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Blog

Tour of our Cold Climate Food Forest!

4/14/2018

6 Comments

 
If you're craving green and a little inspiration for the growing season ahead, then my video today is for you. In it, I give you a tour of our food forest. Even though we live in a cold climate, it doesn't mean that we can't grow a lot of edible perennials in our yards. With 9 fruit trees, multiple berry bushes and a variety of other edible perennials and herbs, our food forest has turned into a very productive space in just 5 growing seasons.

What I love about permaculture and gardening is the opportunity to turn degraded landscapes into edible paradises of food, fertility, medicine, and wildlife habitat. When we bought our 3/4 acre property back in December of 2012, the back of the lot was just grass, with a Siberian Pea Shrub hedge defining the north property line and a large pile of garbage and organic matter piled up in one area. Having been a rental for several years before our purchase,  not much attention had been paid to the outdoor landscape.
Picture
Through the method of sheet mulching, we added yards and yards of straw, woodchip, leaves, compost, and  manure. Along with planting bare root fruit trees and shrubs and seeding annual crops, we eliminated roughly 8000 square feet of lawn and turned the area into a lush, edible landscape that has become the home for birds, bees, butterflies, dragonflies, earthworms and other microscopic life that dwells in the soil. 
Picture
So check out the video below to get a tour of the forest! Then, I would love to hear from you. Are you growing fruit trees and berry bushes in your yard? If not, would you like to? Share your successes and challenges in the comments below!
6 Comments
Matt LaSalle
4/15/2018 11:15:29 am

The forest looks great, Kareen! What a difference between 2012 and now. Here's to another great season in 2018!

Reply
Kareen Erbe
4/16/2018 08:56:28 am

Thanks so much Matt!

Reply
Karen
4/23/2018 08:21:45 am

Looks so awesome, Kareen! Amazing to see what you have done in just 5 years - and lots of hard work. So inspiring!

Reply
Kareen Erbe
4/23/2018 08:50:26 am

Thanks Karen!

Reply
Stephanie
4/26/2018 08:16:32 pm

Wonderful! Thank you for sharing this!

Reply
Kareen Erbe
4/27/2018 07:22:54 am

You're welcome Stephanie!

Reply



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  • Home
  • About
  • Services
    • Consultations
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    • Workshops/Events >
      • Resilient Homestead Program
      • Starter Garden Workshop
      • Online Edible Backyards Series
      • Women's Online Permaculture Design Course
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  • What is Permaculture?
  • Resources
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  • Broken Ground Store