Permaculture: Why Food Forests?
What is a Food Forest? Forests were doing just fine for the 460 million years before humans came along, proving that they do not require maintenance from homo sapiens. A food forest operates under the idea that by mimicking a forest model, the right combination of fruit and nut trees, shrubs, herbs, vines and perennial vegetables can sustain itself indefinitely without human intervention. The traditional concept for a food forest, while varying depending on the region, focuses on specific criteria: Seven layers of vegetation Properties of the root-system of each layer of vegetation Physical properties of each soil layer Density of vegetation Diversity of organisms Illustration by Jane Picksley Why Food Forests? For starters, growing grass is an unsustainable process: It requires regular maintenance, often using gas powered equipment. It often requires supplemental watering. To look good, grass needs a balance of chemicals to survive. Fe...