Campus Food Forest - LAND 602 - Plants in the Landscape, Fall 2022

Assignment 2: Innovative Planting Proposal

Campus Food Forest

Daniel Côté, Diba Mohebzadeh & Feiyuan Lin

LAND 602 - Plants in the Landscape Prof. Mathis Natvik | Fall 2022

Introduction

The practice of using forest-like structures and their attendant ecosystems for the cultivation of human food.

Rijnvliet, Edible Neighborhood

Leidsche Rijn District, Utrecht Municipality, The Netherlands

Concept: Food Forest

Built up with multiple layers of trees, shrubs and plants, together forming an integrated ecosystem. ● The canopy

Rijnvliet, Edible Neighborhood

The different vegetation types and species attract insects and organisms that enforce each other.

Precedent 2:

Gibb’s House Food Forest

Western Michigan Universities campus, Kalamazoo, Michigan, US

Space #5 on the “UCalgary Green spaces” Map Create a food forest between the Dining hall and the residence buildings

KEY #1 Plant Layers

Plant layers exist to mimic the verticality of forests. This extensive layering from canopy to ground allows for much more life in a single area than the flat planes of conventional gardening 7 agriculture.

Upper Canopy Lower Canopy

KEY #2 Plant Polycultures

Polyculture plant communities mimic the diversity and self-sustainability of natural ecosystems. It involves interplanting a range of species according to their ability to co-exist or benefit one another spatially, temporally, nutritionally or environmentally.

Master Plan

Area:687m

Pan-Polyculture

Auxiliary Plants Peppermint False Indigo ComfreyBed ComfreyBed AlpineStrawberries AlpineStrawberries

Blue False Indigo

Baptisia australis

● Attractive to pollinators & birds.

● Deep taproots break up heavy clay and creating channels for aeration and better water absorption.

● Profuse nitrogen fixers

● Very hardy once established ● Can tolerate standing water

HERITAGE RASPBERRY

Rubus idaeus 'Heritage'

● Excellent flavor, firmness and fruit size.

● Two harvest seasons, with a moderate yield in July and heavy yield in September until frost.

● Self-fertile, dark red raspberry that spreads fast and produces a crop in the first year.

Polyculture

Albion Strawberry

● Produces large berries that have a sweet taste and a firm texture—great for jams, syrups and baking.

● Everbearing, repeatedly producing fruit across most of the season.

● Attractive to pollinators & birds.

● Vigorous, and shows good disease resistance.

Alpine Strawberry

Fragaria vesca

● Produces small strawberries that may be harvested throughout summer.

● Compact, excellent groundcover.

● Vigorous, and shows good disease resistance.

Fragaria x ananassa ‘Albion’

Valentine Rhubarb

Rheum x hybridum 'Valentine'

Nannyberry

Viburnum lentago

● Produces a bright red-stalked variety of rhubarb—great for jams, syrups and baking.

● Excellent source of mulch.

● Produces dark fruit that is quite dry but can be processed to make jams and syrups.

● Vigorous, low-maintenance & shows good disease resistance.

● Attractive to pollinators & birds.

● Produces large round apples that have a sweet taste and a crisp texture.

Honeycrisp Apple

Malus 'Honeycrisp'

Big River Crabapple

Malus ‘Big River’

● Produces large crisp hardy red apples with an exceedingly sweet and juicy flavour.

Persimmon

Bollwiller Pear (Shipova)

Sorbus x Pyrus

Canadian Persimmon Taylor

Diospyros

canadiana 'Taylor'

● Produces sweet fruit of deep yellow to orange-red with sun exposure.

● Hardy & shows good disease resistance.

● Provides shade for understory.

● Produces fruit like the Asian kaki persimmon except smaller.

● Very hardy cultivar; can withstand -40C.

● Fruit will hang on tree through fall into winter and will not be affected by freezing temperatures.

American Hazel

Corylus americana

Gooseberry

Ribes hirtellum

● Produces edible nuts mature from September to October—Great for roasting or eating fresh.

● Hardy & shows good disease resistance.

● Can be coppiced for poles(wands).

● An excellent source of early forage for bees.

● Produces abundant yellow-green fruit that ripens to red with a purplish blush; berries have sweet flesh and tangy skin.

● Benefits from being planted in a relatively sheltered location.

Smokey Saskatoon

Amelanchier alnifolia 'Smokey'

Alpine Strawberry

Fragaria vesca

● Produces sweet tasting, small blue berries which are usually ready for picking from late spring to early summer.

● Has beautiful white flowers in early spring.

● Produces small strawberries that may be harvested throughout summer.

● Compact, excellent groundcover.

● Vigorous, and shows good disease resistance.

Envisioning

Thank you!

Works Cited

1. Alfrey, P. (2017, January 29). Perennial Polycultures — The Biomass Belt: Fertility Without Manure. Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://thepolycultureproject.medium.com/perennial-polycultures-the-biomass-belt-fertility-without-manure-f2d503d23237

2. Alfrey, P. (2019, December 31). Biodiversity and Habitat in the garden/farm/landscape, why it is important and how we are attempting to measure it. Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://thepolycultureproject.medium.com/biodiversity-and-habitat-in-the-garden-farm-landscape-why-it-is-important-and-h ow-we-are-9de5b338431e

3. Berezan, R. (n.d.). Edible plants for the Prairies. The Urban Farmer. Retrieved December 4, 2022, from http://www.theurbanfarmer.ca/edible-plants-for-the-prairies/

4. Designing a fruit tree guild. Lakeside Community Garden. (2020, December 12). Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://lakesidecommunitygarden.org/designing-a-fruit-tree-guild/

5. Gibbs House. Western Michigan University. (2022, August 22). Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://wmich.edu/sustainability/projects/gibbs

6. Landzine. (2022, April 26). Rijnvliet edible neighborhood by Felixx. Landezine. Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://landezine.com/rijnvliet-edible-neighborhood-by-felixx/

7. Spangler, A. (2020). Campus Food Forest (thesis). Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1376&context=honors-theses