What is a Food Forest?
Food Forest
The term ‘Food Forest’ means exactly what it says: a forest built up of food-bearing plants.
The Food Forest idea is beautifully simple:
Forests are necessary to the survival of the planet, for many reasons (I’ll update when I’ve written a blog about why, but for the time being can you trust me?!).
Food is necessary for the survival of humans and all other living creatures.
If we can satisfy our food needs, whilst growing forests that nurture and sustain the planet, it’s a win-win situation.
What does a Food Forest look like?
Food Forests have a number of ‘layers’, the exact number being dependent on who you are talking to, but the generally used model has seven layers:
Canopy trees that grow tall and produce fruits and nuts
Smaller trees growing fruits and nuts
Shrubs like berries and currants
Herbaceous plants like mint and other herbs as well as many annuals and perennials
Root plants like parsnips and carrots
Ground cover plants
Vining plants like beans, kiwis, climbing roses
There are many amazing examples of Food Forests across the world: here are some of my favourites!
What about Spain?
There are some examples of Food Forests across the Mediterranean, but they don’t appear to be as well signposted or established. (although I’d love to be proved wrong, so if you know of any, please email me the details at veganpermaculturespain@gmail.com!)
As you can see from the videos above, the Food Forest idea works in many different climates and environments, and I have been growing mine for the past two years, from empty ‘barranc’ (a stepped field on the side of a mountain) to a productive space, which is beginning to provide food for me and my family, and will hopefully be able to share an abundance with a wider community when it is fully established.
Some of the climatic challenges here include very low rainfall (around 600mm per year) meaning that we are often in a state of drought, rocky/stony soil, extreme heat in the summer, and occasional frosts in the winter.
However, every gardener faces challenges and none of these are impossible to overcome, they just need particular strategies to help manage them: and this is where Vegan Permaculture Spain comes in!
Vegan Permaculture Spain
By sharing my own journey of growing a Food Forest, I hope to be able to share what I learn with others, through this website, and other channels, so that over time, instead of depleting this beautiful land, and allowing it to become a desert (which is what is currently happening) we reverse the trend and instead increase the productive and healthy areas.
I’d love for you to join me! Join my newsletter below for more updates.