The Edible Forest
Note; this section was started in 2012. 'Present day' editing in 2014 allows me to mention 2 valuable resources.
1. 'Farming the Woods' by Ken Mudge and Steve Gabriel was just released in late 2014 by Chelsea Green Publishing. I am partwy through it, and it will have a great positive impact on my present interaction with the ecosystem here at W/GF. I am not prepared to review it at present but urge you to look at it and consider for your bookshelf (many other acquisitions in the past 2 years. Chelsea Green Publishing is performing an extraordinary service in putting out the work of Ben Falk, Carol Deppe, and many others).
2. In the aforementioned text, reference is made to a free online book by J. Russell Smith. Published in 1929, it is titled 'Tree Crops; a permanent agriculture'. It, indeed, provided some of the background research and concepts for today's permaculture movement. The online text runs to some 201 pages, and I have placed the pdf link with the references below (tree-cops.pdf, click to download). Although I've barely scraped the surface (the first few pages and an online review), the data and tone seem similar to the work of George Perkins Marsh titled 'Man and Nature'. I cited that work elsewhere on this website It is available as a free pdf as well, and the link is just below the one for Smith's work. Marsh wrote in 1864; I believe he had been commissioned by President Lincoln to travel abroad (I don't recall in what capacity), and he studied the eco-devastation already prevalent around the Mediterranean, as well a that of his native (?) Vermont. (Apologies, it's been several years since I read this and am citing from memory.
3. The website http://www.edibleforestgardens.com/
takes up the question of a fertile forest landscape. This is their vision.
'...Picture yourself in a forest where almost everything around you is food. Mature and maturing fruit and nut trees form an open canopy. If you look carefully, you can see fruits swelling on many branches—pears, apples, persimmons, pecans, and chestnuts. Shrubs fill the gaps in the canopy. They bear raspberries, blueberries, currants, hazelnuts, and other lesser-known fruits, flowers, and nuts at different times of the year. Assorted native wildflowers, wild edibles, herbs, and perennial vegetables thickly cover the ground. You use many of these plants for food or medicine. Some attract beneficial insects, birds, and butterflies. Others act as soil builders, or simply help keep out weeds. Here and there vines climb on trees, shrubs, or arbors with fruit hanging through the foliage—hardy kiwis, grapes, and passionflower fruits. In sunnier glades large stands of Jerusalem artichokes grow together with groundnut vines. These plants support one another as they store energy in their roots for later harvest and winter storage. Their bright yellow and deep violet flowers enjoy the radiant warmth from the sky. This is an edible forest garden.'
This is the theory. The practice is something else again. Successful species depend on the zone, and, more, on the local growing conditions- the pH and drainage of the soil What I have found in general is; I do best when I can work with the ecosystem, encouraging and augmenting what is there. Over the 16 years I've been working with this system, I've had some small successes.
Fruits and Nuts
Think of granola, and picking through it for the best parts. Think of squirrels. Think of some of the healthiest and most desirable food there is. This is that territory. When I think of 'the edible forest' I think about fruits and nuts.
Eco-Criteria
'20 trees per acre intensive planting'
| tree-crops.pdf |
| man_and_nature.pdf |
References
http://plants.usda.gov/java/
http://pfaf.org/user/default.aspx
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/
http://www.ars-grin.gov/duke/
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/faminefoods/ff_home.html
http://books.google.com/books?id=MtZ-AAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
http://plants.usda.gov/java/
http://pfaf.org/user/default.aspx
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/
http://www.ars-grin.gov/duke/
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/faminefoods/ff_home.html
http://books.google.com/books?id=MtZ-AAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false