Woodland farms (also known as forest gardens) are an agricultural concept which copies a self-sustaining forest ecosystem except that it is made to produce a variety of food that is easily harvestable. Woodland farms have a lot of different things going on in them to maximize sustainability, efficiency, and productivity but they are all simple, natural, and work together seamlessly.

Table of Contents

Woodland Farming versus Monocultures

Monocultures are how farming is usually done today. A huge field is planted with one thing, wheat for example, and everything is done with machines.

• Monocultures have very inefficient irrigation systems—they waste water.
• The single type of plant uses only a specific set of nutrients—eventually causing the soil to become stripped of the required nutrients and therefore useless in monocultural farming.
• The single plant type uses only the water and nutrients of a specific soil depth—wasting more water.
• Since everything is done with machines, harvesting included, there is a lot of waste.
• If one plant in the monoculture gets a disease or is affected by a certain pest, it will wipe out the entire crop since there is no buffer.
• They require pesticides/herbicides/insecticides.

There are probably plenty of other reasons why monocultures are a bad idea. Now here’s why woodland farms, a type of polyculture, are better:

• Woodland farms usually do not need irrigation however if you live in a dry climate they are easy to irrigate and due to the layers of vegetation the water usually won’t evaporate.
• The incredible diversity of woodland farms uses and replaces all the nutrients in the soil, and the soil gets richer every year.
• From trees to tiny plantains, the differing root lenghts use up the water and the nutrients from all soil depths.
• Everything must be harvested manually and nothing is wasted.
• If a plant or tree gets a disease, it will not spread because it surrounded by different species which are not affected by the disease.
• Woodland farms do not need any pesticides or insecticides, because there are natural ways of dealing with pests.
• They do not need herbicides because weeds are encouraged, being easier to maintain.

Plants Working Together

It is essential in woodland farming that the plants work together. Strategic planting designed so that the plants benefit each other is called companion planting. Certain plants have useful traits such as repelling insects, enriching the soil, trapping water in the soil, providing something for climbing plants to climb, etc. Some specific plants/plant types are very important in a woodland farm for that reason. 

• Trees provide shade for plants that need it and protect from wind heavy rainfall and soil erosion. Also they give somewhere for climbing plants (like legumes) to climb.
• Legumes (beans, peas, etc) have bacteria in their roots which add nitrogen, a nutrient that all plants need, to the soil.
• Onions have very nice flowers but they also repel insect pests very effectively.

Dealing with Pests

Every farm needs pest control and woodland farms are no exception. Lots of wild animals will happily help you with this—you just need to provide them with homes. Such as:

• Bat boxes—inviting bats to live in your woodland farm is always a great idea. A single brown bat can eat up to 600 mosquitoes in an hour! And one bat box can be room for 100 to 300 bats—you do the math.

Learn More about Woodland Farming

Edible Forest Gardens: and invitation to adventure (the Natural Farmer)

Plants for a Future—a database of useful plants (woodland farming section)

Edible Forest Gardens: the ecology and design of home scale food forests

Mother Earth News: Plant an Edible Forest Garden 

The Guardian: Garden of the Future?