Talk about food forests seem to be of growing interest this month as more people suddenly get excited about the possibilities of designing natural systems on their land that mimics how nature likes to build it’s forests.

But with a slight twist. Adding a variety of fruit trees into the mix to give you a veritable garden of Eden.

Wishful thinking?

Building a food forest that is not just populated with native tree species but has a multitude of fruit trees included to lock in food security for the owner.

Such systems are not new.

 Paradise Valley

A good example is Paradise Valley in Morocco that Geoff Lawton visited a number of times. Over 2,000 years old and still producing enough food for 800 farmers.

Treehugger recently discovered the concept and reported on Lawton’s youtube video that we at Ecofilms created and reported on when we featured it in our DVD Establishing a Food Forest.

Matt Kilby

The problem is that establishing a food forest doesn’t happen over night and will fail if the mechanics, the landscape, the framework to encourage suitable moisture and soil fertility isn’t properly planned.

Take a look at ABC’s recent report on Matt Kilby and his work on bringing Trees back to Life in southern NSW in Australia. Matt is putting in three kilometres of swales on pasture depleted soil that will eventually run a native corridor of trees, fruit and animal sanctuary system connecting forest and farms together.

This is the kind of thinking missing in action by governments.

Matt for many years has been a lone voice struggling to get his message across. He’s a bit like a modern day Johnny Appleseed character. He just gets on with it knowing that every tree is alive and every tree carefully planted will one day change the landscape.

But its not idyllic work.

Watch this video clip to see the effort required.

Terra-Forming a Garen of Eden

Swales are a kind of a ditch that needs to be perfectly level to trap water and soak it gradually into the soil where it will be used to naturally keep your plants alive.

Geoff Lawton in his Food Forest that he created

When you terra- form large sections of landscape you can’t depend on man to do the watering of plants for you.

Here we need to harness nature and cleverly design all the principles of Newtonian science to work in your favour. Geoff Lawton calls it “earth surgery” when you are working with heavy compacted soils due to poor pasture management.

Water will never run uphill – so understanding that law can make for creative possibilities when it comes to harvesting water.

Permaculture people like to rely on heavy machinery and an eye for reading the way the landscape rises and falls using dumpy levels to read the landscape. Capturing water runoff and directing it creatively is the secret.

Using natural biology – billions of bacteria to convert mulch into productive soil is what they do. Permaculture people are about actively building soil not depleting it. Imagine owning a farm that just gets better with age.

Is it possible?

Yes, but you need to be very selective and knowledge how you go about achieving the necessary ingredients. You need some species of trees to be the leaf mulch creators. You need some trees to be the canopy forming overstory to shade the smaller fragile fruit trees below. You also need nitrogen fixing trees – the sort of trees that produce these little white nitrogen nodules that build fertility into the subsoil. The mechanics is delicate but the results when you get it right – are spectacular.

What exactly are we talking about here? Nothing more than terra-forming barren, depleted, exhausted, trashed soils back into fertility. Can it be done? Yes. In the end what you score is a landscape rich in fertility, trees that moderate the climate, a habitat for an ecosystem and dare I say it – a Garden of Eden you can walk through. Such lofty dreams are worthwhile and give something back for future generations to enjoy. Wouldn’t you say?

Read about Establishing a Food Forest Here.

We’ve all heard of growing vegetables in Aquaponics but what about Fruit Trees? How well will they grow?

Murray Hallam with his Red Papaya Tree grown in Aquaponics

The evidence seems to be – exceptionally well! The main criteria as Murray Hallam from Practical Aquaponics suggests that you grow them in deep grow bed troughs at least one foot deep. Even deeper containers will work well. Mature systems of at least two to three years of age seem to work best. It may be because of the miniature eco-system that needs time to develop. It may very well be the assorted constellation of bacteria and micro-organisms that expand in complexity as the system ages. What ever the answer – the choice of gravel media is very important too. Sand or pea gravel just will not work. It will clog the system – ending in rapid failure.

Small Papaya Seedling

Murray Hallam recommends 20mm gravel or three quarter inch stones as the ideal medium. The larger the better. The crevices are important for a number of reasons. The reason is root support. Round smooth clay pebbles or Hydroton will not support the plants root system. Those smooth round red clay balls look and feel great to work with but they tend to roll around in the grow beds like marbles. Even corn will lean over in a slight breeze.
The interlocking structure of irregular stones offers better plant support and additional crevices for the compost worms to have access to the plant root system.

Composting worms will thrive in a well oxygenated system that is flood and drained continuously. Here at Ecofilms we often refer the the flood and drain cycle as the lungs of the system and success in growing massive fruit trees is possible if fresh oxygen is “pulled” down to the root system as water drains out through the siphons and back to the fish tank.
The worms love the fish waste. Their interactions and ability to thrive in gravel systems means they grow quite fast and are able to navigate through the gravel quite speedily should you disturb them.

Murray describes them as his Secret Weapon. He talks about his fruit trees and demonstrates the success he’s had with his two enormous Papaya Trees that were purchased as seedlings and grew and grew beyond all expectations. Experienced growers told him that his Papaya will not grow because they don’t like “wet feet.”

Papaya being weighed

Red pawpaw tastes delicious

The consensus was that Aquaponics Grow beds will eventually “clog up.” Murray waited for the system to fail. But it never did.

Murray insists that the solution is well aged grow beds.

“My Papaya were grown in 4 year old 300mm deep grow beds filled with 20mm drainage gravel and being powered by a 2300 litre fish tank populated with 100 plus Jade Perch (plate size) and some others namely, cat fish, barramundi, yellobelly, bass.” he said.

Maybe the mixture of fish species had something to do with the nutrients produced?

“Nutrient and mineral release by beneficial bacteria and a few thousand compost worms.” he smiled.

Eventually Murray says he harvested well over 70 Kilos of fruit off the one papaya tree. Eventually the weight of the hanging fruit tore down the branches. The plant itself could not support the weight of the fruit. Murray was devastated.

Broken tree branch

Murray cleaned up the broken branches and collected the fruit. He had 43 Kilos of fruit. No wonder the branch broke.

Encourage by these results Murray Hallam is now researching other fruit trees like Orange and Citrus. If the trials conducted prove to be a success then Aquaponics may have a future beyond salads and vegetables. Murray’s Papaya tree and other fruit tree secrets is revealed in his latest DVD “Aquaponics Secrets” which is available from this website.

Peter Andrews the creator of Natural Sequence Farming talks to us about the role of weeds in a natural system.
Sitting down on a stump with sprig of Patterson’s curse – a noxious weed – proudly tucked into his top pocket, Peter reckons the authorities have got it all wrong. He’s a champion for weeds and doesn’t care what people think of him or his radical views on land management. He’s had his critics. He’s used to them. Sitting near the creek that he has re-engineered to follow the natural rhythms of nature at Mulloon Creek Natural Farms near Canberra, Peter allows weeds to grow on this property unchecked. Its an experiment that is closely monitored by the authorities in Canberra.

Although he doesn’t like to be confused with permaculture – his views are in fact similar. He defines weeds as a repairative mechanism. A plant with a natural instinct to germinate when the soil is degraded, trashed or disturbed and begin the pioneer process of fixing the soil so other plants can grow in succession. He believes weeds are part of the “fix” and are not the problem and should not be eradicated by poisoning them with chemicals.

Working with weeds by slashing them with a tractor or mower when they grow to a certain height is the way to improve soil fertility. Returning carbon back into the soil is the answer. He believes farmers are so conditioned to believe that herbicides are the solution to the weed problem that they fail to understand or appreciate the way the natural system works.

In this video clip, Peter explains his views on how weeds are eventually replaced by grass and illustrates the case for Victa – Australia’s popular lawn mower that had a unique slogan back in the 1960′s in its television advertising campaigns dubbed “Get a Victa – Turn Grass into Lawn.” This slogan was a pitch to sell lawn mowers but the slogan held a powerful theme that was not well understood by the Australian population. How grasslands are created by constant slashing of your field, allowing the slashed weeds to fall and decompose and gradually over time and repeated slashing – to build soil fertility.

Peter is an avid horseman. When he was a young man he went to England to study the land management techniques of champion horse breeders. Like many people he thought the solution to breeding champions was lush green pastures. He asked an old breeder with many grand national winners to his credit how much chemical super-phosphate he applied to his field. The old man said none. Occasionally he applied a bit of Kelp. The solution the old man said was to have as many different weeds on your property for the horses to nibble on. Any less than 50 weeds was considered a pasture in decline. Peter always remembered that lesson in plant diversity.

Food Forest at Tagari

Walking through a Food Forest can be bewildering experience at first as you try to understand all the design features inherent in Nature. The canopy and diversity of the forest in its complexity can be hard to comprehend at first. Geoff Lawton once remarked that he felt many of his permaculture students had a lot of difficulty seeing the structural features of a forest. So how do you make sense of it all if you don’t have a botanist’s knowledge of plants?

In designing a food forest system, lets break it down visually to the seven basic patterns that define the look and feel of a food forest. By working with these patterns we can simplify the design process to its essentials and then gradually reiterate these patterns when we design and plant out our forest with added plant complexity. Think of these seven patterns as notes on a musical scale that could be used repeatedly to build your forest into a symphony of form and function.

Lets kick off our Food Forest by building it next to a water harvesting swale. A swale system that is built on contour can soak rainwater into the soft lower mound and be a constant source of moisture for our plants.

Think of this list as a recipe of shapes that define the patterns of a forest.

Canopy
The top Canopy (10m+) layer towers above your forest. Nut trees such as Walnut and Pecan, Coconuts, Cabinet Timber trees and various shade and wind-break trees can also be grouped into this lot.

Low Tree layer
Smaller fruit trees (3-9m), plums. peaches apples and pears, pawpaw, custard apples, lemons and orange trees. Faster growing leguminous pioneers can also fit into this category. Shorter living trees can be recycled for their mulch, shade and nitrogen capabilities.

Shrubs
Bushy Shrub plants (up to 3m) such as Currents, Gooseberry, Raspberry, Blueberries, Blackcurrents can be used.

Herbaceous
Perennial herbs and vegetables such as Thyme, Sage, Rosemary and various Medicinal Herbs, Onions, Rhubarb, Asparagus, Chives, Yarrow, Mustard Greens and Comfrey all fit into this category.

Rhizosphere
The Root Zone or underground area, allows Artichokes, Yams, even Mushrooms to coexist. Garlic, Yacon, Shallots, Horseradish and Ginger.

Ground Cover Plants
Nitrogen fixing green manure plants like alfalfa, clover, vetch, and winter rye grow quickly and then break down, providing nutrients for the soil and a boost for the other plants living in this community. Even annuals such as pumpkin can be inter-planted between the trees to sprawl out and fill in the gaps.

Vertical Climbers
Grapes, passion-fruit, Beans, Peas, Runners and assorted vines.

The construction of a Food Forest can be very low maintenance affair if some careful planning goes into the initial design process. By integrating these 7 layers into our designs and alternating the patterns with a variety of different plant species we can build an amazing complex Food Forest system that goes on for years providing an endless supply of food, moderating the local climate around it as well as a becoming a habitat for all sorts of creatures that live nearby.

For many years they’ve been seen as a symbol of pride in Australia. Expatriate writers in the 50′s and 60′s would  write about returning to Sydney by ship and about being greeted by the  smell of  wafting gum tree leaves as they waxed lyrical about the nostalgia they felt for home.

Authorities still plant them everywhere. In parks, next to footpaths, street corners, new housing development estates, Eucalypts are as Australian as the Emu and the Kangaroo. They are seen nearly everywhere and nobody seems to take them as a threat in Australia.

But should Eucalypts be re-examined as a noxious weed?

Supporters of Natural Sequence Farming describe Eucalypts as:

• It is invasive.

• It burns.

• Its alleolopathic

• It’s residue fails to break down.

• Its a monoculture.

• It’s poisoning and killing ALL of our catchments.

• It prevents biodiversity from growing beneath it.

Peter Andrews thinks so and gives them a blast at Mulloon Creek recently whilst we were filming at the field day held there. In this video clip he gives a frank assessment of their worth in planting along river beds. Oddly enough its the humble Willow tree that he loves and has plenty of  time for, replanting them along creek beds. This has brought him at odds with Government authorities who have declared willows as noxious weeds and are ripping them out of  creeks and rivers.

We filmed Mr Andrews hugging the trunk of a willow for the cameras as he said,

“If I had a daughter, I’d name her Willow!’

Government authorities in Land, Parks & Conservation declare Willows as rampant invaders and believe Peter Andrews’ methods are disruptive of biodiversity and the  natural ecosystem. Tony Coote of Mulloon Natural Creek Farms where willows are grown on the creek beds is a firm supporter of Peter Andrews and his methods of land management and sees no evidence of Willows threatening landholders downstream.

Recently whilst filming at Mulloon Creek Natural Farms near Canberra we spotted a lone figure in the barren landscape quietly digging a series of holes on a 2 kilometre stretch of swales that were designed by Geoff Lawton.

Matt Kilby has been on the farm now for 12 months and in that time has developed a system of giving the trees he plants a successful start to life.

Planting trees in heavily compacted soil is not easy as Matt will tell you, but it can be done if you follow some basic tips.

In this video Matt explains the right way to plant a tree on a swale, especially if its located in a fairly inhospitable landscape and how to make sure that the trees you plant have a high success rate. The pink tree guards that Matt created are not cosmetic. They have a particular part to play in speeding plant growth as Matt explains.
Matt’s life is trees. He’s been inspired by the words of Richard St. Barbe Baker’s book “My Life My Trees” and is determined to build a beautiful oasis on this planet by planting as many trees as he can. Matt has a vision of this planet and it’s a beautiful one. Where some people see problems, Matt sees a lush food forest fed by a cleverly design water harvesting swale. A model of sustainable design.

Visit Matt’s website at treesforearth.com.au and say “G’day Matt, Well done!”