What is a Food Forest?

A food forest is a way of growing that replicates how the Earth grows food naturally (in relationship to the whole). They have been cultivated by Indigenous folks around the world for millennia and are used today to restore neglected land. Food forests are an intentional planning of planting that creates an environment of mutual thriving that is dependent on understanding and cultivating relationships between the elements that make up a local ecosystem. They provide food, medicine, fiber and more!

An aerial view of a food forest designed by Kiya Leakes, Janine Peñafort & Sydney Searchwell-Simpson. Each guild which makes up this food forest is used as an example below.

What makes up a food forest?

Food forests are typically made up of multiple layers. They include a:

Tall Tree Layer
Lower Tree Layer
Shrub Layer
Vine Layer
Ground Cover Layer
Root Layer
Herbaceous Layer

An example of two guilds and its layers designed to serve the nervous system. These guilds were designed by Sydney Searchwell-Simpson

Food forests are made up of guilds which act as the building blocks of food forests.

If you choose our food forest option, you will receive a singular guild which can create a system of support around a singular tree.

Guilds typically include:

Insectary/Pollinator: brings in supportive insects, birds and other pollinators
Nitrogen Fixers: plants that add nitrogen to the soil. They enrich the soil for the present and the future.
Dynamic Accumulator: bring up nutrients from the soil (often through a deep taproot) and share it with the plants around them. They infiltrate water by breaking up compacted soil and share through fungal networks and decomposition.
Edible: any edible plants
Medicinal: plants that provide medicine
Vine Layer: a layer that climbs up the main tree or a trellis. This maximizes the usage of space.

An example of two guilds that stacks functions. These guilds blood cleansing & building guilds were designed by Janine Peñafort

An example of two guilds that stack functions without being crowded. These respiratory health guilds were designed by Kiya Leakes.

One plant can hold many of these functions which can minimize overcrowding and the issues it creates in a system. For example, rosemary acts as a medicinal, pollinator and edible.

What are some benefits of growing food in this way?

Diversity

Food forests, as replicates of Nature, depend upon a diversity of plants, insects, microorganisms and even animals in order to thrive. All components in the food forest, those planted and those that come in due to what is planted, have an important role to play in keeping the food forest alive and thriving. And in response to this care, the food forest becomes an avenue for the whole ecosystem (including us humans) to share with one another and cultivate abundance through that sharing.
The industrial way of growing food primarily uses monocultures which strip the soil of microorganisms and ancient relationships within our ecosystem leaving our external and internal ecosystems in a health crisis due to the life-harming chemicals that are “needed” to produce food. But why imitate balance when you can co-create it instead with a food forest?!

Largely self-maintaining

Food forests require less human intervention than more modern ways of cultivating food do. The layers, planning and design process that create a food forest ensure that the needs of the forest can be met not just for a season, but for years in the future.
Eg. the ground cover layer of a food forest often acts as erosion control and provides a protective layer of mulch. This layer not only keeps water in the soil, but through its natural decomposition creates nutrient rich soil which can only support the health of all that grows from it.
A level of humility and patience is needed when cultivating a food forest. Observing the land and ecosystem, planting with intention base don what you observe, seeing how things evolve and change as the plants grow or as animals and insects return and engage with the food forest require a willingness to learn from mistakes, surrender control and find pleasure beyond instant gratification. As my Permaculture teacher says, “time is an ingredient” in food forest design and maintenance.

Climate resilient and restorative

While food forests can be grown using seeds from anywhere (like the guilds we offer), it is important to consider the usage of native plants in the food forest so that the relationship between insects, animals, and microorganisms in the local ecosystem are fortified which strengthens the larger ecosystem of the Earth. Building systems that are both climate resilient and climate restorative is especially important as the climate crisis continues to unfold. - Food forests are more resilient than industrial ways of growing food because the layers and design consider how to bring in pollinators and other life forms, how to retain water, regulate temperature, build soil and more. They also sequester carbon from the atmosphere. All of which improve our resilience with extreme weather events. Food forests provide so much more than just food! The benefits are endless and we encourage folks to dive into their own research as to why.

Tip for folks choosing food forest option:**

We can provide the seeds, but only YOU have the ingredients needed to make a food forest thrive. Before planting, please consider integrating what you know about the land you are planting on (wind conditions, how much sun the area you are planting on gets, the quality and kind of soil, etc.) and also research the growing conditions of the seeds you receive over 1-10 years of growth (eg. some plants take longer to grow than others which can impact how much sun some of the slower growing and shorter plants receive compared to faster growing or taller plants do). If food forests are new to you (congratulations on trying something new!), we recommend watching youtube videos or doing some more research yourself before jumping in.