A Forest Garden Makes for a Better Back Yard
Today is the first ever show chosen by official poll of the audience. The choices were and the order they came in were…
- One – Small Scale Food Forestry (26%)
- Two – Making and Using Herbal Medicines (20%)
- Three – Outdoor Cooking – Grilling, Smoking and More (16%)
- Four – Setting Up a Remote Property (BOL) (14%)
- Five – How to Talk to Friends and Family about Prepping (12%)
- Six – Investing in Gold and Silver (9%)
You can see that poll and the final results here.
Also the poll to select shows for May has been posted and you can vote on that here.
So today we move into the topic of small scale food forestry. This is a topic many are interested in, with a food forest, even a small one we can produce
- Food
- Fuel
- Medicines
- Fibers
- Wild Life Habitat
- Beauty
- And Increased Property Values
The entire concept is largely misunderstood though, as forest invokes visions of huge systems and yes they can be large systems, they can also be quite small.
Join Me Today As We Discuss…
- What is a food forest or a forest garden
- A quick review of the seven layers of a forest
- Canopy
- Sub Canopy
- Shrub
- Herbacious
- Vine
- Ground Cover
- Rhizome – Roots
- Why it is all about the edge
- Small Land Holding Advantages
- Can be irrigated easily
- You can and should sheet much everything
- Easy to intensively manage
- Contain their own micro climates (easy to create more)
- Most work can be done by hand (build and manage)
- Are the most productive per square foot on the planet
- Do not attract attention and easy to secure
- Nitrogen fixers are not as critical (still a good idea)
- Things that are different from typical food forestry
- The layers are scaled down
- The number of support species are reduced
- There are few “sacrificial plantings”
- They don’t require swales or chickens but both are welcome
- Small ponds and barrels are easily fed with roof catchment
- Special Considerations that Open Your Options Up
- Shape isn’t critical, do what works
- Put in more irrigation then you think you will ever need
- Consider ponds, please consider ponds
- Think about power (solar first but grid is better then nothing)
- You can plant a LOT closer and a LOT more dense then you think
- If you have animals design in their nutrient flow
- In a larger space build “glades” and maximize the edges
- Build structures for your vines they can otherwise dominate a small system
- Fertilize (organically) a lot early on
- Mulch and chop and drop like crazy
Resources for today’s show…
Sponsors of the Day
Bob Wells Plant of the Week – Arbequina Olive – The most cold hardy variety of olives know that also has one of the highest olive production and oil yields.
The soil should be well drained. Tree has an upright habit. We recommend covering the tree the first winter if the temperature drops below freezing.
Once the tree has been in the ground for a year and is well rooted, it then will begin to withstand the colder temperatures.
The older the tree gets the more, cold hardy it becomes. Oil is sweet, delicate and fragrant with intense fruitiness but low levels of bitterness and spiciness.
If you live above zone 7, you can grow it in a container and bring it inside during the winter months.
Bob Wells specializes in edible landscape, including: Fruit Trees, Berry Plants, Vine Fruit, Nut Trees, as well as the hard to find Specialty Fruit Trees. Find this plant and more at BobWellsNursery.Com
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Episode-2027- Twelve Overlooked Vegetables for the Garden [ 1:14:47 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
