Why choose a Food Forest over Gardening with Annuals?
In farming and gardening, we have increasingly seen the importance of designing circular, closed-loop systems as a way toward a regenerative future. Looking at food production through the same lens makes one realize the linearity of current farming and gardening practices and urges us to reconsider and redesign the system.
When one thinks of growing their food, the first idea is a kitchen garden. This idea’s more regenerative and scaled-up progression leads to a small organic garden. Organic gardens simply refer to growing vegetables and fruits in the most natural way possible, especially steering clear of pesticides and synthetic chemical fertilizers.
While this process results in fresh, unadulterated produce, these plants are mostly annual- meaning they grow over a season and then perish. You have to replant them every year, and the process overall involves pretty high effort. The results are very fast – you can start consuming some foods within 14-60 days (arugula, bok choy, cress, broccoli, kale, etc.).
It’s a very linear way of solving this problem of getting food – you plant, grow, harvest, and that’s the end of the chain. It not only produces waste; it is energy-intensive and is not a truly self-reliant system.
This is where Food Forests come in.
Forests embody abundance. The intense microcosm of a forest depends on its symbiosis to not just survive but thrive. It’s never just about the tall trees reaching out towards the sky- those are a part of a much bigger, complex system, the smooth working of which creates an environment of diversity and abundance.
From the animals that live on the surface to the creatures crawling in the undergrowth to microorganisms in the soil. From the sunny patches that creep along shaded niches to the rocks that lie half-covered with moss. Every area is bursting with life – and everything has a role to play in the forest. The interdependency of the parts creates a self-reliant ecosystem. The model of a forest is, in my opinion, an exemplary model of an integrated existence. A regenerative existence.
such a dynamic symbiosis leads to resilient systems that can bounce back from external stresses. Like our bodies are made to heal and grow from injuries, forests can make too. The conventional-modeled organic farms and other linear models of food production lack resilience and the ability to respond to changes.
No wonder the phrase “think like a forest” has gained popularity in Permaculture Design and systems thinking. It’s not easy to replicate that kind of structured complexity into human systems, but it is possible to learn from it and design for the same cyclic anti-fragile benefits.
Food forests are mini replications of forests with the primary aim of producing food. Consider it a massive level up from organic gardens – with seven or more levels of vegetation possible. These layers in a food forest include the Canopy Layer, Fruit tree Layer, Shrub Layer, Herbaceous Layer, Ground-Cover Layer, Underground Layer, and Vertical layers/ Climbers. And the basic idea is that the starting point should also be the end point- physically, the only input is planting these layers. Everything else happens naturally, thanks to the self-reliant ecosystem of our own little forest!
This justifies the thorough pre-planning, research, and designing of the system as a whole – the ‘correct’ combination emerges as a multi-layered solution. Vegetation encompasses natural mulchers, pollinators, nitrogen fixers, food producers, dynamic accumulators, bug repellents, shade providers, and so on. These support a host of insects, birds, and microorganisms, which in turn make the soil more fertile and packed with nutrients. The planning and design are the most time-intensive parts of the process but also the most rewarding.
All this sounds good, but- you might ask- growing seven layers of perennials must take years.
Well, yes, it does. But here’s the good news. Since this system is composed of these various types, sizes, and kinds of plants, you start reaping the benefits of the food forest even before the larger canopy layers have grown fully. Smaller trees start producing fruit within two years, while herbs and shrubs start attracting pollinators within eight months. That does increase the importance of planning and designing the system well.
To further remove the effort of having to water and maintain the food forest, swales and co-planting systems are adopted. Having companion plants leverages pairing plants together such that the strengths of one plant balance the shortcomings of the other. This polycultural planting happens in guilds here; each organism serves and is served by the others. The result is a food forest- abundant food from a perennial closed-loop system without any active input from the user.
Here is an example list of plants, categorized by a layer you can use for a warm-temperate food forest!
To put things into perspective, organic gardens do not harm. Measured on a scale, they are at zero – doing neither harm to the environment nor actively giving back to it. However, on the same scale, food forests are positive and regenerative.
To know more about how to make you can design your own abundance, sign up for the 72-hour Permaculture Design Certificate Course.