Building a Food Forest
Trees and shrubs all planted. Starting to look pretty!
Let’s talk about food forests for a minute. Never heard of one? Keep reading. (They’re amazing.)
What is a Food Forest
More or less a food forest is a permaculture type design that copies a traditional forest but with mainly edible food plants. When you think of a forest I’m sure you can picture all the “layers”. There’s, of course, the tall tree layer, then usually smaller trees, shrubs, vines, herbaceous layer, ground cover, and roots. It’s a system that is self-sustaining and works synergistically together.
In a traditional forest you don’t see someone go in and add fertilizer to every tree and shrub. You don’t see someone standing there with a hose watering each tiny plant. And yet it works! So when building a food forest we want to take that entire concept and use it to our advantage.
How I got started with a food forest
I’ve been dreaming about building a food forest for years now. But we’ve been in a bit of limbo. We were living in Alaska (loved it) but moved back to the lower 48 to be closer to family. We temporarily rented a house while my husband built our house on 32 acres of raw prairie land. It wasn’t the land I had pictured we’d own, but it’s ours and we’re determined to make it beautiful. During that time we were taking classes and became licensed foster parents.
Getting ready to build the fence and dig holes!
Just one month before we were planning on moving we were placed with 2 beautiful little girls.They were just tiny things which did make packing and moving a whole heck of a lot more challenging. But we made it! Our toddler (Little Lola Lopp) absolutely loved the new house and her new bedroom. Both her and her sister love exploring our land and playing in the dirt.
So here we are. Brand spanking new house, brand spanking new parents with two kids, and a bazillion projects that NEEDED doing. Not to mention the fruit trees, berry bushes, and shrubs all over-wintering in pots because I got over zealous the prior summer. Time was ticking and they needed to be planted right away. I had visions of the most lush and green food forest. I knew it would be a lot of work, and extra challenging with two kiddos, but I was determined.
So with spring starting, deer grazing, and plants that needed planting, my hubby was a saint and built me the best fence ever. It ended up being nearly a 1/2 acre of land. As he built the fence my niece and I dug holes, tilled, dug more holes, planted, mulched, and dug still more holes. (Half the time with a pick ax because the ground was so dang hard.) We did all that around nap time. And occasionally the girls would come outside with us and keep themselves busy for about a half hour. But our best work was done during a two hour time slot. It wasn’t quite the vision of perfection I had envisioned, but under the circumstances we were pretty proud of ourselves.
And you know what happened?
We had such extreme heat and high winds I lost a bunch of plants the day after we planted them. We had watered them three times and they still died.
I consoled myself by saying that some loss is normal.
Then came the hordes of grasshoppers. They literally demolished my strawberries, tons of herb, and so many plants I stopped counting. The worst part was I should have been prepared for them because I knew better. But in my frenzy of planting and taking care of babies the grasshoppers were overlooked.
Then came the hail.
And more high winds.
All while the grasshoppers continued to eat.
I cried.
Hundreds of dollars of plants were decimated.
Then one day I came across a swarm of honey bees in my newly planted pear tree. My hubby had to cut off most of it to try and save the swarm of bees. (But hey—we got a free hive out of it!)
What Went wrong?
I really have no one to blame but myself for everything that went wrong. Largely all the issues stemmed from biting off more than I could chew. I should have started by prepping and planting a MUCH smaller area and gradually growing year by year. Instead of planting a very small area in the true food forest fashion I spread out my plants way too far. That made watering more challenging, the plants couldn’t protect each other, and it was basically just a waste of resources.
I also learned that until we can build up our soil better through mulching and compost, I should have been building small wells around each individual plant to hold in the water. Our soil has exceptional drainage, almost too good, and the water dissipates quickly. Having small wells around each plant with a deep layer of mulch is very beneficial.
And instead of focusing so much on smaller perennials I should have started with more shrubs so that next year they would be more established and able to protect the newly planted perennials from the wind and sun.
Where do we go from here?
My point in sharing this story with you is to say this—I’m not giving up! I will have my lush green food forest in the middle of the Montana dessert. I will focus on the positives which are:
So far (most) of the trees still look healthy
Many of the shrubs are relatively thriving
Surprisingly my thimbleberry bushes are producing berries
I have learned to respect the grasshopper (and kill him proactively)
I have learned so much about the necessity of heavy mulching in our dry windy area
I have discovered a super easy way to compost (more later)
I have many years ahead of me to build my food forest, and Lord willing it will be a thriving source of food and income for my family.
So yes, while this year feels like a bust, I also know that I have learned some valuable lessons which will only help me in the future. What’s success without failure first, right?
After the devastation God placed this amazing rainbow directly over my food forest. Couldn’t have asked for better encouragement.
Moving Forward
It’s still only June so for the remainder of the summer I will be focusing heavily on working the soil and prepping it better for next year’s plants. That means more mulch, more compost, better watering system, and pest control.
So follow along and learn with me as we build a food forest! I will be sharing more in depth about what works, what doesn’t, and step by step processes for making this all come together all while being a foster parent. If you live in a cold dry climate this will be especially relevant to you. We are in zone 4 with prairie land, wind, and very alkaline soil.
If you have a food forest (even a tiny one) I’d love to know your tricks and tips as well!
WHERE TO PURCHASE
I appreciate you taking the time to read my blog! By purchasing through one of my affiliate links you will not spend a penny more, but you are allowing me to receive a small commission. This allows me to keep posting great content for you. Thanks for your support! Read more here.
This company is where I purchase the majority of my seeds. Great selection of heirloom and/or organic seeds:
These are hands down my favorite seed starting trays and pots. These are heavy duty and don’t crumple when you pop your plants out! Definitely worth the investment in my opinion.
