Into The Woods

Pictured left, chestnuts hiding in their spiked cupule.

My last WWOOF stay at a Livorno forest garden sounded like a fairytale from the description. It was, indeed – a wild space where all the fruit and nut trees make an immediate picnic and you can nap under a twisting kiwi plant with a fish pond at your feet. More than an enchanting retreat, though, multistrata systems like these might be the future in a world wading deeper into global warming and hunger. Super efficient, they produce a great deal of food in an impressively small space, with very little human input.  How? Shade, for starters. With a hedge on all sides, the microclimate within is created by canopy layers of trees, shrubs, climbers, vines, ground cover and creepers. 

From what I’ve seen, food forests offer a lot to believe in: biodiversity, increased CO2, low maintenance, abundance of edible plants, limited digging, cool temperatures. The rewards are more than already mentioned: seeds, herbs, spices, mushrooms, fuel wood, canes, tying materials, medicinal plants and honey.  And woodlands encourage imagination; the example I visited plans to construct a straw bale house in a center clearing!

I’ve seen companion crops before - two-story systems with rosemary in strawberry patches and peppers between cornstalks. But never before had I heard of a forest garden. Well, the idea turns out not to be new at all. Agroforestry has deep roots in tropical Africa and Asia, even temperate climates in China.  But it only came to Great Britain some 40 years ago, thanks to an experimental man named Robert Hart.  Even today, there are only three examples in Italy. I have no idea about American projects, but I’m so taken by the idea that I might just build one myself. Couldn’t we all use “a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain”? I happened upon that Canopy description in Isaiah, the same exact day I first set foot in one! -sy

Comments

[Joe]

Interesting stuff -- definitely an area I'd like to learn more about.

Here's a forest gardening book written by two New Englanders:
http://www.edibleforestgardens.com/about_gardening
Of the two, I believe that at least one, Dave Jacke, does periodic trainings in the area.

[Karen]

Fascinating, Suzie! -

Do you have more references on the Great Britain examples of WWOOF? Karen

[Suzie]

Hi Karen! I haven't WWOOF'ed in the UK, but their site is http://www.wwoof.org/wwoof_uk/. That's a network of organic farms, but if you're looking specifically for forest gardens, Martin Crawford is the guy to find. He gives courses in Devon, and I found a great site where he's organizing agroforests: http://www.agroforestry.co.uk/fgnetwork.html. Just checked out a map - looks like Devon is only 5 hours from Jess and Rob!

[Lorenzo]

Hi!
I'm very interested in forest gardens. Can you please tell us/me where exactly is the garden in Livorno? by the way I live in Tuscany