Edible Forest Gardens Edible forest gardens are just what they are advertised to be, a forest of nearly 100% edible things, such as fruits and vegetables. People enjoy edible forest gardens so much they even grow them in their own front yards! Some are small and some are large, one of the largest out there today spreads for around two acres. Edible forest gardens can be grown nearly anywhere but they flourish best in places where vegetation is high especially deciduous forests. A good base, consisting of good soil and a good firm foundation certainly helps with the growth of edible forest gardens.
The most diverse forest gardens usually have soil with a "lumpy texture". This is a lot like the forests we have in our back yards. It is pretty simple to see what a forest garden should be based off of, or look like (especially for us) since we have larger versions of them right next to us. To create the best forest garden you can take what you have in your back yard and shrink it down and plant for fruit and vegetable trees in it. Since forest gardens have so many plants in them it is very important that the soil depth is deep so that these plants can grow to their full potential. With so many plants in one area the roots need room to grow so growing down needs to be an option, thus lots of good soil going deep into the ground is needed.
The idea of an edible forest garden was to make a garden that after a certain point could be self maintaining. People have this definition of garden in their head where humans have to be strongly a part of a garden, but a garden should be viewed as any sort of plant life in one area whether helped by humans or self maintaining. Edible forest gardens are hoping to change people's thought of a garden. Edible forest gardens are also for having a garden that produces a lot of food for us to eat in a small area of land. These gardens are very efficient and useful, they are helping the world of gardening move on from old school with lots of human labor to new school with less human labor.
Edible forest gardens are just what they are advertised to be, a forest of nearly 100% edible things, such as fruits and vegetables. People enjoy edible forest gardens so much they even grow them in their own front yards! Some are small and some are large, one of the largest out there today spreads for around two acres. Edible forest gardens can be grown nearly anywhere but they flourish best in places where vegetation is high especially deciduous forests. A good base, consisting of good soil and a good firm foundation certainly helps with the growth of edible forest gardens.
The most diverse forest gardens usually have soil with a "lumpy texture". This is a lot like the forests we have in our back yards. It is pretty simple to see what a forest garden should be based off of, or look like (especially for us) since we have larger versions of them right next to us. To create the best forest garden you can take what you have in your back yard and shrink it down and plant for fruit and vegetable trees in it. Since forest gardens have so many plants in them it is very important that the soil depth is deep so that these plants can grow to their full potential. With so many plants in one area the roots need room to grow so growing down needs to be an option, thus lots of good soil going deep into the ground is needed.
The idea of an edible forest garden was to make a garden that after a certain point could be self maintaining. People have this definition of garden in their head where humans have to be strongly a part of a garden, but a garden should be viewed as any sort of plant life in one area whether helped by humans or self maintaining. Edible forest gardens are hoping to change people's thought of a garden. Edible forest gardens are also for having a garden that produces a lot of food for us to eat in a small area of land. These gardens are very efficient and useful, they are helping the world of gardening move on from old school with lots of human labor to new school with less human labor.
sources: http://www.edibleforestgardens.com/about_gardening
http://organicgardensnetwork.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-is-edible-forest-gardening.html
http://video.mit.edu/watch/designing-an-edible-forest-garden-5468/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOKfmoTgjGI
http://www.vanwaffle.com/2012/05/29/sustainability-reflection-and-blog-roll/#sthash.XhT45pp3.dpbs