Creating Mini Food Forests In Pots

Since I started gardening I have become very curious about how much fruit and veg I can grow. Something that I learned about a few years ago is the concept of a food forest. When i first found out what it was and why people created them I was completely enthralled. The problem is I don't have a yard large enough to create one. However through research and lots of experimentation I have come to realise that creating mini food forests in pots is something I can do and something I want to share. Gardening in small spaces is becoming increasingly popular as house prices skyrocket and land is harder to come by nowadays. By sharing this information I hope I can help and convince others to start creating their own mini food forests in pots.But first it is important to provide some details about what a food forest is.

What is a food forest?

A food forest is a strategic garden design consisting of food plants that mimics the processes found in natural ecosystems. In other words we can create forests that feed us, right from the ground covers all the way up to the largest trees. It's important to stress that a food forest doesn't just feed us. Food forests are diverse in every way, they create habitat for wildlife, provide food and shelter and are made up of plants that help each other to thrive.

What are the different layers of a food forest system?

There are seven layers of a forest system but I would argue there is actually eight. The layers in a the context of a food forest are as follows:

1. Large canopy

   This layer consists of tall fruit or nut trees. This layer is generally not very practical for most gardeners, especially small space gardeners.

2. Understory layer

   This layer consists of smaller, dwarf varieties of fruit and nut trees and is usually the highest layer for us with small gardens. This could include, dwarf apples, peaches, citrus etc.

3. Shrub layer

   The productive shrub layer comes next. Blackberries, blueberries, muntries, midyim berries, currants etc. make up this layer.

4. Herbaceous layer

   The herbaceous layer is made up of culinary and medicinal plants like parsley, basil, alyssum, globe artichokes, brassicas etc.

5. Rhizosphere

   The rhizosphere, also sometimes referred to as the underground layer is made up of root crops. Some examples are carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic and beetroot.

6. Groundcovers

   The groundcover layer hugs the earth to acts as a living mulch, protecting the soil. This could include warrigal greens, strawberries, pig face, nasturtium, oregano, violets and mint.

7. Vertical climbers

   Vines and climbers use your trees and other vertical spaces like walls and fences to climb. These could include anything from grapes, passionfruit, kiwi, and apple berry to climbing beans, snow peas, cucumbers and melons. Nasturtiums can also be trained to climb.

8. Bonus layer, the Fungal layer

   In every healthy natural forest you will have various types of fungi growing, both edible and non-edible. You could inoculate your garden with edible mushrooms like oyster mushroom or build really healthy soil that promotes natural fungi networks.

Can we create a food forest in pots?

I believe we can. Not everyone, myself included, is fortunate enough to have access to a large lot of land. We can't all start a huge food forest. But what we can do is create mini food forests in pots. We can do this in large pots with dwarf fruit trees, small shrubs and ground covers. We can also combine common companion vegetable plantings in pots. In my opinion it doesn't even need to mimic a forest, but a natural setting. There are many natural settings that are not forests.You can read more small space gardening articles here:

• Why Every Small Garden Needs Edible Deciduous Plants
• How To Grow Food In A Small Space
• 5 Foods Anyone Can Grow In Small Spaces

Why do we want to create small scale food forests?

Firstly they are a great space saver. Rather than filling a pot up with just a single fruit tree we can surround that fruit tree with other plants.Secondly, we can handpick plants that benefit each other. For example, a ground cover can protect the soil and climbing beans can cling to a fruit tree and provide nitrogen to the tree and ground cover.Thirdly, mini food forests are multi-functional. They provide food, flowers, mulch, fix nitrogen, attract beneficial insects and are extremely diverse and less susceptible to pests and disease.

What plants do we need?

You don't need any specific plants or even certain type of plants. The main goal is to try and mimic a natural setting as much as possible, it doesn't even really need to be a forest. There are plenty of natural settings that aren't forests. Our aim is to add multiple plants into the one pot, not too many so they interfere and compete with each other but enough that they work together and are mutually beneficial to each other.This system can work for us because we have the opportunity to hand select the plants we want.I said there aren't any rules but generally a food forest can be created with three layers and they usually consist of:

• A fruit or nut tree
• An edible ground cover
• A productive shrub

The tree doesn't even need to be a tree or a large tree, it could be a tomato plant. You could also use a herbaceous shrub as the tree and surround it with groundcovers and a root crop. Experiment and see what works for you.

Creating Mini Food Forests In Pots

Examples

I think it is important I added some examples here just so you can see what is possible.

Citrus tree with warrigal greens and alyssum.

I got this example from Hannah Moloney at GoodLife Permaculture. You can see the video here: Food Forest Fundamentals. Using the citrus tree as the tree layer, the warrigal greens as the ground cover and the sweet alyssum as the herbaceous layer.

Stone fruit tree with strawberries and borage

Using the stone fruit tree as the tree, the borage as the herbaceous layer and the strawberries as the ground cover. This works on so many levels. The stone fruit tree gives us the tasty fruit. The borage is a bee magnet which helps with pollination and the strawberries act as a living mulch, also giving us delicious snacks.

The three sisters (corn, beans and squash)

Native Americans used this method to grow corn, climbing beans and squash. The corn is used to support the beans as they grow. The beans fix nitrogen from the air into the soil which naturally fertilises the corn and the squash. The squash acts as a living mulch, keeping the ground moist. This method could definitely work in a large pot, a half wine barrel or small raised garden bed is perfect. Corn needs to be wind pollinated so you will need multiple plants. You could probably substitute the corn with sunflowers and the squash with zucchini or small pumpkin varieties.

Tomatoes with nasturtiums, parsley and basil

This is another one of those examples which isn't necessarily traditional. It is using a large tomato plant as the tree layer, the basil and parsley as the herbaceous layer and the nasturtium as the ground cover. These plants work perfectly together because they are also companion plants. With this method I would let the nasturtiums spill over the edges of a large pot.As you can see from these above examples, creating mini food forests in pots is achievable. All four of these examples have multiple purposes and can be extremely productive. I hope this has helped, good luck with your mini food forests.If you want to stay up to date with my own gardening adventures you can follow me on Instagram @soulfullygreen and on Youtube here.