ARCHITECTURE
IDEAS
CABINS
Wild Woodz 
CATEGORIES
POPULAR
Nature Animals
People Craft
Science Design
Jump to WildWoodz
Most people choose to live in a Quonset hut because these are known as some of the strongest buildings in ...
Can You Live in a Quonset Hut?
Most people choose to live in a Quonset hut because these are known as some of the strongest buildings in ...
The newly-renovated New York office of architectural firm Woods Bagot is reflective of one thing, the city’s gritty personality. Black ...
Woods Bagot’s ‘New York City Grit’
The newly-renovated New York office of architectural firm Woods Bagot is reflective of one thing, the city’s gritty personality. Black ...
Living in a city with your house looking like a tree, sounds impossible, right? Well, it may actually become a ...
OAS1S – a Community Design Project With Houses That Look Like Trees
Living in a city with your house looking like a tree, sounds impossible, right? Well, it may actually become a ...
When you look at this table you immediately think - Inception. If you have seen the movie then you know ...
Coffee Table That Brings the Movie Inception to Life
When you look at this table you immediately think - Inception. If you have seen the movie then you know ...
For the love of woodz, craft and nature.
 
Share
Food Forests Could Bring Free Organic Produce To Everyone
In Nature by Anja, May 31, 2016

Gardens modeled on natural woodland are becoming more and more popular nowadays. And while they have been around for a long time with many of the native cultures practicing this form of sustainable agriculture, most of us are still quite new to this concept. The so-called food forests could in the future bring free produce to everyone.

It is a form of low-maintenance plant-based food production which replicates natural ecosystems in that climate, incorporating fruit and nut trees, shrubs, herbs, running vines and perennial vegetables. Beneficial plants and companion planting is a big part of the food forest system. Food forests are not “natural”, but are designed and managed ecosystems that are very rich in biodiversity and productivity.

Food forests give free organic products to everyone

“Forest gardening is a form of low-maintenance plant-based food production which replicates natural ecosystems” by Rowan Adams is licensed under CC BY 4.0

Unlike much of the modern industrial agricultural system which relies heavily of inputs such as fossil fuels and artificial herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers, a food forest once established is self-regulating and highly abundant in yield.

Forests 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 but unfortunately society has been conditioned to clear the land and create unsustainable fields which need high inputs to be maintained.

Food forests are abundant and can yield significantly more than the conventional farming

As well as being high yielding food forests are high in biodiversity and life. Food forests can be developed and grown in most climate zones and because they involve vertical stacking are great for suburban and urban areas. Soon, even NYC will get its own floating food forest!

Check out this video to see how a couple has transformed a traditional suburban landscape into a highly productive forest garden.

The 7 layers of the forest garden

Food forests give free organic products to everyone

Source

1. Canopy

Typically over 30 feet (~9 meters) high. This layer is for larger Forest Gardens. Timber trees, large nut trees and nitrogen-fixing trees are the typical trees in this category. There are a number of larger fruiting trees that can be used here as well depending on the species, varieties and rootstocks used.

2. Low Tree Layer

Typically 10-30 feet (3-9 meters) high. In most Forest Gardens, or at least those with limited space, these plants often make up the acting Canopy layer. The majority of fruit trees fall into this layer.

3. Shrub Layer

Typically up to 10 feet (3 meters) high. The majority of fruiting bushes fall into this layer. Includes many nut, flowering, medicinal and other beneficial plants as well.

4. Herbaceous

Plants in this layer die back to the ground every winter… if winters are cold enough, that is. They do not produce woody stems as the Shrub layer does. Many culinary and medicinal herbs are in this layer. A large variety of other beneficial plants fall into this layer.

5. Rhizosphere

There is some overlap with the Herbaceous layer and the Groundcover layer; however plants in this layer are often shade tolerant, grow much closer to the ground, grow densely to fill bare patches of soil, and often can tolerate some foot traffic.

6. Soil Surface

These are root crops. There are an amazing variety of edible roots that most people have never heard of. Many of these plants can be utilized in the Herbaceous Layer, the Vining/Climbing Layer, and the Groundcover/Creeper Layer.

7. Vertical Layer

These vining and climbing plants span multiple layers depending on how they are trained or what they climb all on their own. They are a great way to add more productivity to a small space, but be warned. Trying to pick grapes that have climbed up a 60 foot Walnut Tree can be interesting to say the least.

H/T to offgridquest

Reshare our content with appropriate credit:
- via Woodz.co (must include a link to the article)
- if it exists, give h/t (specified at the end of our articles)

Leave a Reply

1 Comment on "Food Forests Could Bring Free Organic Produce To Everyone"

avatar
wpdiscuz_captcharefresh
avatar
wpdiscuz_captcharefresh
  Subscribe  
newest oldest most voted
Notify of
john
Guest
john
Share On TwitterShare On Google

please join our group and post your blessings at Food forests for healing & health https://www.facebook.com/groups/361195824263441/

looks really good , thank you so much, we gratefully appreciate you , sending blessings from Fruit forests & Forest gardens for healing & health https://www.facebook.com/Fruit-forests-Forest-gardens-for-healing-health-347638495382415/

Vote Up0Vote Down  Reply
2 years ago
Latest
On one side, in the upper floor, are located side-hung windows that provide natural light and ventilation into the living ...
9 Nov 2019
Guaecá House
The living room is a place where we usually spend most of our free time. Therefore it is important that ...
2 Nov 2019
Living room ideas #2
They repolished the wooden structures that were composed of aged stone and combine them with new glass.
10 Oct 2019
Glass, Wood and Stone “Mrs Fairy”
The fully insulated glass cabin is encased on three sides by cedar slats. A green roof is planted with sedums ...
30 Sep 2019
Sunset Cabin
Feeling good under the sunny sky, we were taken away by the colors of the sea and once again by ...
23 Sep 2019
SimSim Cafe
RELATED POSTS
In the summer of 2014, some people stumbled across bizarre 30-meter-wide (100 feet) craters in the middle of Yamal Peninsula ...
Mysterious Craters In Siberia Might Be A Sign Of Something Very Alarming
On the East Coast of China nestled in the mouth of the Yangtze River, sits an ancient little fishing village ...
An Old And Long Forgotten Fishing Village Is Being Reclaimed By The Nature Surrounding It
Global warming is responsible for the melting of permafrost which is subsequently releasing large amounts of methane into the atmosphere. ...
Methane From Melting Arctic Permafrost Will Certainly Trigger Additional Global Warming
Architecture Wild Woodz About Us
Ideas Terms & Privacy
Cabins Contact
For the love of wood, craft and nature.
Copyright © 2015-2019 Woodz. All Rights Reserved.