Food Forests

Share info or tips or ask questions about Desert Gardening here. Suggest plants which do well in harsh desert conditions!

Food Forests

Postby cactuspete » Sat Jun 22, 2013 1:17 pm

7 Food Forests in 7 Minutes with Geoff Lawton
Obviously this wouldn't work in the desert, but maybe some of the techniques and a different selection of plants could be used to approximate this kind of a set up. The idea of kick-starting this with a winter crop of legumes to enrich the soil makes a lot of sense. Clover probably requires too much water, but there might be other legumes which would do well. It's worth looking into anyways.
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Re: Food Forests

Postby wildrose » Sun Jun 23, 2013 7:20 am

Tucson Eco Village - Planning a Desert Food Forest :sun:
This guy sounds a little too much like an old hippie, but some of his ideas are pretty good. I looked up info on the moringa tree (aka, magic tree) that he's so excited about and it wouldn't survive in Tucson. It would do even worse in this area.
INFO ON Moringa oleifera: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Moringa_oleifera.html
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Re: Food Forests

Postby MojaveMike » Mon Jun 24, 2013 10:49 am

Quit Working So Hard – Plant a Food Forest Instead!
This permaculture stuff sounds fairly interesting. I really can't see myself planting a "food forest" but I do like this alternative approach to gardening. It's less formal and less about rows and imposed structure. It's more disorganized and random... and natural!
:thumb:
Permaculture buffs are sold on the “food forest” idea – and it’s no wonder. A long-term, perennial forest of edible and medicinal species sounds more like Eden than what we generally consider as a “garden.” Rather than planting beds, you plant trees. Rather than tilling, you plant edible perennial groundcovers and nutrient accumulating species that can be “chop n’ dropped” as mulch.

LINK: http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/plant-a-food-forest.aspx
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Re: Food Forests

Postby panamint_patty » Tue Jun 25, 2013 8:04 am

Permies: a big crowd of permaculture goofballs
This is a highly informative and unusual site. Not the usual blog format. It's visually appealing and not a clone of all the other sites in the world! Topics include: Growies, Critters, Building, Homesteading, Energy, Home, Community, Wilderness, and Regional Resources. BTW, the organization appears to be based in Montana.
LINK: http://www.permies.com/
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Re: Food Forests

Postby cactuspete » Sun Jun 30, 2013 7:07 am

hugelkultur
The basic idea is that you bury a lot of wood under the garden bed. Not only does this add nutrients to the soil over time, but it also retains a great amount of moisture. I came across the link to this article by browsing around the permies.com site that was recommended by Panamint Patty. There's a lot of info at that website!
:thumb:
Hugelkultur is nothing more than making raised garden beds filled with rotten wood. This makes for raised garden beds loaded with organic material, nutrients, air pockets for the roots of what you plant, etc. As the years pass, the deep soil of your raised garden bed becomes incredibly rich and loaded with soil life.

LINK: http://www.richsoil.com/hugelkultur/
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Re: Food Forests

Postby tronagirl » Sun Jun 30, 2013 10:45 am

Facts About Earthworms
Earthworms are important when it comes to developing rich soil. The problem is that they don't do all that well in the desert. Then again with lots of water and compost, they can probably survive. Check out this kid. He's pretty funny!
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Re: Food Forests

Postby wildrose » Tue Jul 02, 2013 8:10 am

Demonstration garden for Big Pine Tribe
Lots of interesting comments left in response to this article at Sierrawave.net. There's a lot of interest in sustainable gardening and permaculture. It's good to see so many people showing interest in plants and sustainability. Maybe there is hope for the future after all!
:thumb:
The Big Pine Paiute Tribe of the Owens Valley (will) create a permaculture demonstration garden and an organic seed bank on the Big Pine Indian Reservation, with the purpose of increasing availability of locally grown food as well as knowledge of sustainable gardening practices and native plants. The project will also provide entrepreneurship opportunities through a farmers market and will supply tools and equipment for the community garden and greenhouse.

LINK: http://www.sierrawave.net/25363/demonstration-garden-for/
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Re: Food Forests

Postby shadylady » Tue Jun 24, 2014 6:49 am

War On The Homestead | Wranglerstar
This doesn't fit perfectly into this thread, but it's in the ballpark.
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Re: Food Forests

Postby deathvalleyjake » Sun Jun 23, 2019 8:21 am

They said I was Crazy for gardening like this, until they saw the Harvests...
Definitely would need to be modified to work in the desert, but this guy has an interesting system for developing a food forest over the span of several years.
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