Food Forest

What is a food forest?

A food forest is a sizable piece of land, where a multitude of edible perennials grow, such as trees, shrubs and climbing plants. The goal is sustainable food production as well as increasing biodiversity. The idea behind a food forest is that ultimately, little to no human intervention is needed to keep the food forest healthy. This is possible because all plants are organized in such a way that the ecosystem stays in balance naturally. To that end, the the soil, water and light are also optimally coordinated. A stable ecological system contains plants, fungi, insects and other animals, such as hedgehogs, toads, birds and insects that live together in harmony. To this end, the food forest consists of about seven to nine height layers, making the whole system more comparable to a forest edge than to an actual densely grown forest. A vital food forest provides an attractive landscape, beautiful nature and lots of useful products such as fruits, nuts, herbs, plant and seeds, roots and wood. Those who plant a food forest receive in return a wonderful interplay of nature and agriculture!

Features

A food forest...

... is a natural, self-supporting ecosystem that provides high crop yields
... mimics a natural forest edge with edible plants
... is a nature-inclusive agricultural system
... makes optimal use of soil and sunlight by growing a varied range of plants
... increases biodiversity
... promotes soil health
... has a large water buffering capacity
... stores a lot of CO₂ in plants and soil
... is resistant to pests and drought
... is resilient and low-maintenance
... consists of perennial, permanent planting
... yields throughout the year
... requires little to no external input and is therefore a circular system
... produces a large variety of products from a relatively small surface area