What is a Food Forest And How Does It Work?

One of my favorite aspects of permaculture is food forests. What is a food forest? Imagine walking through acres of beautiful apple trees, surrounded by fruiting mulberries, ripe tomatoes, creeping clusters of mint and wild strawberries, as you walk you can pick and eat whatever your heart desires. All the plants benefit each other in a closed loop system that draws pollinators, adds minerals to the soil, fertilizes itself naturally, and mulches itself naturally. Food forest gardening and farming is a low maintenance sustainable plant-based food production system, inspired wholly by the way woodland ecosystems work without human interference. 

In a woodland ecosystem, there are multiple layers that contribute to its overall health and longevity. When planting a food forest we work to replicate these layers, creating a polyculture that requires minimal human interference to produce and survive.

​What is a polyculture? What helped me best understand this term was understanding its antithesis, a monoculture. All of those rows of corn for miles and miles? That is a monoculture. One plant growing in abundance invites disease, nutrient deficiencies in the soil, and soil erosion. With a polyculture that has many different varieties of plants growing together, it nurtures and builds the soil by fixing nitrogen, drawing pollinators, and pulling up much needed minerals. Let's take a look at the seven different layers of a food forest.

The Seven Food Forest Layers

1. The Canopy Layer - This refers to the uppermost layer of the food forest. Usually, this is a large fruit or nut tree, planted at the northernmost point of the garden to allow for maximum sunlight for the presiding layers. This layer works for us by providing mulch every fall (all those falling leaves), a home for wildlife, and can even fix nitrogen into the soil in some cases depending on the species. Some great species for Wisconsin are black cherry, sugar maple, apple, plum, black walnut, and pear.
2. The Low Tree Layer - The next tallest layer of the food forest. Usually consisting of the dwarf variety of fruit or nut trees. This layer works to provide mulch, and can also fix nitrogen into the soil depending on the species. Some great candidates are elderberry, crab apple, and hazelnut.
3. The Shrub Layer - This next layer is more shade tolerant, consisting generally of shrubs or bushes that grow up to 5' tall. This layer's purpose can be to attract pollinators and deter pests with strong aromas.  Common plants used for this layer are rosemary, marigolds, lavender, blueberries, currants, and gooseberries. 
4. The Herbaceous Layer - This layer consists of non-woody perennials that can draw pollinators through the duration of the seasons - think flowers. Common plants used here are echinacea, rhubarb, asparagus, and comfrey. Comfrey is a wonderful cut-and-come-again plant that fixes nitrogen as well as mulches throughout the growing season.
5. The Root Layer -   This layer consists of plants that have the ability to send a tap root down into the soil to draw up much needed minerals and nutrients. Some great candidates include burdock, parsnip, carrots, dandelion, and Culver's root. 
6. The Ground Cover Layer - This level of the garden acts as a natural mulch throughout the growing season. With its leaves and stems that cluster and spread near the surface of the ground, this layer protects the soil. Some of my favorites for this layer are wild strawberries, spring beauty, nasturtium, violets, oregano, mint, purslane, and mallow. 
7. The Vine Layer - The vine layer is planted once the Canopy Layer is well established, allowing the vine to climb the mature tree as support. Some vines can choke out a tree if the tree is too small, so be careful with this layer because you don't lose an apple tree in the process! Selections include green beans, peas, grapes, and the hardy kiwi. 

Artwork by Graham Burnett from his book “Permaculture A Beginners Guide” – www.spiralseed.co.uk)

The goal with a food forest is to plant as many native perennials as you can. By doing so, you decrease the amount of work you have to do and increase the output of edible produce. Planting a cultivar in the climate, soil conditions, and correct amount of sun is a sure-fire way to a lasting crop yield. Your soil and plants will thank you for it!

​Our Wisconsin Food Forest Plan

For the Canopy Layer, we have a few different trees we will be using based on the texture and drainage of our soil. For this first year, our chosen Canopy Layer species include black cherry, silver maple, hardy almond, black walnut, and oak. Some of them are already established, which saves us money! 

For the Low Tree Layer, we will have apples, cherries, figs, and pawpaws.

For the Shrub Layer, we are working with the existing wild raspberries bushes.

For the Herbaceous Layer, we are planting a wildflower mix of Calendula, Cornflower, Red Flax, Poppy, Black Eyed Susans, Spring Beauty, Lupine, and Lead Plant. These flowers will do their part to draw pollinators and fix nitrogen into the soil. 

For the Root Layer, we are planting Culver's Root and Prairie Dock. Eventually, we will let dandelion do its thing and possibly some carrots and parsnips.

For the Ground Cover Layer, we are planting wild strawberries, tons of them. We also will be adding winecap mushroom spores to our mulch.

We don't foresee on having a vine layer for a while, but when we do I'll think about grapes or beans.

There is an amazing tree sale at Camp Tapawingo that happens every spring. This is where we are getting all of our Canopy Layer. Wehr Nature Center has a great native plant sale that we are getting nearly all of the remaining plants from. The rest will be bought as organic seeds that I'll sow after the last frost date. 

Additional Resources:

Integrated Forest Gardening by Wayne Weiseman, Daniel Halsey, and Bryce Ruddock

Permaculture is a movement that is coming into its own, and the concept of creating plant guilds in permaculture is at the forefront of every farmer’s and gardener’s practice. One of the essential practices of permaculture is to develop perennial agricultural systems that thrive over several decades without expensive and harmful inputs: perennial plant guilds, food forests, agroforestry, and mixed animal and woody species polycultures.

Restoration Agriculture by Mark Shepard

Around the globe most people get their calories from annual agriculture - plants that grow fast for one season, produce lots of seeds, then die. Every single human society that has relied on annual crops for staple foods has collapsed. Restoration Agriculture explains how we can have all of the benefits of natural, perennial ecosystems and create agricultural systems that imitate nature in form and function while still providing for our food, building, fuel and many other needs - in your own backyard, farm or ranch. 

So that concludes our Wisconsin Food Forest Plan! It definitely is a baby step, but it a step in the right direction nonetheless. Do you have any plants you would to add to the list when it comes to building a food forest in the Midwest or Wisconsin? Leave a comment below!