Forest Garden Design Class

August 16, 2010

You might ask, "What is a forest garden?" Below is a quote from the book, "Edible Forest Gardens" by Dave Jacke and Eric Toensmeier:

"An edible forest garden is a perennial polyculture of multipurpose plants.

Most plants regrow every year: perennials.

Many species grow together: a polyculture.

Each plant contributes to the success of the whole by fulfilling many purposes: multipurpose.

In other words, a forest garden is an edible ecosystem, a consciously designed community of mutually beneficial plants and animals intended for human food production."

I just finished a week long intensive Forest Garden Design course with Dave Jacke and it was truly a life changing experience! We spent a week analyzing a piece of land and then developing a detailed design for a forest garden for that site. We worked together in groups on the site and had the opportunity to learn from Dave's expertise and experience as well as that of the members of the class. We had a diverse group that consisted of people from many walks of life including professors, an architect, a psychologist, attorneys, artists, teachers, farmers, and students or recent graduates of programs in ecology and sustainability. Several people have built or are in the process of building strawbale or cob houses, and many of us are in varying stages of developing our own forest gardens. All of us are acutely aware of the issues we are all facing related to fossil fuels, food, and resources. We were very appreciative of the community we developed throughout the week, and Dave and his teaching team led us through many experiences that brought home the connections between people and the landscape/plants/gardens we live with. I think we all came to a deep realization that the scope of what we are trying to do is much broader than putting plants together to create an edible forest - although that in itself is a fascinating endeavor. Dave talked with us about cultivating a new paradigm, and I think we all became more aware than ever that we are involved in that process in some way that is exciting and mysterious.

Saul and I consulted with Dave this morning for several hours and hope to work closely with him to design a forest garden in our back yard. I hardly have the words to describe all the things we have to think about after our discussion with him! More on that in later posts!

"The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings." Masanobu Fukuoka, The One Straw Revolution, (quote used by Dave in one of his talks)