Planning Your Community Food Forest

Take a moment to plan through all the phases of starting your own community food forest project: from initiation to maintenance, to planning for the future.

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by Catherine Bukowski
At the Fargo Forest Garden in Portland, Oregon, mounds of soil were constructed across the site to replicate forest floor terrain, as well as to create microclimates and soil conditions favorable for selected plants. The mounds also help direct water runoff into pathways engineered to channel water to a gravel patio.

Our experience studying and leading community food forests taught us that starting with the basics and seeking to understand fundamental management phases leads to effective planning. This is true whether the food forest is an independent project or part of a larger community initiative. Thinking about phases helps leaders identify and plan for when, where, and how to direct precious resources instead of trying to do everything at once. The Community Food Forest Handbook provides a general overview of the following five main phases associated with project management and relates them to community food forests:

  • Initiation
  • Planning
  • Establishment
  • Published on Mar 15, 2019
Tagged with: community, food forest
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