The Forest Farm: Clothing the Earth with Trees
There is a scene from the 1984 adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol“ in which Scrooge is talking to Bob Cratchit about the use of clothing instead of coal to keep warm. “Garments were invented by the human race as protection against the cold. Once purchased, they may be used indefinitely for the purpose for which they were intended. Coal burns. Coal is momentary, coal is expensive“. Now, all symbolism of his greed aside, it is actually a great point and one that could be equally applied to our soil in regards to maintaining it’s fertility.
A landscape covered with trees, shrubs and perennials covers the soil in a thick blanket of leaves, branches, nut husks and fruit. A field tilled by tractor every year is stripped naked of its garments, exposing it to the elements. A forest sucks carbon from the air and stabilizes it in its root system, feeding the soil. A plowed field releases precious carbon into the air much like burning coal, displacing the oxygen we need to breathe. Organic matter in a forest setting builds upon itself year after year, requiring no costly inputs of fertilizers or manual labor. A typical farm field needs to be renewed with fertilizer regularly, often over-applied and in caustic, chemical forms which only serves to burn up even more organic matter. Forest soils absorb deep rains and hold the water for the long haul. Bare soil erodes into waterways and vaporizes nutrients in the hot sun, the rest gets compacted by heavy rain. I could keep going with the analogy but the point is clear by now. Fertility in a forest is indefinite, in a tilled field it is momentary and expensive.
Now you may be saying “but a forest doesn’t produce food like a farm“ and if we take a stroll through the average forest, that may be true. Yet we as humans have the means necessary to CREATE the forest. Through selecting the trees we want to plant instead of leaving it to the whims of squirrels, wind and birds, we can create a true forest farm that is every bit as productive as a tilled farm, I’d say even more so when we consider the drastically reduced labor and inputs.
Imagine, if you will, planting a canopy layer of Black Walnut trees mingling with Hickories, Chestnuts, Oaks and Pecans. These all provide dependable crops of protein, fat and starchy carbohydrates. Even if these were the only trees, that could constitute a healthy diet the year round. But a few trees does not make a forest. In the sunny glades we can plant Apples, Pears, Persimmons, Peaches and Plums. Let’s not forget the shade tolerant understory of Cornelian Cherry, Paw Paw and Kousa Dogwood. These trees all add vitamin and sugar rich fruit to the larder. Next up we have the shrubs. Luscious Blueberries hang from drooping branches next to Hazelnuts loaded with nut filled husks. Raspberries, Blackberries and other brambles spread hither and thither, weaving their canes in where light allows. Some Grapes twine up tree trunks, filling yet another void with leaves, fruit and energy. The annual fall of fruits and nuts keeps us well fed, while the annual fall of leaves does the same for the soil. Mushrooms can be cultivated in the deepest shade. Livestock can easily be woven in here as well, feeding on excess fruit drops and leaving behind their gift of rich manure. No bags of fertilizer bought, no tractor to rip the soil open and spread it, no erosion, no bare soil baking in the sun, no fuel to be bought and burned.
This may sound like some over-idealized utopia, but I have seen it work over and over again, both on my own homestead and by the accounts of many people who are doing the exact same thing. By working WITH nature’s system instead of against it, we free ourselves from the burdens that often accompany farm maintenance. When the land keeps itself fertile, it leaves us with more time to harvest, prepare and store. Pest and disease problems dwindle to tolerable levels as the ecosystem balances out. We can still leave plenty of room open for our beloved annuals too. I love my potatoes, tomatoes, beans, greens and the like, but it no longer needs to be acres upon acres of mono-cultured madness. By interspersing ALL of these elements we will find ourselves in the middle of a landscape that requires nothing from us except to reap what we have sown. The system just works.
And so I leave you now with another Dickensian quote - “Upon the motionless branches of some trees, autumn berries hung like clusters of coral beads, as in those fabled orchards where the fruits were jewels“. May you think of these words as you plant your own fabled orchard!