Plants and trees have been growing on Earth for about 400 million years, according to Mother Nature. It was so long ago that people didn’t really exist. Humans thrived on nature’s abundance when they landed.
Nonetheless, farms and woods have had a curious friendship. In the one side, we must clear the forest and make room for agriculture. Agro-forestry, on the other hand, is a growing trend that “capitalizes” on the free resources that forests offer to farmers and gardeners
Martin Crawford has been working on his 2-acre woodland garden in England for more than 20 years. Really, he let it do the most of the job for him… He discovered that trees do far more than shield fragile edible plants from the elements and harsh weather. They have food, water, and pollen. The truth is that you won’t be able to find any of your beloved traditional annual vegetables in a forest garden. However, you will have the opportunity to explore a variety of new culinary plants that you were previously unaware of. And this man discovered that if you carefully choose your plants, they would reproduce themselves every year and survive with the other species.
He now has about 500 different types of food growing in his greenhouse. And what’s more surprising is that it doesn’t take much effort. The only thing he has to do is pick the fruits and eat them! However, prior to this, the initial planting necessitated a significant amount of digging in the field. At first, he did a lot of testing and irrigation.
Developing a Forest Garden
He has a book called Creating a Forest Garden, and in it he discusses what this type of garden should include. It is all about valuable plants such as fruit trees, berries, vegetables, medicinal herbs, and so on. It must also have plants that are only marginally useful. They will improve the system’s efficiency. This suggests there should be nitrogen fixers, mineral accumulators, and plants that attract beneficial insects, which would eat pests.
Finally, the soil is extremely significant when it comes to planting. Don’t worry about the soil while farming in a woodland garden. His recommendation is to avoid clearing the forest.
Sources:
educateinspirechange.org
treehugger.com
healthylifeboxx.com
