How to prepare food forest to stay resilient

We bought our property (Tenerife, Canary Islands - hot, dry, Mediterranean climate) almost 7 years ago.
The locals say that in the last 10-15 years summers got hotter, and winters got drier...

I’d like to make sure that our food forest stays resilient no matter how the climate changes, but I’m not sure how to do it.

I did plant fruit trees and some edible perennials that belong to zones on both sides of my climate zone, but so far those require more care, resources, and yet to produce...

What are your ideas how to make your forest garden climate-change-ready?

I would start thinking about man made microclimates, bury geothermal heating, replace wire fencing with stone walls to reflect heat, add shade cloth, irrigation etc. whatever your needs.

For something more natural start thinking about wind currents on your property and how on a macro scale they bring rain clouds, cool air, warm air etc. and think about how you can direct it, trap condensation and look at your neighbors, there will only be so much you can do if neighboring land is desolate and provides no protection.

Diversity in native plant life is all I've got. You get enough of the local plants that would be in that environment together in one place, they make each other healthier & stronger, therefore more resiliant.

That being said, I have no clue what a natural environment would even be in a place like the Canary Islands.

T Simpson wrote:I would start thinking about man made microclimates, bury geothermal heating, replace wire fencing with stone walls to reflect heat, add shade cloth, irrigation etc. whatever your needs.
For something more natural start thinking about wind currents on your property and how on a macro scale they bring rain clouds, cool air, warm air etc. and think about how you can direct it, trap condensation and look at your neighbors, there will only be so much you can do if neighboring land is desolate and provides no protection.

Thanks a million, T. Simpson...

Let me start with what we’re already doing and then ask for some advanced advice...

All our property is build with terraces that are made with dry walls (stone walls)... ✅
2 of our biggest fruit tree terraces has shade clothes since last summer, as an experiment... ✅ (I’m not yet sure about the downsides... giving it 2 more summers to make a decision)
We, unfortunately, still use irrigation more than I want it... ✅ hoping for the older trees (3-5-year old) to establish enough so I could stop irrigating them altogether.

Could you please elaborate on “bury geothermal heating” or direct me to appropriate resources.
I’d also love to understand more about what you call “trap condensation”.

Thank you so much for your support...

D Tucholske wrote:Diversity in native plant life is all I've got. You get enough of the local plants that would be in that environment together in one place, they make each other healthier & stronger, therefore more resilient.

Totally agree, D. Tucholske... almost done with all our almost 250 fruit trees...
Thank you for your support.

N. Neta wrote:
Could you please elaborate on “bury geothermal heating” or direct me to appropriate resources.
I’d also love to understand more about what you call “trap condensation”.

Geothermal is storing the earth's heat, the heat can be stored or captured in underground pipes depending on your setup and how you want to use the heat. A root cellar is kind of the reverse effect.

There is also cable that is made to be put on roofs to melt snow when the temperature drops to a certain level, I have heard of people who bury this in their garden beds and turn them on in the winter. This uses electricity.

A quick youtube search for DIY geothermal yielded these results:





You could also place full water barrels or composters along the side of a greenhouse to act as a thermal mass that heats up and stores solar energy that can be piped under the greenhouse at night.



To trap condensation having a large tree canopy will do this naturally to some extent but you could also build structures that can catch water when there is little rainfall such as fog nets:

T Simpson wrote:Geothermal is storing the earth's heat, the heat can be stored or captured in underground pipes depending on your setup and how you want to use the heat. A root cellar is kind of the reverse effect.
There is also cable that is made to be put on roofs to melt snow when the temperature drops to a certain level, I have heard of people who bury this in their garden beds and turn them on in the winter. This uses electricity.
You could also place full water barrels or composters along the side of a greenhouse to act as a thermal mass that heats up and stores solar energy that can be piped under the greenhouse at night.

Thanks a million T. Simpson for the wealth of information.
Not sure how to use the geothermal systems in my hot and dry Mediterranean climate...

But this one...

To trap condensation having a large tree canopy will do this naturally to some extent but you could also build structures that can catch water when there is little rainfall such as fog nets:

Might be interesting for us... as we have clouds coming up from time to time, and pass through our property.

Thank you so much for your support.