I often am asked “What is a Food Forest?”
So, in today’s daily snap we are going to get into that.
The easiest way to explain a Food Forest is to first have you look out at a Natural Forest. We see the Natural Forest and recognize that it is one of the most fertile, and productive systems out there. A Forest is basically the definition of sustainable, and is actually the true teacher.
We look out at the forest and see that it is compromised of 7 layers.
These layers are:
Canopy
Sub-Canopy
Bush Layer
Herbaceous
Ground Cover
Root Layer
Vining
What we do as Permaculture Designers is mimic this same layered system, but use fruiting and supporting species. For instance, as a bush layer in our Food Forest we like to grow blueberries.
When you look at the Forest as the teacher and work with nature, you create a system that not only produces the yield you design for, but also helps to take care of itself.
