An edible food forest is a type of food-producing system that mimics nature and creates a low-maintenance edible garden. Food forest systems can be designed and adapted to suit small urban blocks, sloping sections, and large open spaces. The idea of creating a food forest is that you can let it go a little wild and allow nature to create balance. Food forests not only provide an abundance of food, but they also promote biodiversity, sequester carbon, attract wildlife, nurture the soil, and create a beautiful and tranquil place to be.
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What is a Food Forest?
A food forest is a layered system of gardening that is designed to promote biodiversity and create an ecosystem that feeds off each other through mutually beneficial relationships. A food forest aims to mimic patterns and systems that occur in nature. Although, the food forest gardens we create are definitely not what occurs naturally eg: planting tomatoes with guavas, feijoa, and lettuce. It is more so about creating layers both above the surface with different heights and shapes, as well as below the surface with varying root structures. This way all the plants can get the space they need to thrive, provide nutrients, shade, and shelter to others, and work all together as one big family to grow abundant food supplies.
Why Create a Food Forest Garden?
If you are looking to create a low-maintenance garden that produces food all year round, is lush, tranquil, and attracts birds, bees, and other local wildlife, then a food forest may be the garden for you! Food forests are a great way to grow a huge variety of plants in a single area. The ground covers will smother weeds so there is one less job for you to do! The plants are mainly perennials so this means we don’t need to dig up the soil and replace plants each season. The less we dig up our soil the better as this promotes healthy microorganisms and soil life.
There are certain characteristics of a food forest that allow it to renew and support itself with little external input
Planting Density
- It’s important to cover and protect the soil from the harsh sunlight
- Planting densely creates a habitat for wildlife
- More leaf matter to fall and nourish the soil
- More roots to hold the soil together and reduce erosion
- More flowers for the bees = more pollination and more food production
- Dense planting will reduce the number of unwanted weeds
- Having flowers and fruit trees planted close together can increase pollination as the bees and pollinators will be nearby
Growing a wide variety of plants
- Planting a wide variety of plants will mean you have fruit, vegetables and flowers ready at all different times of the year
- Diversity in plants not only provides you with a wide range of nutrients but also your garden and wildlife
- Different root structures will provide the soil microbes with different secretions and reduce the severe depletion of nutrients in the soil. If you have all one crop planted in a single area they use up the same nutrients and the soil can become depleted. Having a wide variety can help keep it balanced.
- Plants have different flowers which will attract different pollinators to your garden. Each pollinator will achieve different results for each plant. It’s important not only to have flowers available all year round but also a variety of different kinds.
Self Fertilising
- With a variety of layers and heights in your food forest, the plants will drop their leaves and fruit which will act as a mulch and built-in fertiliser.
- Some plants may get overgrown or die off (survival of the fittest!) which will also return nutrients to the soil.
- From time to time you may need to trim your trees to reduce their height or width. This trimming can be put through a mulcher or cut up and returned back to the garden to feed the plants.
Self Seeding
- By letting some plants go to flower and seed you will have new plants popping up each year. This can be an extremely easy way to grow more food for free.
- At times fruit trees may grow beneath the canopy from the seeds of rotting fruit. It can be a good idea to move these as they won’t have adequate space to grow. Either, relocate them or pot them up to swap or trade.
How to Start a Food Forest Garden
Step 1: Choose a location and prep the soil
First up, we must decide on an area to start converting into a food forest system. This could be an old veggie patch, the front lawn, along the back fence line, or a large open field. The preparation needed will depend on the condition of the area selected. But in general, you will want to:
- Clear any debris or unwanted structures
- Remove or smother the grass. This can be done by laying down an old carpet for a few months to kill off all the grass. If the grass is still alive and present it can be hard to maintain. Another way is to use sheets of cardboard, as these will eventually breakdown once the grass has died.
- If your location has never been used to grow before, the soil quality may be extremely poor or sandy. It could be a good idea to add a layer of compost or organic manure.
- Cover your area in a thick layer of mulch. This will protect the soil and help keep any grasses or unwanted weeds away.
- Give the area a good water and feed with a liquid seaweed solution.
Step 2: Selecting a plant list
We want to select plants that:
A: we want to eat and
B: provide benefits to other aspects of our garden (animal feed, mulch, birds, shade, etc).
Below are the 7 layers of the food forest. Write down a wish list of plants for each layer and then you can start mapping out which plants will go where depending on their size, what “layer” they are, and how much light they will need to grow.
7 Layers of a Food Forest
1 Canopy Layer – Large trees that require full sun – fruit and nut trees (Avocado, Chestnut, Mango)
2 Understorey Trees – Dwarf fruit or small trees ( Citrus, Papaya)
3 Perennial Shrubs – Small bushy plants (Berries, Ginger, Arrowroot)
4 Herbaceous Layer – Herbs and medicinal plants ( Lemongrass, Basil, Aloe vera)
5 Rhizosphere – Root Crops ( Potato, Tumeric, Carrot)
6 Ground Cover – Low-lying creepers ( NZ spinach, Sweet potato, Oregano, Thyme, Watermelon, Sweet Potato)
7 Vertical layer – Vines and climbers ( Passionfruit, Gourd, Grapes, Pumpkin)
Some plants may fall into multiple categories – Sweet potato is a root crop but also a fantastic ground cover. Ginger is also a root crop but can make a great Perennial shrub layer.
Step 3: Designing
Mapping out a design can be as detailed or as rough as you like. It is important to come up with some kind of plan so that you can decide where to plant your larger trees so that they get enough sunlight. You don’t want to be digging up and moving things around. This should be your master plan not what you are starting with. So go big, add in all things you want so that you can plan for the future and ensure you can room.
How to map out your food forest design
1 Draw the outline of your location or property to scale
2 Add in any permanent structure (sheds, veggie patch, established trees, fences)
3 Map where the sun and shade come from. Mark areas as full sun, part sun, or full shade.
4 Add in your large Canopy trees and allow space for them to grow.
5 Add in your pathways or future large structures (pond, shed, chicken coop)
5 Add in your sub-canopy trees
6 Add in your scrubs, herbaceous layer, root crops, ground cover, and vertical layers.
7 Add seating, a table, or a place for you to view and enjoy your food forest.
Step 4: Planting
To start with you will want to select your large canopy trees and ensure there is enough space for them to grow. The height and width will be noted on the labels. Then you can start adding in your sub-canopy/dwarf trees. Large trees may take years to fully establish so your food forest may not look very ‘foresty’, to begin with. This is a great time to interplant with more annual crops (lettuce, tomatoes, broccoli, etc).
When I first started my back fence line in a food forest system, there were large gaps between the trees. This meant there was a lot more light and space available but I knew that eventually my canopy and sub-canopy trees would grow to fill the space. I used this time to grow seasonal veggies and edible flowers. As well as accumulating and establishing new shrub layers and ground covers.
How to Source Plants for your Food Forest?
Creating a food forest can involve a lot of new plants and the costs will quickly add up. This is where learning how to make cuttings can be extremely valuable. Not only can you reproduce your plants to grow in other areas of the garden but you can also swap, trade, and sell your plants to acquire new ones. Keep an eye out on local pages as you can pick up established trees for cheap or even free! I have managed to get established fruit trees that are already fruiting for less than $20. This can really speed up your food forest production.
Maintaining your Food Forest
The idea of creating your food forest is that it will require less care and attention. This can mean it will look a little wild from time to time (in a good way)
- Pruning or trimming back excess trees can be a great way to propagate more or mulch to feed the garden. This can be done once the tree has finished fruiting.
- Some trees will need to be staked and secured while they are young so that they don’t snap off.
- Propagating plants to establish in other areas – it can take a while for some plants to establish so once they have you can start to reproduce them in other areas.
- Harvesting fruit – this is important so that you can reduce the number of unwanted critters (such as rats). Rotting fruit on the ground can also promote fruit fly infestations which you do not want! So ensure all fruit is picked and preserved or composted.
- Feeding – It can be beneficial especially in a young food forest to add in extra fertilisers. Try using natural products such as seaweed solution or creating your own from leftover plants and weeds.
- Netting or bagging fruit – Depending on your location you may need to net or place net bags on your fruit. Fruit fly, bats, and birds can decimate crops in just a few hours.