are synonymous with life, biodiversity and fertility. Where life gathers, complex and mutually beneficial relationships are created between organisms; natural harmonious communities form, and life forms multiply and proliferate.
If forests are where most of the life on the planet is, then anything less than a forest is most likely less suited to supporting life. Life supports life, yet we have forgotten that we are in fact part of the web of life itself, and depend on other life to sustain ours.
Humans tear down forests to create ‘fields’. The word derives from the idea that everything in the area has been ‘felled’ – that is cut down and cleared. In these cleared areas we build cities and farms. How much life and biodiversity do you see in your surroundings day to day compared to what exists in a forest? The answer should be self-evident, and the concept that ‘forests are life’ axiomatic.
Forest facts
Nature has been growing plants for 460 million years, and trees for 370 million years — Modern humans first appear in the fossil record in Africa about 195,000 years ago.
Trees once covered nearly all of Earth’s land mass, today they cover about 3.9 billion hectares or just over 9.6 billion acres, which is only about 29.6% of Earth’s total land area.
Today, there are only three great forests left on Earth: the Amazon Forest of Brazil, and the boreal forests in Russia and Canada.
Trees have been around for much longer than humanity. All the oil and coal we are burning away at a frantic rate was formed from the decomposed remain of ancient forests, millions of years old, which is why they’re called fossil fuels!
We are relative newcomers on this planet, yet we think from the perspective of a single lifetime, and so often from a much shorter time span. Forest have formed a balanced ecosystem that spanned the length and breadth of the planet long before humanity appeared, but now forests are in a pitiful state. What we seem to forget is that these forests were responsible for nursing and rearing all life on this planet at one point or another, and still function as the planet’s life support system.
Forests are the perfect design
With 460 million years experience, and a 9.6 billion acre garden, Mother Nature has refined the way to grow self sustaining gardens better than anyone! No weeding, spraying or watering!!!
Nature has supported, fed, clothed and sheltered humanity for 95% of its existence – agriculture only first emerged 10,000 years ago.
It stands that Nature is obviously the best (and only!) model available for us to imitate for growing gardens.
Here is where some real perspective can radically change our view of the world and our sense of place in it.
In our day to day lives, when we want to learn how to do something, we usually (hopefully!) intend to do whatever it is that we want to do well! That is, with a degree of competency, efficiency and effectiveness. We may even strive towards mastery, chasing the elusive goal of perfection.
This seems to be the case whether we are learning to play a sport, take up a new hobby, or starting a serious enterprise. Obviously, the best place to start is to see if someone has already done what we’re trying to do, and then we look to the best to learn from. We look for people to model ourselves on – Exemplars. By definition, an exemplar is a model or pattern to be copied or imitated. If we’re learning to play a sport, we naturally won’t want to model amateurish or incompetent people. Instead, we choose to imitate the champions in the area. So, what makes them champions? Their scale and quality of their successes, their experience, and their credentials.
So what if that enterprise we were undertaking was that of growing food?
Think of the best gardener you know, how much skill, experience and success do they have under their belt? What system of growing plants have they devised, and how sustainable are these systems? Are they energy intensive or energy neutral?
Now, lets reflect back to Mother Nature herself, hundreds of millions of years of growing every plant in existence, thriving without human intervention (without human existence for the greatest part), without any inputs of energy other than those supplied by natural systems — truly an exemplar to model.
What do we do then as a people? The most illogical thing imaginable, of course! We try to reinvent the wheel. But not only do we try to do the absurd and match nature, we delude ourselves that we can better nature in our insignificantly short lives, in our insignificantly short industrialised society, in its insignificantly short trial period where we are yet to determine whether this path taken by human society is even a viable one!
Humans in modern societies have the misconception that nature has to be fought, conquered and controlled. That’s a far cry from the ancient or more ‘primitive’ societies who see the Earth as their Mother. An interesting point to reflect on.
Nature grows in a highly optimised pattern, utilising multiple layers and making the most of both horizontal and vertical space.
A food forest typically is comprised of seven layers, the uppermost layer being the canopy layer. The canopy layer is comprised of tall trees — typically large fruit and nut trees. Between the tall canopy layer trees, there is a layer of low growing, typically dwarf fruit trees. Mind you, a dwarf fruit tree can be up to 4m (12’) tall, so don’t think these are necessarily very low trees! Nestled between all the small trees are the shrubs – which are well represented by currants and berries. Filling the remaining space are the herbaceous layer, these are the culinary and medicinal herbs, companion plants, bee-forage plants and poultry forage plants. Any remaining space is occupied by ground cover plants. These form a living mulch that protects the soil, reduces water loss to evaporation, and prevents weeds growing. We can still go a level deeper to the rhizosphere, or root zone, the underground level which is occupied by all our root crops, such as potatoes, carrots, ginger, yacon, etc. While that might seem like a lot of plants in one space, we still have one more to fill, the upright vertical space. This is filled by climbers and vines, which can be run up trellises, arbours, fences, trees or any other vertical support. This category includes grapes, climbing beans, many berries, passionfruit, kiwi fruit, climbing peas, chokos and many other species that love to climb.
Now there are a lot of misconceptions about what a food forest actually is that I would like to clear up.
Rows of trees are not food forests. They are instead what is described as an orchard.
Rows of trees with some other plant underneath are not food forests, they are orchards with under-plantings.
Rows of trees with rows of other plants alternating between them are not food forests, they are orchards employing intercropping.
A food forest my not necessarily have all seven layers, but it does have multiple layers, and even more importantly, it is a virtually self-sustaining living ecosystem.
In terms of form, the very thing that differentiates it from a two dimensional field of lettuce or any other monoculture is that it is a three dimensional structure.
In terms of function, being a living ecosystem gives it properties and attributes that are not present in agricultural systems and many gardens.
The benefits to be realized from food forests are as follows:
High Productivity
High density planting ensures high yields.
Biodiversity ensures continuous food supply throughout the year.
Natural Mulch, Compost & Fertilizer
Just like a forest, food forests are self-mulching and cover the soil on their own to retain moisture.
With such a high plant density, a high volume of fallen leaves accumulates and rots down to add organic matter to the soil.
Decomposers, the class of insects that break down organic matter, such as earthworms, wood lice (pill bugs, slaters), and millipedes, work to help the natural composting process.
Natural Pest Control
No chemicals required! Food forests use natural predators to get rid of pests – letting the experts do the work, naturally.
Predatory insects have a permanent home (a natural ecosystem) and abundant food sources (nectar rich flowers) in a food forest. Provide these and they will come on their own! A regular veggie patch is a home only for pest insects, there’s nowhere for good bugs to live!
An abundant, living ecosystem will attract birds and other larger predators, further contributing to natural pest control.
Resilience Through Biodiversity – Strength in Numbers
Nature does not grow large areas of one plant species (or plants in neat rows either!), Nature prefers biodiversity, not monocultures! Mixing different types of plant together makes them grow better, period. It creates a natural synergy that benefits all the plants involved. The plants as a result are more resistant to pests and disease, and are more productive (and nicer to look at!).
The use of Companion planting allow us to recreate nature’s biodiversity to gain these benefits
Easy Soil Repair – Chop n’ Drop
In Nature, when plants die off, they stay in place. They’re not uprooted and binned! Don’t uproot annuals that have finished, cut the stem at soil level. The roots rot away to create thousands of intricate air and water channels in the soil. The tops of the chopped plants create a natural sheet compost system like the forest floor
Preserve your soil, build paths. Don’t step in your garden beds, the soil is alive!!! (It’s actually a more complex ecosystem than anything that exists above ground). Stepping in your garden beds compacts the soil, closing all the air and water channels, making it harder for water and air to reach plant roots, which impairs the growth of plants.
Food Forests vs. Orchards
Imagine planting a 0.10-acre site with about 30 apple trees to create a mini orchard. For the home gardener, this would obviously yield a lot of apples! Still, a single-species orchard can be a tough space to manage. As a monoculture, it may attract pests and diseases that discover the smorgasbord of their favorite food. Consequently, this would require you to spend time and money on pest/disease treatment.
The standard apple orchard arrangement also doesn’t take advantage of the vertical space above and below the trees. There is a single harvest opportunity of apples. Most importantly, if it’s wiped out by a disease or pest, there’s no reward for your efforts. The single species—all needing the same nutrients in the soil—would, over time, deplete the soil and require imported fertilizer.
The Apple Orchard Transformed into a Food Forest
Imagine planting the northern edge (in the northern hemisphere) of the orchard with a row of tall nut trees. Alternatively, stagger rows of apple trees with plum and cherry trees, for example.
Likewise, in a commercial operation, select fruit crops with high economic value that demonstrate ease for commercial harvesting. In the rows with the fruit trees, you could plant some nut- or berry-yielding bushes.
Underneath and between all the trees and shrubs we could seed a variety of herbs and flowers that help to:
add nutrients to the soil (fertilizer and soil building)
attract beneficial insects (pest prevention)
attract pollinators (for better fruit set)
add potential harvests in the form of cut flowers and culinary/medicinal herbs
Some of my favorite understory herbs are yarrow, calendula, chives, comfrey, and daffodils. I like to seed the whole area with clovers.
An orchard on steroids!
You’ve created a biodiverse ecosystem instead of a monoculture. As a result, you’ve lessened the threat of pests, reduced the need for fertilizer, lowered the amount of maintenance required, and potentially increased and diversified the yield. This diversity encourages more stability in the system. In the backyard, this is great news, because few households will be able to use 30 bushels of apples! It would be nice to have a diversity of edible products.
Here are some examples of successful commercial food forests:
Mark Shepard of the 106-acre New Forest Farm describes his process in his book Restoration Agriculture.
Stefan Sobkowiak shares his experience of transforming a conventional apple orchard in the feature-length educational film Permaculture Orchard.
Have you considered growing perennial crops for money? The food forest can be an excellent model for ecological crop production.
History of the Food Forest
Managing forests for their edible benefits to humans is an ancient practice. In fact, existing ancient food forests have been found in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. As the New World was colonized, the colonists and anthropologists didn’t know that they were looking at managed systems. To them, the forests in front of them looked like untouched forest.
What we realize now, of course, is that the early hunter-gatherer societies didn’t wander around aimlessly in search of food. In fact, they knew which areas produced which desirable foods or medicines, and at which time of year. It informed their movement. As they moved through forest and prairies areas, they encouraged desirable plant species by cutting back the growth around them. Ultimately, giving them the space to grow abundantly helped them thrive and reproduce. It was an early form of forest gardening. They wouldn’t have spent a ton of time tending this space. However, the desired plants would certainly be given an advantage over other plants.
Geoff Lawton found a 2,000 year old food forest in Morrocco. Incredibly, 800 people continue to farm this desert oasis. Among other edible plants, you’ll find date palms, bananas, olives, figs, pomegranate, guava, citrus, and mulberry. Likewise, he found a 300 year old food forest in Vietnam that has been cultivated by the same family for 28 generations.
With these ancient stories in mind, we can create vibrantly abundant perennial gardens that require less maintenance. Above all, they can be a legacy left for future generations. This is the inspiration behind the modern food production strategy called a permaculture food forest.