What is a permaculture food forest
Food forests are made up of a diverse range of different plants, animals, etc. that are growing in a symbiotic (supporting one another) relationship. Food forests are generally a multi-layered ecosystem that provides the maximum amount of resilience and yield for human habitation. People and food forests go hand in hand. A food forest is a natural place designed by humans using nature. A lifestyle for humans to have sustainable engagement within nature’s limits.
We can use the same principles and ideas that we used to create a food forest to create any natural wild ecosystem. That is to say, with the same basics in food forestry and permaculture, you will also be able to design and create natural wildlife systems that are also balanced and healthy for the benefit of wildlife. We just use different species in different ratios to promote the balance in the diversity that is required for long-term sustainability without human interference. So basically, learning to grow a food forest is learning how to grow any forest. Since a forest is the state of which all environments strive, learning how to grow a forest means learning how to grow, following the natural process from desert to forest.
So why would you want a food forest?
Through the application of permaculture focusing on food forestry, we can create systems where each element, each living member of that community, can live and grow in harmony with one another. Whether you wish to yield mushrooms, timber, fruit, nuts, fiber, wool, eggs, or any other resource, like time. You can benefit from applying permaculture. So, there is something in the action of permaculture that will benefit all practitioners. The more you practice, the greater the benefit.
Why grow a food forest at all?
Do you want to be free and healthy? Silly question right. Of course, we all wish to be free and healthy. So the same sentiment can also be applied to the question, why plant a food forest? Once we start to get into the benefits, maybe you will also feel the same. That question is a no-brainer.
Soil life filters our groundwater for drinking and daily use. Plants filter the air. A living, balanced biodiversity-ecosystem maintains chemistry that supports and sustains an abundance of life. Getting outdoors and connected with nature is of immense importance to human health and wellness. So, if you want to be free from the 9-5 and have more time devoted to doing what you are passionate about, a food forest can provide you with most of your food and medicinal needs. It could also provide your shelter and clothes, tools, and other equipment. This will reduce your need for money to buy such things, or it might provide you with the resources to trade to obtain other resources not available in your system. Food, drink, air, and the general environment are known to be the best environment for human health. Living in a food forest is shown to be the best lifestyle for health and freedom to do what you find valuable, which adds to your wellness.
Health benefits from having a food forest
That might seem like nothing but big hyped-up praise for something that we obviously wish to promote. While that is true. We do see the benefits. We experience and experience the benefits each and every day. This is our lifestyle, of a sort, but that is not the point, and we wish you to pay attention to the environment in which the human species evolved. Our characteristics are best suited to a certain type of lifestyle. That lifestyle is one in which humans are daily engaged and interacting in their natural environments. Where the soil is alive and on our fingers. Where food is covered in microbiology. Where the dust and other so-called dirty things are actually helpful. As seen in the study on Amish communities and asthma. So, if you want to live a healthy lifestyle, you really must have your own or have access to a food forest.
By learning how to grow a food forest, you are learning how to grow in a landscape. You will have the principles and understanding required to turn a desert into a forest, whether for wildlife in nature reserves or in agriculture for human consumption. As you can see, this is a skill that gives you resilience and the ability to secure your own essential needs. A food forest can be designed to supply all your material needs. Food, tick. Medicine, tick. Shelter, tick. Fibre, tick. Fuel, tick.
As seen above, there are numerous health benefits to having your own food forest. Studies show the benefits of being broad and diverse. Identified known benefits include, improved lung function, better heart outcomes, fewer diabetes, reduction of stress, more energy, greater concentration and a boosted immune system.
Food forest is a healthy and sustainable way to feed your family. A Food Forest is a landscape that contains a mix of plants, trees, shrubs, vines, and ground cover all growing in a harmonious relationship. It can be a small space or a large area. The goal of a food forest is to grow and harvest as much of the food for our families, as well as the surrounding environment.
How to grow a food forest?
From the ground up. A forest grows on a dead forest. Meaning that the biomass above the forest floor is matched by the biomass beneath her feet. So we need to get biomass that will support the system we wish to grow, starting below the ground and working our way up. For these, we use pioneering or weed plants. These are plants that grow very fast and produce a lot of seeds. Most of their energy is in the seeds. Annual and short-lived, fast-growing legumes and big leafy greens are great for getting started.
At the start, make sure you are clear with your intentions. Understand what it is that we wish to yield and the viability of doing so. You will need to know how the resources and energy will flow, roughly speaking at least. So you will need to do your site analysis to determine the layout or patterns that would best suit the environment, resources, and desires. Put like with like and position elements in a way where they are interacting with each other in a way that is mutually beneficial. For example, chooks in the understory of a food forest. This helps both birds and plants. Start where you are and build from there.
Learning and implementing guilds, companions, layering. Understanding sectors and zones will give you immense value. Of course, the actual doing of a food forest is personalised by many factors, so they are not a right or wrong way. However, in permaculture, although we have absolute freedom in what is right for us at any particular time, we do follow strict core ethics that help us grade our options in terms of fitness for the purpose of permanent human culture or sustainable human habitation. We plan on sharing more and more to help you learn how to develop your own food forest. If this is something you would like to help with, join our community group where you can ask your questions, share your feedback. It is a place where we can all receive help and support from one another in creating natural abundance for health and happiness in our lives and for all the lives to come.
Financial benefits of a food forest
When you grow your own food forest, you are saving money by purchasing food etc. but you are also putting your energy into a more harmonious way of engaging with nature instead of monocrops using brut force to grow their yields. Once you have set up your land with water, soil, plants and other necessary tools that you might be using, you do not have much more cost. So, at the start, there is an investment in time and resources (e.g. money). However, let us take the example of a lemon tree. You purchase a lemon tree ($35) or grow a lemon from a seed that was collected from a fruit you used. You spent the same amount on soil improvements and that amount again on companion species, so you need to use multiple plants and the ability to improve your soil or dirt.
So far you are out $35×3 = $105. So the initial cost might seem pricey for a fruit that can be purchased at, let us say, 25 cents each to $1 each depending on location and timing, etc. know citrus trees can grow strong for over 50 years. Most farmed plants do not reach this age and are replaced at around 20-25 years after a few years’ establishment before cropping commercially. So you have a plant that will get you fruit, in this case a lemon, for the next 20 years approximately. Each citrus tree will provide around 150-200 pieces of fruit a year, saving between $37.50 on the lowest side and close to $200. Now the average would most likely be a saving of $100 a year per fruit tree. This means after the establishment and let us say the establishment costs another $100 in water etc. for the extra three years, making the total cost around $300 to get a fruit tree into cropping age healthy and abundant. It means the first three years you are out some time and energy as well as around $300 (you could do this a lot cheaper). After 6 (six) the fruit tree has paid for itself and the rest is pure savings in your back pocket.
Now you add in 100 fruit trees all saving you $100 a year for 20 years. You have a total savings over that period of $2000 over the life of the tree and, all together in a small food forest, you would save 100 fruit trees x $100 a year yield ($10,000 a year saving) over 20 years comes to an astronomical savings of $200,000!
This doesn’t include the health benefits and the savings from not requiring medicines and costly treatment. You get a greater level of awareness and peace from working with nature and building resilient systems, according to Her guide. The extra years of your life from your new-found wellness. The reduced stress and higher energy will all be worth thousands each year averaged out of a lifespan. So now your probably wondering how much time and money it takes to get a small food forest up and productive for a family. Is that correct?
How much does it cost to install a food forest?
To install an acre of forest food fast that will be generally cropping in three years would cost about $25,000 an acre and provide a savings of maybe $200,000 over 20 years. Now the cost might be a bit more due to issues with earthworks etc. This means you need a bit more for a dam and swales etc. that will connect and spread the water flow on the site. So use this as a guide. I can do more post breaking down the cost involved if there is an interest. So let us know.
Now for the important factor, time. It is probably the most important factor as you can earn more or reduce saving, but you can change your time. Plants and seasons happen in their own time, not yours. It will take you around 3 years to make your food forest productive and another 2 years to larger crops, generally speaking. So, on average, it would cost for a two acre site to be development into a permaculture food forest might end up looking like something like a $15,0000 dam and swales, and $35,000 for everything else.
Now the cost of developing another acre or two once you have one up and running is greatly reduced to the point where you could do it all for just the labour cost. Plants can be propagated from your existing food fores, soil conditioners and mulch can all be harvested from your established permaculture food forest. So maybe the next acre costs half the amount and, because you now have experience on the site, it is feasible that you will have developed a bit of localised knowledge of the environment on your site and might be able to get the fruit trees up to cropping in under 3 years and to decent crops in under 5 years!
After the first 5 years, you can set up an acre a year. So, in 10 years you could have 6 acres growing abundantly for you with 3 acres of crop and a new acre each year yielding large crops. The first year costs $25,000 + your labour. The second year is basically your labour and some water, same as the third etc. So you can see that slow and steady yields a pretty decent return.
Designing the permaculture food forest
This is a complex process and will depend on your individual needs. A lot of the time, most people just need a concept design, that is to say, a design that shows the patterns and placement of general areas. Therefore, working closely with a permaculture food forest professional or local permaculture groups, or online permaculture support groups, or knowledgeable family and friends, or a permaculture design certificate (PDC) will really benefit you.
Once we have the basic knowledge of permaculture and permaculture food forest, you can move through simple steps and answer the relevant questions, gather and learn the specifics of your own site and goals. Working with someone that has prior experience will save you maybe hundreds if not thousands of dollars and years of growth by doing things in a proven way. That is the advantage of a permaculture profession. Again, this is not just self – promote but to really help you understand that my first permaculture food forest took 10 years to develop because we were learning as we went on. It was a steep learning curve. Even for someone like myself who had at the time a degree in management (think permaculture food forest as a project, management really helps), a trade level horticultural certificate from a tafe college as well as a permaculture design certificate (PDC) but very little experience.
I have over 10 years of first – hand experience, trained in soil microbiology with Dr Elaine Ingham (one of the foremost expert soil microbiologists alive), as well as field ecology (regenerative agriculture) under Mark Shepard through Ecolonomic Action Team (EAT) to name but two. This means I can now go from concept to installed food forest in under a year and to crop in under 3 years. Meaning you can get a cropping food forest of your own in under 5 years!
The biggest issue when it comes to permaculture is food forest failure.
The biggest issue many gardeners have is lack of patience. We all wanted everything yesterday. Well, let me remind you that we do not control time and there is a reason why the old proverb says that the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time to plant one in! Or that it is a wise man/women who plants a tree that they know they will never enjoy the shade of, because that person understands the flowing benefits you can bring time and time again even after you have died. In effect, you can cause a massive chain of action that fundamentally changes life on earth. Your actions could help out for countless generations to come.
What to plant.
Plant what will grow and start from there. This is serious advice. You need to find something that will grow well on your site in its current state. So you will need to understand what ecosystem or ecological succession are you current in and at what eco-tone does it need to be at (I used ecosystem, ecological state [succession], eco-tone) all meaning basically the same thing in this context. Just explaining my vocabulary.
From there, you can start developing and improve your soil and, therefore, your ability to grow plants that are suited to higher eco-tones. Or you can cut back and take away woody materials to go back to an eco-tone. For example, moving from a forest to a market garden. The forest is higher and the market garden lower. When we say lower it is more bacterial dominated (alkaline soil) soils and plants that grow in those conditions and higher, we mean fungal dominated (acidic soil), and the plants associated with it.
You want to plant in succession. So early adapting plant species start, up to 90% and higher and then, as the environment changes, you add the long – term species in until the adaption species are around 10% of the total plant species and 90% are your productive long – term species. So we should plant like with like and understand a garden is a never ending joy. You do not grow a garden to get to an end state. It grows on. So be flexible. Plants can get here and there for a bit and a while when needed. So be flexible and learn from your site.
Plants should be laid out in plant stamps or guilds. These combinations of plants are selected for their likeness. They all like similar environments and habits, their shape. So we wish to have trees, tall, shrubs under and on the side of trees, herbs, ground covers, vines etc. We have plants that have deep roots and shallow roots. We select our guilds in a way that each plant helps and supports the other plants around it.
Old lie that still gets through around
Some people, sometimes say that planting multiple plants like this makes for competition for your fruit trees. Yes, that is in regard to competition now for herbivores from predictors. But not for plants. Each one of them is performing a service to the total guild. The sun is shared, water dispersed and nutrients held in the biology. Plants actually grow faster and stronger when you mimic the natural environments in which they evolved. Who would have thought that? Plants are best growing in the environment they have evolved for. Makes sense right? A plant is most at home in an environment in which its features have co-developed. Simple.
Some people say that drop-mulching will create homes for pests and spread diseases throughout your site. The funny thing is that these people are the ones with continual disease issues or pest threats that they, as humans, control and manage. We let nature do what she has been doing for years. We trust nature. These growers are scared of nature.
The other thing that turns many is the stacking of plants that we do in permaculture at times. That is planting plants way too close to each other. That is because we are growing mulch and our soil improvers, conditions on site. It uses lots of energy and does a very effective job of improving your soil structure. There are lots of other ones, so if you have any other questions, or you have read, hear, seen another saying that growers believe and you don’t think it sounds right, let us know, so we can also have a look, and maybe we can share some insight from our experience in working with plants and nature.
The most valuable elements – water, sun, air, life.
Water is life. The more water you have, the more life you can have. This is a general basic understanding that is useful to keep in mind. Without water, all your efforts and work could die and be pointless. You might not get any other yield but knowledge of what not to do if you are not smart with your water choices. But in saying that all elements are vital. So the sun, wind, fires and wildlife all need to be factored into your design and implementation of your permaculture food forest.
Grow with the flow
The biggest secret when it comes to successful permaculture food forestry and permaculture in general, is your ability to go with the flow of nature. To accept what is before you and act on that. Ideas, plans and goals are all good, but we must be realistic and grounded in the now. We must observe our current situation and act in confidence that we are at best guessing what to do and that is okay. Our educated guesses get better and better with time. The more you try and control the forest, control nature, the more energy and resources you will need. Some permaculture projects require large amounts of input, but that is because they yield large amounts of value. It is all proportionate. Observe and interact. Not interact, then observe.
Take your clues from nature.
The biggest clue that I have gotten from nature when it comes to planting my permaculture food forest is to plant with the rains. Here in south-east Queensland, Australia, we have a wet summer-ish time to autumn. So, getting everything ready to plant out at the end of summer and during autumn reduces the water required to establish plants. It also saves you time in manually watering or setting up irrigation, maybe.
Where to first start with your permaculture food forest?
Start with an overall analysis of why you want a permaculture food forest and what resources, skills and abilities you have which will help you. What resources, skills and abilities will be required. What is the actual cost in time, energy and money, etc. Once you have a realistic idea, start planning from pattern to detail. Looking first at the unchanging or small – changing elements. Eg sun angles, rainfall to roads and houses to plants and soil. Working on things from permanent to adaptable. This will help you get off to a solid foundational understanding that will benefit you through the whole process.
Permaculture food forests grow people.
Having your own permaculture food forest will bring with it a change in your lifestyle. You will be harvesting from your space instead of going into the shops for one. But in all seriousness, living with a food forest side by side will completely change your life. Your lifestyles will never the same and nor will you want your old life back.
How long does a food forest take to completely change your life?
This completely depends, but within 10 years my lifestyle was night and day different. My mindset has changed. My energy, everything has changed for the better by having a permaculture food forest of my own. What do you think? Does having a permaculture food forest seem like something you want? Can you handle having the most beautiful nature right next to you? Can you handle having a place where food is abundance for you and the wildlife?
Permaculture food forest vs regular food forest?
There is no right or wrong way. Just some methods are most suitable for certain situations. Permaculture teaches us a framework in which we can investigate and make ethical, sustainable solutions that align with nature and how physics and biology work. Through the understanding of permaculture your ability to create food forests will be enhanced. The more you learn and practice, the better you will be and the better your permaculture food forest will be. Food forest can be created by someone without any knowledge of permaculture that is true. But we see the value in adding the too ideas together to provide more value and useful information.
