A PRACTICAL INTRODUCTION TO FOREST GARDEN DESIGN

with JUDY KEATS

Sunday 5 May - 9:30am to 1:30pm (4 hours)

So what is a forest garden? Can food forests really help us get more out of our gardens, our fruit trees, and benefit the environment overall? Join Judy Keats, master gardener and tree cropper at Kelmarna Community Farm to explore the wonders of forest garden design, and grow your understanding of how to help any space thrive with this transformational approach!

What to expect:

This 4-hour session is a crash course on the principles of food forest design. Judy will guide you through the essential topics and help you build a fresh perspective on crafting effective landscapes, large or small. Learn how to craft designs uniquely suited to the conditions at any site and become familiar with the integrated systems of multi-storeyed growing environments. This workshop goes beyond aesthetic design to harness a more untamed growing method that differs to traditional gardens and orchards.

This session has the benefit of on-site immersion in Kelmarna's established and productive food forest. Our working examples of essential systems help give context to the skills and strategies you'll cover, offering you a firsthand look at how to make things happen, keep things going, and get results! There will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions and light refreshments will be available.

Topics covered:

Food forest fundamentals — what a food forest is, how it differs to an orchard, the benefits of growing in this style, integrated systems that go beyond aesthetic design, and why this works.
Micro-climates — using the site at Kelmarna to demonstrate, examining pockets of site to practise reading the landscape, through multiple lenses.
Landscape characteristics & resources — identifying conditions, available resources, and methods of processing; such as water, terrain, wind, sun, and more.
Water management — including flow, catchment strategy, the use of swale, irrigation, and more.
Shelterbelts — including location, density, height, and understanding role in the design process.
Pathways and access routes — understanding your needs, identifying contours, relation to structures, resources, crops, and more.
Integrating animals — understanding types, timing, identifying food provisions from sustainable sources within the system, and more.
Trees & crops — understanding perennial species, deciduous and subtropical species habits, fruit trees, medicinal herbs, care & seasonal maintenance.
Guilds and beneficial species — companion plants for fruit trees, nitrogen fixing support from ground cover to canopy, and more.
Pests and beneficial organisms — strategies for prevention, benefits of integrated systems, and more.
Conceptual design basics — using data to refine your vision, map out your spatial design, overlay on a base map, and share learnings with the group.

Tickets include: admission, guided instruction, morning tea refreshments, printout resources.

What to bring:

Essential:

a refillable water bottle (to stay hydrated).
weather appropriate gear (to keep comfortable).
a notebook and pen (to take notes).

Recommended:

information and questions (if you have a site or vision in mind).

Judy Keats is a permaculture & regenerative agriculture practitioner, and community garden mentor and advisor, with considerable experience establishing, coordinating, and teaching in community gardens across Auckland. Judy is passionate about well-being for people and caring for the environment in which we dwell. She believes that by observing our plants and our changing climate, we can gain insight and a closer connection to the health of our gardens, which is key to the success and optimal yields of a sustainable food system. She is committed to working with communities to foster knowledge and experience towards mastering resilience.

At Kelmarna, we strive to make education accessible for everyone. So, where possible, we offer a 35% discount on our workshops to valid Community Services Card holders. If you book one of these tickets, please email us a copy of your valid Community Services Card, and remember to bring it along to the workshop. Please note that this option does NOT include Super Gold Card holders.

We look forward to seeing you on the farm soon!

Kelmarna Community Farm Workshops Program.