Food Forest Preparation and Planning

Learn how food forests work – how they can be designed, planned and maintained, and the sort of plants that can be put into them to make the food forest look after itself after a few years and give you very little work for a lot of return in food nutrition. The course covers the following:

• A Food Forest – what is it and why do I need it?
• Products of a food forest
• Key features – 7 layers of a food forest
• Planting for fertility
• Site analysis
• Ground preparation, planning and maintenance
• Plant propagation
• Timing of planting and designing the layers
• Identifying site specific plants
• Using design tools
• How to create a basic design

Detailed handouts are prepared for each part of the course and there is time to talk about your property, and help you to get the design you want.

Practical Projects include creating a food forest from scratch, soil building, planting, propagating all of your starter plants for the food forest and fruit bush pruning.

2 day weekend course – 9am – 5pm both days. Cost $200 per person or $300 for two people learning together. Places are limited to 12. Cost includes morning and afternoon tea.

Practical and theory sessions based on an organic 4ha permaculture property in Whiteman’s Valley, Upper Hut which is almost completely self-sufficient.

To book a place on the course, contact: Dee Turner: 0211252035 or derinatur@hotmail.com.

Carolann Murray will be teaching the Upper Hut course. She has written the New Zealand guide to self-sufficiency, and has been teaching permaculture in New Zealand for 15 years.

Check out the website for feedback on the courses, full details of the practical projects, and a complete rundown of the content – ‘permaculture’ tab – www.korito.co.nz