“The glory of forest gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.”
- Alfred Austin

Forest ecologies reveal numerous valuable qualities we can learn and be inspired by. Humans would be wise to emulate nature in how we live with each other and in how we grow our food. 

Forest Ecologies are:

• Self-maintaining, renewing, fertilizing, and propagating.

• Conserve clean air, water, nutrients, soil excellence, and biodiversity.

• Self-sustaining – a system that is stable, irrepressible, and resilient.

These qualities emerge from the dynamics of the forest as a whole system and not from the elements that comprise the woods alone. To design productive edible ecosystems that express these same qualities, we must understand forest structures, functions, patterns, and processes and use this knowledge wisely.

This highly interactive series will teach you about forest garden design. You’ll learn how to turn your yard, school, workplace, or park into an edible forest garden by understanding Ecological Ethics, Principles, Strategies, Tools, and Techniques. This includes assessing your site and human systems, understanding plant ecosystem functions, selecting and installing edible and native plants, and making connections between ecology and food production. You’ll also learn about sustainable weeding, watering, and fertilization methods, as well as harvesting and preserving your plants for food, medicine, or value-added products. Finally, you’ll learn about hibernation, composting, mulching, and how to close the loop.

In this series, we dive deeply into the vision, theory, and practice of creating wholesome, dynamic, and resilient medicinal ecosystems using temperate deciduous forests as models. We will utilize site walks, experiential exercises, and design projects to help you understand how the architecture, social structure, underground economics, and the successional processes of natural forests can be applied to the design of herbal ecosystems. You will learn various ecological design processes while working on a range of compilations of food-producing ecologies at our demonstration and research gardens.

“The keystone of forest gardening is a paradigm shift in our human consciousness.
From monoculture mind to polyculture mind;
From separation to unity;
From exploitation and manipulation to respect and interdependence;
From intervener to ecosystem participant.”
- Dave Jacke

You will be inspired and empowered to design ecological forest gardens.

Curriculum

Week 1
The Web of Connections

• Working with Nature

• The Forest Garden Design Process

Week 2
Natural Patterns in the Garden

• Patterning: Unity & Biodiversity

• The Three Ecological Principles

Week 3
The Five Elements of the Forest Architecture

• The Seven-Story Garden: Vegetation Layer

• Grow-Your-Own-Food Garden Design

Week 4
Edible and Native Plant Selection

• Installation to Rewild Our Landscapes

• Connection Between Ecology and Food Production

Includes:

Forest Gardening: A Call to Action Manual
All workshop materials, handouts & charts