Food forest

The first tree, a walnut tree, was planted on February 9, 2020, followed by more than 300 others (trees, shrubs and plants) in the days that followed. They occupy only a small part of half a hectare of meadow which we intend to convert into food forest. A start and a test !

What is a food forest?

As its name suggests, a food forest is a forest that feeds… In itself nothing new, our hunter-gatherer ancestors understood this very well , only we would be very embarrassed to have like them to roam the forest tirelessly in search of food, and for what menu (at least before becoming aces of the paleo diet!). It is that the nourishing forest as we understand it today is different from a “classic” forest in that it is oriented by man in the sense of greater production of food. For this, the pantry-forester relies on a very precise design which observes, imitates and strives to accelerate the natural processes, according to the principles of permaculture, and it naturally relies on a large variety of edible plants.

And if our dear ancestor, rather than bartering his nomadic life in the forest for a sedentary life in his field (this famous “first” who “enclosed land”, invented work, property etc.), had followed this “Third way” of the nourishing forest ? How would the world have been changed? Sedentary in the forest! We can have fun speculating on this issue.One thing is certain today: as much the idea of a nomadic life has become difficult or even impossible for us (even the body and the wandering mind, travel, internet, we are all assigned to tax residence), as much the plants themselves have never led a nomadic existence so easily, globalization and climate change helping…, with the joys of being able to taste exotic fruits such as the paw paw !