Unfolding abundance

Words MORAG GAMBLE

Let your garden evolve into a thriving and beautifully diverse garden full of life. It’s true – the most productive and abundant edible garden is one full of diversity. That means incorporating not just vegetables and herbs, but flowers, perennials, trees, vines, edible roots, water plants and animals as well.

In permaculture, we call this a food forest – a garden that functions like a natural forest ecosystem. Each layer has edible and other plants that help feed and mulch the soil and create homes for our garden helpers – the pollinators (bees), the ‘pest’ managers (little birds), the fertilisers and decomposers (worms).

Have you ever noticed what happens in a forest when a large tree falls over? The first thing that sprouts is a wonderland of weeds. The seeds of these have laid dormant in the soil, and when the time is right, they grow and seed rapidly, covering the soil and creating the conditions for the renewal of the forest – for the woody shrubs, then trees again.

A food forest works with nature’s tendency towards complexity. Keeping a garden in the simple annual state (just leafy greens) takes more effort than working with this flow of natural evolution in the plant community that is your abundant, natural garden.

Typically there are eight layers we can identify in a food forest. How many layers can you create in a food forest in your garden? The plants listed here are just examples – there are hundreds you could include. Make a list of each layer that would be suitable for your climate:

1. Roots – edible underground plant parts – potato, sweet potato, turmeric, taro, garlic, onion.

2. Ground covers – creeping or lowgrowing plants – pumpkin vine, mint, yarrow, nasturtium, oregano, thyme, strawberries.

3. Herbaceous – typically leafy green annuals and small herbs – salad greens, leafy greens, garlic and onion greens, parsley, marigold, turmeric leaves.

4. Shrubs – perennials and woody vegetables – lavender, rosemary, basil, chilli, eggplant.

5. Small trees – short-lived or dwarf plants – dwarf citrus, tamarillo, pomegranate, pigeon pea.

6. Large trees – feature trees in your food forest system – avocado, mango, macadamia, olive, lemon myrtle, moringa.

7. Vines – climbers on trellises or trees – snow peas, beans, tomato, passionfruit, grapes.

8. Ponds – edible water plants – water chestnuts, water spinach, watercress.

Micro food forest in a pot

You can even create a micro food forest for your courtyard or balcony garden. In permaculture, we call this a plant guild. It includes the main plant (lemon tree), a soil improver (beans), a ground cover (strawberries) and a pollinator attractor (e.g., calendula). If you have space, go ahead and add more diversity – parsley, oregano and rosemary. Get creative with filling in the various layers and evolve your garden to new levels of abundance, habitat value and colour.

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