{"id":12315,"date":"2012-03-12T00:05:44","date_gmt":"2012-03-12T07:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/?p=12315"},"modified":"2012-03-12T00:05:44","modified_gmt":"2012-03-12T07:05:44","slug":"have-you-heard-of-a-food-forest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/12315","title":{"rendered":"Have you heard of a food forest?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tThere\u2019s a new term tickling the ears of gardeners this spring:<\/p>\n

\u201cfood forest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tantalizing?<\/p>\n

I think yes.<\/p>\n

Savor it with me: food forest<\/p>\n

It has an intriguing ring to it. When I heard it, I couldn\u2019t help but …<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

… picture a lush, edible wooded wonderland\u2014something out of a fairytale. But, in fact, food forests are rooted in reality.<\/p>\n

A relatively new concept in terms of human endeavors, the food forest is a method of gardening that creates a convincing natural woodland ecosystem with vegetation that grows good things to eat. We\u2019re basically taking nature and making her just a tad juicier.<\/p>\n

Think fruit and nut trees, berry bushes, and herbs\u2014all in one place and perfectly pluckable. Can you say, \u00a0\u201cHeaven on Earth\u201d?<\/p>\n

Sounds like a modern-day version of Eden to me.<\/p>\n

To make a food forest as self-sustaining and productive as possible, beneficial flowering plants are interspersed to attract insects for natural pest management and pollination, and nitrogen-fixing plants boost soil productivity. Of course, the operation is organic.<\/p>\n

The city of Seattle is currently in the process of founding Beacon Food Forest<\/a>, one of the first community food forests in the nation. Work will begin this summer on transforming a seven-acre plot of land in the Beacon Hill neighborhood into a succulent sanctuary of walnut, chestnut, pear, and apple trees; blueberry and raspberry bushes; and exotic goodies like pineapple, guava, and persimmons.<\/p>\n

And the most delicious tidbit? This bounty will be a public park, available to all who wander through. Stroll and sample at will.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t mind if I do \u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"

Sweet chestnut tree along the path in Sherwood Forest Farm Park in Nottinghamshire, England (other edibles include mushrooms and blackberries). Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, Lynne Kirton.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a new term tickling the ears of gardeners this spring: \u201cfood forest.\u201d Tantalizing? I think yes. Savor it with me: food forest It has an intriguing ring to it. When I heard it, I couldn\u2019t help but … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[84,275,350,803],"class_list":["post-12315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-get_out","tag-beacon-food-forest","tag-environment","tag-get-out","tag-seattle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12315\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}