UNH Extension: Kickstarting Your Food Forest Journey
TL;DR: Developing a food forest involves site assessment, strategic plant choices, and community engagement to create a resilient, productive ecosystem.
- Start with site assessment and soil preparation.
- Select diverse native and edible species.
- Implement pioneer plants and guild planting.
- Monitor succession and manage pests with diversity.
- Involve the community for stewardship.
- Scale up gradually, integrate with farm systems.
Why it matters: Food forests offer a sustainable way for farms and homesteads to adapt to climate change by enhancing ecosystem services and generating food.
Do this next: Conduct a thorough site assessment, including soil testing and hydrology analysis, for your chosen food forest location.
Recommended for: Farmers, homesteaders, and educators interested in establishing resilient, productive food forests and enhancing ecosystem services.
This UNH Extension workshop explores New England farms adapting to climate change via agroforestry, specifically food forest development. Participants visit Beaver Brook Nature Center's fledgling food forest to learn initial steps: site assessment, species selection, soil preparation, and opportunities for experiential learning in sustainability-focused outdoor education. Then, at Joppa Hill Education Farm, observe large-scale planning starting small and scaling up—practical sequencing from pioneer plants to mature strata, integrating edibles with natives for resilience. Venues emphasize agricultural education value, providing hands-on insights into establishment phases: propagation techniques, guild planting (nitrogen-fixers, dynamic accumulators, chop-and-drop mulches), microclimate mapping, and succession monitoring. Key methods include community involvement for stewardship, scaling strategies (e.g., modular expansion), and integration with broader farm systems for productivity. Insights cover challenges like weed suppression, pest management via diversity, water retention in changing hydrology, and metrics for success (yield tracking, biodiversity indices). Practitioners learn concrete protocols for 'beginnings and before'—pre-planting prep (soil tests, hydrology analysis), phasing implementation to build resilient plant communities mimicking natural forests. Ties into regional research on long-term function, offering actionable details for educators, farmers, and homesteaders to create scalable food forests enhancing ecosystem services while generating outputs.