This two day intensive course will go deeply into the theory, design, implementation and care of perennial food forests. Food forests are created when we mimic natural forests for our gardens, orchards and farms. Unlike an orchard, a food forest is a multilayered perennial system where ground cover crops, shrubs, vines, fungi, and trees all work together to support each other and produce food for people and wildlife. Food forests can be created with one fruit tree in a tiny city lot or on a broadscale where corn and soy were once grown. Together, in this class, we'll discover the successes and challenges of food forest production in temperate climates and learn from over a decade of experiences at Garfield Community Farm.
Topics covered in this two day class include: niche analysis, plant guilds and polycultures, urban soils and restoration through forest establishment, food forest design, and many hands on activities in the Garfield Farm food forest.
This class is part of the Permaculture Design Certification Course at Garfield Community Farm, an 80 hour course in which participants receive certification from the Permaculture Institute of North America. This class is available as a stand alone class and counts toward the full design course.
Educators for this class include John Creasy of Garfield Community Farm and Wild Indigo, Darrell Frey of Three Sister's Permaculture and Elizabeth Lynch of the Three Sister’s Permaculture.