What is Edible Forest Gardening?
Edible forest gardening is the art and science of putting plants
together in woodlandlike patterns that forge mutually beneficial
relationships, creating a garden ecosystem that is more than the sum of
its parts. You can grow fruits, nuts, vegetables, herbs, mushrooms,
other useful plants, and animals in a way that mimics natural
ecosystems. You can create a beautiful, diverse, high-yield garden. If
designed with care and deep understanding of ecosystem function, you
can also design a garden that is largely self-maintaining. In many of
the world's temperate-climate regions, your garden would soon start
reverting to forest if you were to stop managing it. We humans work
hard to hold back succession—mowing, weeding, plowing, and spraying. If
the successional process were the wind, we would be constantly motoring
against it. Why not put up a sail and glide along with the land's
natural tendency to grow trees? By mimicking the structure and function
of forest ecosystems we can gain a number of benefits.
Why Grow an Edible Forest Garden?
While each forest gardener will have unique design goals, forest gardening in general has three primary practical intentions:
As Masanobu Fukuoka once said, "The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings."
SOURCE: www.edibleforestgardens.com
Edible forest gardening is the art and science of putting plants
together in woodlandlike patterns that forge mutually beneficial
relationships, creating a garden ecosystem that is more than the sum of
its parts. You can grow fruits, nuts, vegetables, herbs, mushrooms,
other useful plants, and animals in a way that mimics natural
ecosystems. You can create a beautiful, diverse, high-yield garden. If
designed with care and deep understanding of ecosystem function, you
can also design a garden that is largely self-maintaining. In many of
the world's temperate-climate regions, your garden would soon start
reverting to forest if you were to stop managing it. We humans work
hard to hold back succession—mowing, weeding, plowing, and spraying. If
the successional process were the wind, we would be constantly motoring
against it. Why not put up a sail and glide along with the land's
natural tendency to grow trees? By mimicking the structure and function
of forest ecosystems we can gain a number of benefits.Why Grow an Edible Forest Garden?
While each forest gardener will have unique design goals, forest gardening in general has three primary practical intentions:
- High yields of diverse products such as food, fuel, fiber, fodder, fertilizer, 'farmaceuticals' and fun;
- A largely self-maintaining garden and;
- A healthy ecosystem.
As Masanobu Fukuoka once said, "The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings."
SOURCE: www.edibleforestgardens.com
