Designing & Establishing a Food Forest

In this hands-on workshop we’ll learn how to plan and implement a food forest guild from start to finish. Guilds are a mutually beneficial perennial polyculture of useful and edible plants and the core building block in a food forest system. Food forests are ancient perennial production systems that mimic the structure and function of a woodland to produce food, fuel, fiber, fodder, medicinal herbs, and habitat.

We’ll discuss the basics of food forest theory and design amidst the fledgling food forest at Camp Sedalia, focusing on the synergy of a diversity of plant species that help each other thrive. We’ll get into the nitty gritty of soil fertility, best practices for establishment and site preparation and then get our hands dirty planting out a food forest guild.

 

Bio:

Mark has spent the past the past 14 years immersed in the realms of local food systems, regenerative agriculture, permaculture & ecological design, traditional woodworking, herbalism, wild foods, and fermentation.

He co-owns Mountain Run Permaculture with his wife Allison where they work with gardeners, homesteaders and farmers of all skill-levels, acreage, and experience to design and implement regenerative food producing systems that maximize ecological outcomes. 

Mark has been infatuated with food forests for over a decade, experimenting with them across countless contexts and ecosystems and is excited to share his knowledge and experience!

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