I have spent the last 15 years or so growing vegetable gardens and now I am exploring the field of forest gardening. We do not usually think of forests as gardens that provide food. It was later in our human history that anthropologists realized that every plant and tree contribute to promoting life. If you take time to observe our native woodlands you will discover that their tall trees like oak or walnut are used for building shelter or firewood. Then the small trees like paw paw provide fruit to eat and beneath these trees one can find shrubs that provide all kinds of edible berries like black berries, raspberries, choke berries, etc. Beneath the trees and shrubs are often edible ground cover with different herbs. Now that I have a couple of maple trees in my backyard along with a spruce tree for the birds, I am getting quite a bit of shade over my raised vegetable beds and I am considering replacing vegetables with fruit trees and berry bushes. Under these I would like to keep my strawberries they will still survive with a little less sun. All of this will be an experiment since I live in a temperate climate. Temperate-climat forest gardening is fairly new. For more information on Forest Gardening in our temperate climate, I recommend reading Robert Hart's book Forest Gardening or How to Make a Forest Garden by Patrick Whitefield. A basic forest garden will have three layers: trees, shrubs and ground plants. A deluxe forest garden will have seven layers: Tall trees with spaces between to let in light to the lower layers. Maple, sycamore and beech trees should be avoided since they cast large shadows. Use instead, fruit and nut trees. Chest nut trees can also be used. Low-tree layer could be small trees such as the almond, peach or pawpaw. They can be pruned to let in light. Nitrogen fixing trees, such as dogwood and mountain ash could be planted and later used to furnish mulch and compost. Shrub layer would contain blueberry, rose, hazelnut, butterfly bush and bamboo. Shrubs can be chosen to provide food, feed the birds and later used in craft making. Herb layer would be nonwoody vegetation like vegetables, flowers and, cover crops such as yarrow, chamomile, fennel, and chicory, which die in the fall and rot to provide more nutrients to the soil. You can also plant nitrogen fixers such as clover and most plants in the pea family. Ground Cover Layer contains ground-hugging plants that provide food and habitat. These plants would be strawberries, nasturtium, clover, creeping thyme, phlox and verbena. They help keep down the weeds. Vine layer would be climbing plants like grapes, passionflower, honeysuckle or trumpet flower. You could also plant squash, cucumbers and melons. Root layer would contain garlic, Jerusalem artichokes and potatoes. ForestGardens provide a great deal of stability and sustainability in a natural … [Read more...]
We Rely on Trees
My fascination with trees began as a child growing up in the bluffs of Wisconsin edged by the Missisippi River. The southwest area of Wisconsin is lushed with many different types of trees. Trees are the respirators of the earth. If they were totally depleted from the face of the earth we would be a desert. Trees help produce rain. Without the trees we have no rain. For every tree we take from the earth, another one must be planted in order for streams and rivers to run again through the land. We have the moral responsibility to leave the earth as we found it. Like money, trees are valuable. There are hundreds of black walnut trees in northeast Kansas where I live now. A friend of mine was giving a "walk about" on his farm and pointed out one 30 yr. black walnut tree that is worth $3,000!!! Lately, environmentalists have been promoting the protection of the earth using the reasoning that everything has a price to it. Yet, if we would truly look at a tree we would see the tree for its beauty and the way it protects us. A tree is valuable beyond its uses. We need to reclaim our childhood wonder, allowing the trees to capture our hearts. When this happens we will be motivated to save our earth by protecting our trees and replanting them when need be. Wangari Maathai, who is from Kenya, was known as a champion of trees and she preached that trees equal life. Because of her strong advocacy for the environment, founder of the Green Belt Movement, and fight for a civil society and the rights of women, she won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. She believed very strongly in our need as humans to reconnect with the earth. Planting a tree would be a way to reconnect with the earth. There is a lot of food production that happens in a forest. There are various kinds of nut trees like the walnut tree that provides a hugh canopy to shelter smaller trees like fruit trees. The paw-paw is a fruit tree that produces a custard-like fruit and is becoming a popular fruit request at farmer markets. Beneath the big trees and fruit trees grow various shrubs that produce berries along with various vines. Bebeath the shrubs is ground cover with various kinds of herbs, perennial plants and wild edibles. Forest gardening provides wood for building, fuel to keep warm and cook with, and compost for gardening; using its leaves and twigs. There is little labor in forest gardening and it promotes a healthy ecosystem. Many permaculturists are promoting forest gardening. Forest gardening can also help us see our connection with the earth and feed our spirits as well as our bodies. As Wangari Maatha commented: Quite often, I see trees as human beings upside down: because we humans have legs and we feed ourselves through our mouths, and the trees feed them themselves through the roots. So it’s as if they have dug themselves upside down and their legs and hands are dangling out. When I look at the trees I see living … [Read more...]
