So, What is A Food Forest?

A food forest can be many things to many people and I doubt that any two of them could even be close to being the same.

One thing I feel can be consistent across any site though is that a thriving food forest is about creating a thriving ecosystem. The production of food in many ways becomes an effortless outcome of establishing and nurturing those natural functions and relationships.

This makes it very different to creating an allotment with individual beds for individual crops, most of which will be annuals that are sown and harvested within a few short months.

Creating a Food Forest Creates a Shift in Our Mindset

We're thinking more long term, more integrated, more holistic.

Generally we're moving towards an ambition that the site will become self-sustaining in its needs and there'll be very little requirement for external inputs.

I can't think of a better, more accessible way for the world to learn about the principles of regeneration than to have a food forest in every community!

About This Newsletter

Within this newsletter we'll explore how we can work with and understand nature's functions so that we have a foundation of knowledge that can be applied to any space.

Alongside this some of the episodes will bring practical steps and insights from a range of projects.

If you have a project that you'd like to share about then DM me Helen Fisher !

We also get together for a group call once a month where we have an informal chat exploring questions and experiences. I hope you can join us, it's free and easy to sign up here.

Our First Key Principle: Be Diverse!

While no two ecosystems will be the same nature uses consistent principles to ensure success. A key principle that's always present in a thriving space is diversity. When we consider the role of this we realise that variety in nature offers so much more than just making things pretty!

Diversity = Resilience

• Diversity of plant species can provide habitat for a diverse range of insects, which in turn will attract a more diverse range of birds, mammals & reptiles (some insects have a very small range of plants that they'll use for breeding)
• Creating a diverse mix of micro-climates will again increase the variety of species you attract. Even in a very small space you can intentionally create a mix of dry, damp, wet, shady, sunny areas etc
• This diverse range of life will keep pests in check. An outburst of anything is sure to attract something else that will find it tasty!
• Diversity of plant species can feed pollinators throughout all seasons due to the varying flowering times
• Diversity of plant species will minimise the spread of disease
• Diversity of food crops offers more likelihood of a harvest in extreme weather when some may fail but others still produce
• When we introduce diversity above ground, we increase diversity in the soil life below ground too
• This diversity in the soil life is a wide reaching topic that I find absolutely fascinating! It interconnects to and supports the health and resilience of the entire system and we'll explore it much further in future episodes.

We could simply keep on adding to this list, we're not scratching the surface yet!

How Can We Manage Diversity and Still Grow the Foods That We Desire?

It's clear that all of this talk of diversity is worlds apart from the mono-cultures of our industrial agriculture.

In the intensive approach to farming the outputs of food are controlled by overriding the ecosystem functions. By ploughing and using chemicals it's possible to eliminate everything except for the crop that is wanted for harvest.

But there's a problem with that.

The need to control things increases the more that we break the ecosystem

Less diversity = less resilience.

Without diversity the crop becomes more prone to fail, perhaps through higher pressure from pests, disease or extremes in weather.

Without diversity unwanted plants (weeds) will be more eager to introduce themselves. Nature wants to be diverse!

And so to keep the mono-culture productive it can become a vicious cycle of applying stronger chemicals and more controls.

Our food forests are not farms of course. But they do offer us a beautiful low risk opportunity to learn how to work alongside nature to create the outputs we desire rather than simply seeking to control it.

How we balance our needs alongside nature's functions is something that I'll keep touching upon in these newsletters. My early recommendation is to allow a small area of your site exclusively for nature to play with. We'll come in and cut it back perhaps a couple of times a year but in between nature gets to choose what grows there. If you allow this to happen over a number of years it can be the most wonderful learning experience! I'll explain a bit more about that in future episodes.

Join us for our Group Call!

Every month we get together, chat, share ideas and ask questions around our food forest journeys.

It's free and easy to sign up using this link on Eventbrite.

Our calls take place on the 1st Tuesday of every month, 4pm (UK time)

If you have questions or struggle for any reason with the sign up then feel free to DM me Helen Fisher Hope to see you there!

Catch up on the previous episode of this newsletter HERE .

About the Author: Helen Fisher started a food forest at her 1 acre site in Lincolnshire in early 2020. She is the creator and host of the We Are Carbon podcast which explores regenerative solutions from across the globe & considers how society could thrive if we first allow nature to thrive alongside us.