THE FOOD FOREST GARDEN
“To forget how to dig the Earth and tend the soil is to forget ourselves”
~ Mahatma Gandhi
Heal the Planet is previously created Food Forest Gardens throughout our South Florida community! Our intention in sharing these systems is to reconnect neighbors with nature in the common spaces remaining in the urban environment. We began in the city of Fort Lauderdale’s Snyder Park with our beautiful and productive demonstration site for visitors to learn how to transform waste into energy and grow food abundantly and sustainably.
Why Food Forests?
- Most efficient way to grow food in a tropical climate- least amount of energy for greatest amount of yield
- Maximizes limited space in the urban environment through stacking, layering, and succession
- Provides a living classroom to empower residents with valuable skills in self-sufficiency and sustainability
- Demonstrates how to transform waste into energy
- Promotes biodiversity and improves whole system stability
- Creates food security and community resilience
- Long-term food solution with little upkeep
Elements of a Food Forest
- Resilient, regenerative system that works with nature rather than against it to obtain multiple yields
- Closed loop system provides primary nutrition needs
- Mainly perennial plants, self seed year after year
- Self-renewing soils with fungi, microbes, and well developed life in the soil
- Stable, diverse ecosystem with beneficial connections
- Nitrogen fixing trees & ground covers
- Whole systems pest and disease management
- Abundant plant communities and healthy guilds
Benefits of Urban Food Forest Gardens
- Under-utilized city lots provide living classrooms and learning spaces to promote health, wellness, and community well-being in the commons
- Resource sharing: knowledge, skills, trees, seeds, cuttings, fruits, vegetables
- Local, organic food and medicine accessible to underserved populations
- Inclusive meeting area where people of all backgrounds and ages can learn where food comes from and engage with their local food system
- Habitat for biodiversity, urban wildlife, and local pollinators
- Demonstration site to empower local residents with valuable skills for community resilience and food security – especially during hurricane season and as a coastal community facing a changing climate
- Reduces pollution and improves local air quality by sequestering carbon
- Improves neighborhood aesthetics and creates deepened sense of belonging
- Communicates the importance of environmental connection and conservation by telling the story of our local bioregion and magnificent ecological system
