Forest Gardening
Hey so I got this amazing set of books about edible forest gardening (in a nutshell, it’s a permaculture technique, in which you mimic the organizational principles of a forest but plant food crops like fruit trees and greens and berries and such) and am wondering if anyone else out there is doing such a…
Hey so I got this amazing set of books about edible forest gardening
(in a nutshell, it’s a permaculture technique, in which you mimic the organizational principles of a forest but plant food crops like fruit trees and greens and berries and such)
and am wondering if anyone else out there is doing such a thing in their yards. Anyone?
I keep finding bits of your post that I have not addressed. My yard is south facing, but the above mentioned Magnolia (star magnolia) shades a portion of it (which is lovely in the summer). I have a little pond (in a buried wooden barrel) that will provide drinking water for my bees.
Also, grow the salad greens in containers so you can move them to shade in the summer so they do not flower and become bitter. That way you have salad all year from your garden. The grape vine is going to give us much needed shade on the patio and also hopefully fruit. The cherry is a Surefire semidwarf variety. With fruit trees, you can prune them to whatever size you want them to be, but also use a dwarfing rootstock. I have a huge magnolia, that provides much shade and habitat, but I was toying with the idea of replacing it with an edible crabapple that would do the same, plus fruit. Don’t have the heart to chop down a lovely tree though.
vanburenproud, dunno if you’re still reading this:
I think it might be cramped, but then that’s the point, so that you avoid the open spaces where weeds can take hold. Check out the four trees in a hole (google this) method of growing fruit tres. I also looked at the path of sun and shade for a season befroe deciding what I could squeeze in where) and did some planning. And if they are cramped, they might be a little stunted, which for my yard is fine. Select dwarf varieties and shade bearers, to make up for lack of space and sun.
This year, planning a Mars grape vine, another blueberry bush (sorry daylilies, goodbye, although they too are edible). Forgot to mention I also have an edible Aronia.
Hey folks, this is the website for the book, I am totally in love with it:
http://edibleforestgardens.com/
It’s great for small spaces (ohlise’s backyard sounds like a great example) because it’s about gardening vertically, thinking not about full sun and rows of tomato plants but in terms of using all the stories of a forest to produce fruits and nuts, lettuces, medicinal plants, mushrooms etc. etc. with no constant weeding and other work, you create a system that sustains and feeds itself.
It’s written for temperate zones, which includes NYC, and has this awesome revolutionary tone–the authors want forest gardens to overtake entire suburbs and re-establish an actual ecosystem that feeds its inhabitants. Probably not practical for Brooklyn, but then again as I walk around Bed Stuy and see all these lots that are still empty and will, given this economy, remain empty for quite some time, I do get inspired thinking about the potential.
Ohlise, can you say more? Are you finding that you are going to have too many trees once everything grows in, or do you have dwarf species or what? How much sun does your yard get?
there is a fun tour of prospect park that is run by wildman steve brill, where he explains all the foods growing wildly you can eat. maybe you can get some good ideas about things that grow in brooklyn – things i remember off the top of my head – mustard seeds, lambs ear, berries, sasprilla, etc. good luck and what a great idea!
Something like it. I have about 7 fruit bearing plants (a young sour cherry tree, blackberry bush ready to bear this year, red currant, gooseberry, passion fruit vine, strawberries, blueberry bush) in my backyard, do not weed, make compost and am going to have bees this year. Also planning a grape vine. Harvested dandelions last year, but did not eat much. Planted lettuce and salad greens (and ate them), okra (loved it), allow wild tomatoes from the compost to sprout and bear (very tasty snacks I must say), scallions are a perennial, as are a variety of herbs. And our yard is only 17 ‘x 40’.
What is this set of books? I just finished reading “Stalking the Wild Asparagus” an edible wild plant classic. It really challenged my concept of food and the consumer capitalist relationship to food. The book also gets into the history of these edibles that goes back to the middle ages in documentation.
I haven’t done it yet, but am starting to plan a vegetable and flower garden for the concrete pad that is presently my backyard. I’d love to discuss ideas and exchange resources – I’ve mostly been working on my compost and collecting seeds – but I just started some seeds in my front window for when it warms up.
My plan is to try a little of everything and see what works.