A community Food Forest

What is a community Food Forest?

A Community food forest as we see it is a forest on public or private land that is built by a community for a community. A food forest is made up of trees that bear fruits, nuts or other edible produce.

The Habitat sits on 100 acres, or 40 hectares of land in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales Australia. See Locations and History for more information.

We plan to plant and harvest a Food forest on the easterly slop of the main ridge running through the property on the same side as the farm dam. We aim to develop the food forest using Permaculture principals.

We hope to build a community around the food forest of locals and more distant participants. With occasional care and maintenance undertaken by volunteers we will distribute the harvest among the participants.

Design ideas

A series of swales or contours will be placed along the slope which runs from the north to south, and the food forest trees such as Almond and olives and appropriate companion plants planted into the swales above the lowest point where the water gathers. The swales will continue at the same level until they reach an appropriate end point and discharge across a slope, and where practical feed into the next lowest swale.

Principals

Whilst we are taking considerable effort to regenerate the property on which The Habitat project is being built we also know that with a growing population and increasing impact on food production that we need to consider what sustainable resources we can get from well managed land. Other than some small vegetable gardens a food forest is how we hope to generate some productive output from the land, and also give people from the city an opportunity to experience working the land.

 

Sustainable home/venue for the development of sustainable practices