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Food Forest Design

By Anonymous





Last week my esteemed colleague and friend Matua Dion and I travelled north from Kawakawa to Coopers Beach to attend a Permaculture Food Forest design course.

Permaculture is a holistic way of looking at sustainability and design. It is very complicated and it is very simple. It is a way of gardening and it is a way of life. I became interested in Permaculture a few years ago it has been a very fulfilling and rewarding journey of learning, growing and making new friends, also eating lots of strawberries.

In many ways a food forest is the ultimate in permaculture design, if you are wondering what a food forest is? It is a forest that is created to produce food, improve soil and create a more sustainable way of being.

The course we went to on Friday gave us an insight about how to get started on the food forest journey. The morning was spent in the classroom learning some of the basics about the permaculture philosophy and the science behind the principles. The afternoon was spent getting our hands dirty and putting the theory into practice by planting a food forest!

The garden in the picture has about 200 plants in it. each plant has a role to play, some will live for a year, others will be here long after we have gone, but every single plant has an important part to play in this emerging ecosystem.

I can't do the whole process justice in this short post but this is definitely an area that both Matua Dion and I are keen on exploring with our students at Bay of Islands College. So stay tuned for more information and keep your eyes peeled for a food forest growing in Kawakawa soon.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a really great day!

Kia ora.


 

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  1. Kerry @ Manaiakalani 24 June 2021 at 15:18

    Hi Richard

    I think you're making some great progress at the college with engaging students in horticulture. Permaculture, looks amazing! I'd like to get something going like that at my own place but wouldn't know where to start and probably don't have the time to do it justice.
    I can't wait to see how this garden grows. It would be good if you made the picture bigger so it was easier to see the type of plants you have in there.

    Looking forward to seeing how this works out for the school. Keep up the great work :)

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