Complete newbie, but I have land and want to grow a food forest

Hi all

As the subject suggests, I don't know what I'm doing, but I have 5.5 acres of undeveloped forest in rural Maine and want to convert it into a food forest that will last long after I'm gone and feed many folks who need it the most.

I realize this is a huge undertaking requiring resources and manpower I don't currently have, but I want to figure it out. Does anyone know how I start such a process?

Many thanks!

I would be very curious as to what is already growing there. If it's oak, then you don't have to do anything but harvest and learn to process the acorns or it would probably be best to have pigs. Are the trees good firewood? Maple for syrup? Nut trees? Decidous or evergreen? What is the tree density and shade level?

Try to keep as many existing trees as possible, but you're going to have to harvest something to be a responisble land manager. So rev up that chainsaw. Find out what the proper spacing is for the dominant tree in your forest and then make sure that spacing happen. This will also clear up space for planting. When you are choosing trees to stay, make sure you have a nice mix of young saplings, old growth trees, and mid-aged trees. The remaining trees should not look all the same in terms of height, canopy or age. The canopy should look rough and ragged, not uniform. The reasons for this are physical and biological. Physically, having different size trees creates more microclimates, habitats, air turbulence, and edge effect. Biologically,  a healthy forest is like a functional family where there are adults, kids, and grandparents. You need mid aged trees to create fruit and reproduce, young trees as spares to create the genetics to deal with future environmental challenges, and old trees to provide habitat to animals, and also mother and care for the forest through their ancient fungal networks. Of course diseased, weak, or injured trees should be prioritized for harvest. The brush can used in hugelkultures or to grow mushrooms.

Since this is an existing forest you may want to focus on shade tolerant species. Pawpaw, currants, goumi berry and hackberry for fruit. For nuts, Mark Sheppard said somewhere that hazelnuts can subsist in the understory of trees. If the forest is deciduous maybe you could take advantage of winter sun with a coniferous species and plant Siberian Stone Pines which make a nut. You can use hops for vines. Ginseng can also grow in the root layer of thick forests and can be a cash crop. If you get some sunny areas then go with seaberry, raspberry, and mulberry.

I agree with Skyler, start with identifying what you have in your forest.

Identify what is edible though most will be edible so you need to know which ones.

Are there any fruit trees or berry bushes?

Once you identify what you have you might want to post a list here and folks can tell you what to add to your list that grows well in Maine.

Skyler and Anne, thank you for this. Do you happen to know a good resource for identifying flora? Is there a book or app?

I use a book by Reader's Digest: North American Wildlife.

I like the way it has different categories for trees and flowering plants.

Half of the book is devoted to animals.

There are probably some books, especially for Maine.

Andrew Fling wrote:Skyler and Anne, thank you for this. Do you happen to know a good resource for identifying flora? Is there a book or app?

I use the app Picture This to help me identify plants. I has been pretty reliable with the photo scanning feature. I only use the basic app, not the premium.

It is important to add that with any app, it's a start. Especially if you are going to eat something, it's important to double check the identification with other sources and makes sure they match up. This will also help with learning general identifiers like leave and stem shapes, leaf arrangements, number of leaf clusters, etc. So use the app to point you in the direction and then use other online resources or books to double check before eating something.

The Peterson Field Guides are physical books that I like too- they have pretty specific books like Eastern Trees and Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central N. America. I find their illustrations and details on identification, range etc very helpful and easy to navigate.

Andrew Fling wrote:Hi all
Does anyone know how I start such a process?

I always recommend people pick up a copy of The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation by Michael Dirr and Charles Heuser, then start collecting seeds. Luckily Maine has a ton of forests and farms where you can source seeds from, last time I was there I got a ton of russet apple seeds, black walnuts, and autumn olive.

To do five acres you'll need thousands and thousands of trees, so you'll basically need to start your own tree nursery, which might sound daunting but it's not, it's just like a veggie garden but you grow trees instead of veggies. After 2 or 3 years in the nursery beds, the trees will have reached a decent enough size that they will survive on their own without too much help. Some plants will do fine if you direct seed them out in the forest, but you will get a better survival rate and get them up to a decent size faster if you baby them in the nursery bed for a year or two first.

Also, if you're trying for any plants that are on the edge of your hardiness zone, overwintering them in your garden will select for the cold hardy ones, so you don't waste time planting out trees that would die the first winter. So like, say you get bunch of fruit seeds from a farm in a warmer place like New York; you grow out 1000 seedlings the first year, leave them in the ground over the winter, and in the spring you might only have 500 that survived but they will all be cold hardy.

If you're a "learn by watching youtube" type of person, probably the best how-to-start-a-nursery channels are Twisted Tree Farm, Mike's Backyard Nursery, and Edible Acres.

Hi Andrew,
Welcome to Permies! What a great project - I'm a big fan of food forests/Forest gardens!

Although it's tempting to start cutting and planting straight away, I would try and remember the principle of observation. You don't say how long you've had your woodland, so this may be a bit redundant, but many interesting edibles and useful plants may not have emerged yet from the ground. If you can, it would be worth observing through a whole year: note interesting trees and plants, where the soil is more boggy or sheltered, where the deer seem to have their favourite runs, where might be a nice spot to have a BBQ or a bird hide....you get the idea. Map it all out in any format that works for you. I like a bound book I can carry round, but there are excellent garden mapping softwares available that you may prefer.
In the meantime, you can research what interesting edibles are likely to do well in your area, and how best to introduce them (if neccessary - see my first point!) depending on your budget and facilities. Remember what's right is what works for you, but you might want to check on undesirable non-natives for your area too. Are there any established forest gardens near you that you can visit to get more local feedback?

These are a couple of threads from people who had similar questions, but every site is unique, and every person's interactions are unique too.
https://permies.com/t/8374/Permaculture-forested-land
https://permies.com/t/168864/planting-food-forest-established-grove
https://permies.com/t/181462/True-food-forests
Please let us know how you get on and share pictures of your site

My best advice, and I learned it first hand by doing it wrong, is to start small.  5.5 acres for a food forest is huge for a person or small family without (I'm assuming) access to lots of time, money, and heavy equipment.  The second food forest I did by picking a small area, say 30'x30' and making a guild, usually with a fruit tree in the middle, and support plants around.  When you have the first one "done", then, and only then, move onto the next plot of that size.  Keep connecting guilds and you end up with a food forest.  Just one man's advice.