Food forests and edible landscapes have been around for a very long time. They are what helped ancient humans survive and thrive. Hunter-gatherers likely did not expend precious energy by wandering aimlessly, hoping to find sustenance, but rather they were able to evaluate the landscape around them and learn to harvest food occurring naturally in their habitats.
Forest edges were rich sources of diverse plant species, and ancient humans learned what species were edible, where to find them and even ways to support and encourage the growth of plants useful to them. Food forests or edible landscapes have evolved and adapted over thousands of years as humans’ hands and minds have learned to design them to their nutritional needs and geographic limitations. A food forest will be very different depending on where it is in the world, but all share some common traits that can be adapted to almost any climate.
Food forests are very different from traditional farming or growing a vegetable garden. They are designed to mimic the natural forest edge, where species producing edible fruits, nuts, berries, roots and tubers grow in natural layers. We can imitate this pattern with species of our choosing that will do well in our hardiness zone and climate. There are many references and publications on the subject and a quick internet search is an easy way to begin, as is your local bookstore’s gardening section.
The philosophy of permaculture design, popularized over the last few decades, has brought a new awareness to our landscape and garden design; we have learned to make use of topography, natural water movement, soil structure and amendments, sun and shade patterns over the seasons, and the importance of pollinators and wildlife in our gardens and lives. A food forest is a functional, beautiful and diverse way to garden holistically.
When you imagine your food forest, think about the layers of plant species and the food sources they provide. First, at the outer edge, there is the canopy, the tallest layer of trees. These might be fruit- or nut-bearing deciduous trees or even some conifers here or there, as even a pine tree has edible parts, and the needles make a fine tea.
The second story is a mid-level layer of smaller trees, such as semi-dwarf or dwarf apple, peach and plum trees. Under the smaller fruit trees comes the shrub layer. If shaded, it could be currants or gooseberries. If sunnier, perhaps raspberries or blackberries.
After the shrubs comes the herbaceous layer, planted with perennial herbs like rosemary, garden sage and thyme. Ground covers like strawberries can sprawl under and around, followed by root crops like carrots, radishes and more. Vining plants are important, too. Some, like sweet potatoes, can be both root and vine. Others, like grapes, can utilize the structure of the trees to move up through the branches, making harvesting an easy task.
In some environments, you can grow edible mushrooms as part of the lowest layer; they will feed on the decomposing mulch and decaying wood that is part of the forest floor. Mulch is critical in any garden or landscape and a necessity in a healthy food forest. Fallen leaves are an excellent natural mulch as are wood chips. Leaving or intentionally placing dead branches and logs is a great way to recycle nutrients naturally into the soil profile. Having rocks or stones in the mix is also a very good thing as they slowly release minerals as they break down over long periods of time.
Most of the plants in your food forest will be perennials, but as you see, there are places for annual herbs or vegetables anywhere there is room and the proper amount of shade, sunlight and moisture. Companion planting is a great way to decide what goes where, and diversity is the strength of any plant community. A food forest is the oldest, most resilient agroecosystem in the world, whether occurring naturally, enhanced by human hands and minds, or entirely created by intention and design.
Some of the benefits of a food forest are increased harvests based on diversity, nutrient storage and water retention in soil protected by mulch and overstory; healthy soil holding a host of beneficial microorganisms; and less weed and pest populations, again due to density and diversity, and therefore less maintenance and inputs (think fertilizer, weed control). Of course, organic principles are the way to go when growing anything you plan on consuming.
Like any garden or landscape, a food forest can and should reflect the humans who are part of the ecosystem and should be a place where native plants, wildflowers and grasses all have a place in the garden, where beauty, joy and learning from Mother Nature are sources of education, nutrition, comfort and pleasure.
Color has a more dramatic impact in a garden if plants with strong flower colors are juxtaposed against one another. In this Kaleidoscape design by Judith Phillips, the blue-purple blooms of dwarf butterfly bush, desert sage, catmint, lavender and vitex are contrasted with the rose-pink and magenta blooms of desert willow, cherry sage, creeping germander, giant four o’clock, purple ice plant, red yucca and desert globemallow. Yellow tones are provided by desert zinnia, yellow ice plant, yellow yucca and Lady Banks rose.
Using several different plants with similar color palettes prolongs the blooming season and provides unity to the landscape. While vivid color may be the appeal of the garden from spring through autumn, a landscape also needs “good bones” — enough evergreen foliage and shapely plant forms to provide interest when the blooming fireworks are over for the year. rosemary, Lady Banks rose, cliffrose, desert sage, hesperaloes and cotoneaster all contribute seasonal flower color as well as evergreen foliage in a broad range of greens and silvers to carry the garden through the colder winter months. In addition to their colorful warm season blooms, the curving trunks and branches of desert willow and vitex add sculptural value all year.
Water flowing from the Southside Water Reclamation Plant is so clear that a person can see rocks at the bottom of the riverbed, and the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority is trying to make that outflow a better habitat for fish and more accessible to hikers, joggers, bikers and anglers.
The water reclamation plant is where Albuquerque’s wastewater comes to be treated for reuse. Some is used as reuse water in sprinkler systems, while some is thoroughly cleaned and released into the Rio Grande. The outflow puts about 55 million gallons per day into the river, said Diane Agnew, water rights program manager with the Water Authority.
The water has low sediment and a nice temperature — so fish really like to swim there, she said. As a result, fisherman come to enjoy it, too.
“People love to fish right here,” Agnew said. But the outflow could be better. That’s the idea behind the treatment plant outflow restoration project, which aims to improve water quality, increase community and maintenance access, and rehabilitate the flood plain. The design is complete, and the restoration project is permitted but still needs $2.5 million in additional funding to build.
The total cost for planning, permitting, design and construction will be $6.6 million, and the project has already received some funding from the state Legislature, the Office of Natural Resources Trustee and the Water Trust Board.
“We designed this using historical flow data in the Rio Grande, so we know that with the designed flows, we will get the number of days that the fish need for spawning,” Agnew said.
The project is trying to make the outflow a better habitat for fish, especially the endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow.
At present, the bank is steep with a roughly 2-foot drop to the river. The restoration project will turn the bank back into a flood plain, where water can wash over the bank, depositing ground water, watering native plants and making the space more appealing to fish and safer for anglers.
“Not only are we creating a flood plain terrace where the water will come up onto it, we’re putting in these bioengineering features called rootwad revetments. So, we’re taking trees that were already dead, and we’re going to cut them and turn them around so their roots stick out into the stream. And that creates stream stability, so that we won’t get as much erosion and we’ll get less sediment in the water, which is good for the fish. And, create little nooks and crannies for the fish to spawn in and hang out in until the eggs hatch,” Agnew said.
The restoration project would include 1,100 feet of rootwad revetments and calls for removing invasive species like salt cedar and ravenna grass and replacing them with native plant species over 18 acres. The native plant species will create a tiered habitat, with grasses, bushes and trees.
“That allows the different animals to have habitat, and those root systems are all individually different, too, so it helps increase the stability of the flood plain overall. Whereas out here, and as you see all over the Rio Grande, there’s increased sedimentation and a lot of erosion that occurs in this area. The river has to get to a pretty high level before it floods. This spring, the river got to 4,000 CFS (cubic feet per second) and this area did not flood,” Agnew said.
After the project, she said, the area should start flooding at 900 CFS.
The project should benefit the yellow-billed cuckoo and the Southwestern willow flycatcher, two protected birds, by creating more spots where they can nest. Planting milkweed will benefit the monarch butterfly.
The work should make the area more accessible to the public by connecting two bosque trail systems on either side of the outflow. The project would create 4,800 feet of new trails. Crews also will be removing 198 jetty jacks.
The Legislature has provided about $1.2 million for planning and design, but District 26 Sen. Antonio “Moe” Maestas, a Democrat, is advocating for more investment in bosque restoration because he believes the bosque is underused.
“We’re one of the only cities in the country that doesn’t utilize its river for recreation or economic purposes,” Maestas said. “Given the fires that happened last spring, it’s imperative that we deal with the fuels and the underbrush.”
There’s not a city with a comparable river, Maestas said, but the San Antonio River Walk does offer an example of a river becoming central to a city’s tourism.
“Because we want to protect it, we do nothing with it,” Maestas said. “That’s not consistent with what we’re capable of.”
Additional funding from the state likely would have to come from capital outlay appropriations, Maestas said. He’s on the lookout for other project proposals that would restore or enhance the bosque.
“We have the financial resources to turn the bosque in Bernalillo County into a beautiful state park that we can all be proud of, that increases environmental protections and will add to our quality of life and build the city we want to build, which is a city that climbs out of poverty and keeps future generations from moving away,” Maestas said.
Construction should begin in August 2024 due to a $3 million dollar federal grant from the Bureau of Reclamation. Once construction starts, the project is expected to be finished in eight months. This important project will improve the riparian habitat for endangered species and make the outfall area more attractive to hikers and bikers in this section of the Bosque.
Author: Cathy Cook is a news reporter for the Albuquerque Journal. Reach her via email at ccook@abqjournal.com. Reprinted with permission from the Albuquerque Journal.
A lot goes into creating a landscape plan, and it helps to have some expert help. Local landscape architect George Radnovich, FASLA, created this design for those opting for a low maintenance yard. You can follow his design right down to each individual plant or customize it to fit your own yard. This is the fourth landscape plan we’ve featured in 505Outside, and we’ll be sharing one more plan in the next issue.
While there is no such thing as a totally maintenance-free landscape, this Loungescape comes as close as possible in Albuquerque. The key to this approach is to mimic the natural environment with the look and feel of New Mexico grasslands and piñon-juniper forests.
Instead of a traditional lawn, native grasses offer a more natural look, accented by a soaptree yucca and desert willows for color and dappled shade. Water-thrifty cacti are used for interest, color and a contrast of textures. Finely crushed gravel (aka crusher fines) is used as a walking path to the rear of the house.
For ease of maintenance, there is a concrete formal edge between the walking path and the foundation plantings next to the house. Rainwater is harvested from the roof and other impermeable surfaces, then directed to plants via canales, weep holes and a short retaining wall. Short evergreen trees such as mountain mahogany provide year-long interest. Three-leaf sumac was added for fall color, cherry sage for summer color and sand sage and fringed sage for winter foliage. Big sage was purposely placed along the eastern side of the house to lessen the exposure to the harsh, hot western sun, which would make the plants more water-thirsty. Lastly, spots of color are added throughout the landscape for interest.
In celebration of five years of bringing you 505Outside, we’d like to share our most popular articles from the website. 505Outside is your resource for beautiful, desert friendly landscapes. Desert friendly landscapes are resilient, sustainable, enjoyable and inspiring.
The articles below are the ones our community keeps coming back to year after year, month after month.
The Dirt on Albuquerque Weeds There are two times a year in the greater Albuquerque area when weeds can get out of hand. This happens typically in early spring after a wet winter and after a monsoon season in late summer. The first thing to do is to identify the plant and decide whether it is actually a weed. This article reviews the most common weeds in town.
Basics about Turf Grasses in New Mexico Many homeowners would like a turf grass lawn, but might feel irresponsible watering a lawn in the arid Southwest. The key to choosing a turf grass is to determine the one most suited to the specific needs of your landscape. This article discusses four different grass types.
Use Drip Irrigation for Trees and Shrubs Drip irrigation is the recommended method of delivering water to shrubs, trees and all other plants that are not considered turf grasses. This article discusses the rules of thumb for irrigating trees and shrubs.
Basics of Fruit Tree Pruning All trees require some amount of pruning, especially when young, in order to set up good structure. Fruit trees have a few special considerations related to our intense sunlight, specific pests, and where on the tree the fruit is produced. This article covers the basics.
Three Ways to Water Established Trees. Trees are incredibly valuable and provide a wide array of benefits, from increasing home values to improving mental health. It’s more important now than ever to take care of your existing trees. This article outlines three strateties for watering your mature established trees.
A lot goes into creating a landscape plan, and it helps to have some expert help. Landscape architects specialize in designing outdoor spaces. Today, we’re sharing a plan particularly suited to our climate by New Mexico landscape designer David Cristiani. You can follow this design right down to each individual plant or customize it to fit your own yard. We’ll be sharing two more landscape plans in future issues of 505Outside.
Many plants from higher elevations or moister areas struggle when subjected to the long, torrid summers common in Albuquerque. The plants in this landscape are intended to thrive on heat, limited irrigation and minimal care — while exploding the popular myth that cacti and succulents look stark and don’t belong near our homes.
The Hotscape design embraces the environmental and visual qualities of Albuquerque’s high Southwestern desert location. Two areas of compacted crusher fines serve as a combined pathway, informal sitting area and a channel to harvest water from the occasional storm. A low berm provides visual interest, keeping the plants that cannot tolerate much extra moisture dry.
Modeled after the strikingly attractive and often evergreen plant communities native to the edges of Albuquerque, this design provides a great deal of visual interest throughout the year. The open, irregular canopies of Chinese pistache and screwbean mesquite provide filtered shade in summer and warming sunshine in the winter — an effect suggesting a desert arroyo. Fourwing saltbush screens the view to the street, and the dark, compact turpentine bush adds a pleasant fragrance with yellow fall flowers. The last, crucial ingredient to this design is the generous use of native desert accent plants, including the bold, blue-green forms of sotol, desert prickly pear and banana yucca. These local signature plants are accented further with small masses of seasonal color from low perennials and groundcovers, attracting both hummingbirds and passing neighbors!
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