Design Your Own Food Forest
Learn how to design and create your own food forest in a suburban sized backyard, following permaculture principles. This course is held offsite in Ellen's food forest at St Johns.
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Description
Learn how to design and create your own food forest in a suburban sized backyard, following permaculture principles. We’ll cover how to start with soil preparation, composting, mulching, plant selection, guilds, propagation and maintenance and you will go home with your own goody bag of plants. This course is held offsite in Ellen's garden at St Johns. A maximum of eight students will attend this workshop.
Expected learning outcomes
- Understand what a food forest is, and is not, through visiting a mature food forest in a suburban-sized garden.
- Learn how to get started with soil and garden bed preparation.
- Learn about plant selection (fruit trees, edible perennials, herbs and support plants).
- Feel confident and inspired to start creating a more productive edible garden.
Course outline
- What is a food forest and how does it differ from an orchard.
- Advantages of a food forest.
- Creating fertile soil.
- Guilds, support plants and fruit trees.
- Your garden site and design process.
- Plant selection for the Auckland bioregion.
- Plant maintenance and propagation.
You'll also have the opportunity to take some plants home with you.
Who should attend?
Anyone who would like to see a mature food forest and be inspired about how to start their own. Those concerned about climate change and looking for a way to take action in their own back yard. Those wishing to produce more food at home.
What to bring
A snack for morning tea and your water bottle. Wear comfy shoes suitable for walking around the garden. Bring hat, sunscreen, rain jacket according to the weather. Bring a pen and notepad.
About your tutor, Ellen
I am passionate about educating people about the joys of creating a productive, sustainable and beautiful edible garden in a suburban sized backyard. I am an experienced gardener who has completed a Permaculture Design Course. I hold weekly workshops in my garden and love to help people getting started with creating their own food forest.
