Increased interest and demand for regional food forest models and permaculture education is the motivation behind Clear Sky Meditation and Study Foundation’s agroforestry demonstration in Fort Steele.  With funding from the BC Agroforestry Industry Development Initiative, Clear Sky will design and implement a showcase food forest model for Southeastern B.C. that is both ecologically sound and productive.

Clear Sky’s one-acre food forest site will employ an integrated, sustainable agroforestry system that provides diverse harvests and builds soil health.  This project will test diverse food plant varieties arranged into multiple canopy layers and alleys, potentially including blueberry, haskap, raspberries, currants, apple, pear, plum, hawthorn, edible mountain ash, butternut, black walnut, bur oak, asparagus beds, and other herbaceous crops, together with an integrated wind break planting of caragana, linden, Manitoba maple and willow.

The food forest demonstration site will also serve as a learning platform for groups and individuals with the aim that it will help both farmers and urban dwellers understand the potential of, and increase their confidence to establish, diversified perennial-based food systems.  The demonstration will also help to increase the understanding of suitable plant selections for food forests in colder, drier areas of B.C.

There is growing need and desire to increase local food security and community resilience, as seen regionally with the popularity of the new Cranbrook Farmers’ Market and groups such as the Local Food Action Committee.

The East Kootenay is traditionally a ranching area but many agricultural producers are struggling to keep their ranches viable.  Food forest agroforestry systems will offer opportunities for agricultural producers to bring new forms of income to their farms and this project will provide a working example for sustainable agricultural alternatives in the region.

A two day introduction to food forests will be held in October 2012, and a practical hands on food forest course will be held in the spring of 2013, both focusing on the theory as well as practical implementation methods of establishing agroforestry systems.

This project integrates previous experience and expertise gained from grasslands restoration and permaculture trials at Clear Sky and will add additional learning opportunities to their annual Food Forest, Grasslands Restoration and Permaculture Courses. Learn more about Clear Sky at www.clearskycenter.org,  to learn more about this project or to become a volunteer on the Food Forest demonstration project visit  www.clearskyfarm.ca

By Michelle Heinz
Clear Sky Meditation and Study Foundation

Article Share