Edible Forest Gardening

Comment

Comment by Joel Fairstein on February 12, 2013 at 8:25pm

Cherie, thanks for the warm welcome! I'm not yet committed yet to the shagbark guild, so I'll post just a summary in this thread. The Permaculture database has lots more info on plant characteristics and uses. In fact, each plant is linked to its own comprehensive page. So, if someone is serious about planting this guild, I would recommend plunking down the $20 for database access–there's much more info available than I can post, and there could be copyright issues :)

Here goes then with the Shagbark guild summary:

Shagbark hickory guild

USDA Zone: 4 - 8

Sun: Full Sun, Partial Shade

Soil Type: Sandy, Loamy, Silty, Clay

Soil Moisture: Dry

Polyculture Members

American Grape

American Hazelnut

Big Bluestem

Blackberry

Chives

Crocus

European Gooseberry

Groundnut

Ironwood (American Hophornbeam)

Low Bush Blueberry

Maximilian Sunflower

Nasturtium

Rhododendron ‘Northern Lights’

Pale Purple Coneflower

Parsley

Saskatoon Serviceberry

Scribner‘s Panic Grass

Sky-Blue Aster

Sweet Alyssum

Comment by Cherie Brown on February 12, 2013 at 11:14am

Hi Joel, this is great info; thanks for sharing.  I added a thread for local projects in case you'd like to add info there about your own project as it evolves.  Also, I'd love to hear more about the shagbark hickory guild.  You could start a discussion for that guild so it doesn't get lost in the comment thread if you want.

Comment by Joel Fairstein on February 8, 2013 at 11:14am

Hi, I'm new to the guild and am planning an edible forest garden in my front yard near Chilhowee Park. The lot slopes SSE and has partial to full sun. I have two mature apple trees at the bottom edge adjacent the street.

My growing experience is pretty much limited to planting beds of plumbago, hawthorne, and moonshadow. Also spent last winter in Oaxaca, Mexico working with an NGO promoting vermiculture and organic gardening in marginalized communities. Their's is a success story, but they focus on annuals there, so I didn't learn much that would help with a forest garden. 

On that theme, I've noticed permaculture success stories tend to be outside our area, particularly in Australia (for obvious reasons), England, and Washington state. And, we don't hear much about failed attempts, just like we don't hear about the 99.9% of songs that never become hits. I believe there needs to be very specific, localized information for an edible tree guild to succeed in our area. There is a good database available which you may be aware of, http://permacultureplantdata.com. It starts at a $20 annual membership, catalogs 1400 plants and cross-references them to guilds. For my clay soil in zone 7, there are only two suggested guilds, both based around shagbark hickory. An apple tree guild is listed but is not suggested for clay soils. I'm inclined to use the database's recommendations as a start as they are very specific to soil and climate and are well thought out. 

In keeping with no-till philosophy, my first step will be sheet mulching this winter with lasagna technique–paper at the bottom and up to 18 inches of mulch layers above that. I'll start planting early Spring with I imagine two hickories and nitrogen-fixing ground cover plants within the guild inventory. I have yet to actually design the site, so it will hopefully evolve as we get into spring. I'll incorporate the existing apple trees, but don't see how just yet beyond planting simple companions. My goal here is a LOT of diversity, food, and not having to mow the area! 

To summarize, I think we need to be working from localized data rather than from far-flung success stories that are being promoted in permaculture. I'll be happy to share the list of plants in the shagbark hickory guild if you are not already into the database mentioned.

Comment by Tracie L. Hellwinckel on April 13, 2012 at 1:03pm

Quite inspirational...also a reminder that we do good because it's the right thing to do and not for acknowledgement or credit...very humbling.

Comment by Cherie Brown on April 13, 2012 at 12:41pm

That is pretty darn cool!

Comment by Tracie L. Hellwinckel on April 12, 2012 at 6:12pm

I'd say just do it like this guy did http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/man-single-handedly-plan...

Comment by Cherie Brown on April 11, 2012 at 10:24pm

Talked to Jacqueline Cramer, one of the founders of the Seattle food forest.  Her advice for starting a city food forest is to practice by initiating small-scale forest guilds in community gardens, backyards, wherever we can, so that we can demonstrate at a future date to the city that we have the experience needed to pull off a larger project.  These little guilds can someday become part of a larger design plan, and we will have a better idea of what works and what doesn't.  Sounds like good advice!  If you have an idea for a guild (one ore more trees plus plants to locate with them), start a discussion about what plants to use.