What is a Food Forest?
Become self-sufficient with a food forest
A food forest is a diverse, perennial garden that mimics a forest ecosystem and patterns found in nature. Through layers of design, life extends in all directions producing food, medicine, sanctuary, and habitat.
By working with nature, rather than against it – we can accomplish amazing things! A forest garden, to nature, is completely normal. What we perceive to be a common garden, with rows of single species is in fact not normal at all and the effort required to maintain these crops is evidence there is a better way.
Enter the Food Forest.
Food Forests are low-maintenance, sustainable, plant-based food production and self-sufficient systems incorporating fruit and nut trees, shrubs, herbs, vines, medicinal herbs, and perennial vegetables which have yields directly beneficial to humans. Nature grows in a highly optimized pattern, utilizing multiple layers and making the most of both horizontal and vertical space.
A food forest is thoughtfully designed with these 7 layers in mind to produce maximum nutrition, beauty and abundance.
Food forests integrate and draw from the disciplines of permaculture, regenerative agriculture, ecology, biology, and other natural sciences. Together, these disciplines create a living set of tools and practices that can help us engage with nature and our food production in a
meaningful way and, on a deeper level, transform the ways in which we see and live in the world.