Food Forest #1 – Ceredigion

What’s a Food Forest?

A food forest, also called a forest garden, is a diverse planting of edible plants that attempts to mimic the ecosystems and patterns found in nature. Food forests are designed to be thought of in 3 or 4 dimensions, and very efficient at producing food and habitat.

How did this food forest start?

The full story includes me reading lots of Noam Chomsky, getting sad at the state of the world, and finding tree-planting as a pragmatic way to make a dent in the universe. From there I found permaculture and the design principles of food forestry.

This particular food forest, (my first), was born in error; I had the intention to buy land and plant a larger food forest, but getting ahead of myself had preliminarily planted and grafted ~100 trees in a nursery on my dad’s land. I didn’t find a piece of land in time, so eventually agreed to plant the majority of the trees out into the surrounding field, creating a small food forest/underplanted orchard in situ.

A number of these trees were planted 1:1 for sales of my book, as part of Plant a Book.

What stage is this food forest at?

As of 2024 this small food forest is coming along nicely. With a 100m long bank with Rosa Rugosa, Eleagnus Umbelleta and Sea Buckthorn to protect it from the worst of the winds here in West Wales, the fruit trees are starting to more readily produce. Some of the under layers have been planted.