Book Review: Farming in the Woods

by Ken Mudge & Steve Gabriel

Review By Chris Hubbard, Education Director

When we think of farming, we often envision open fields of crops or animals, with those fields devoid of trees of any sort. The vision may be bucolic, of cows grazing on lush grass on rolling hills, or it may be industrial, with vast, flat stretches of monoculture: corn or wheat often comes to mind. Rarely do we envision farming in the woods. Clearing the land for agriculture is deeply embedded in our history, as early colonists arriving in North America strove to clear the land of trees for cultivation so they could survive. We can see echoes of those efforts here at Merck Forest: in the stone walls that crisscross through the landscape, snaking their way through the woodlands, remnants of old farmsteads long abandoned.

In Farming in the Woods: An Integrated Permacultural Approach to Growing Food and Medicinals in Temperate Forests, authors Ken Mudge and Steve Gabriel offer another way to farm, amidst the woods that surround us here in the temperate Northeast, a way to work in harmony with the environment rather than confining farming to open fields. By integrating a variety of practices – for example, growing mushrooms while raising ducks – they lay out ecologically sustainable practices that preserve our woodlands while providing for food, medicinals, and wood products that are complementary to traditional agriculture. Whether there is access to acres of woodland or a small wooded corner on an urban lot, Farming in the Woods is a great resource for farmers and gardeners interested in exploring agriculture in a different light. Mudge and Gabriel offer up case studies and practices that can be applied to one’s own resources and abilities.

It’s a book you’ll want to curl up with and explore what possibilities may hold for your woods, and then it will inspire you to head outside to see how to put those ideas into play. The book also includes tidbits along the way, such as how to make clothespins from striped maple, an activity easily accessed by children with basic knife skills and adult supervision, or how to make birch twig tea, which might be welcomed after that walk through the woods.

Ken Mudge is an associate professor at Cornell University who focuses on agroforestry, and has been involved in agroforestry for over 20 years. He is director of the MacDonald’s Nut Grove, the foremost center for forest-farming education in the United States. Steve Gabriel, a former student of Mudge, is cofounder of the Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute and is with the Cooperative Extension program in Horticulture at Cornell, where he focuses on permaculture and agroforestry.

Farming in the Woods: An Integrated Permaculture Approach to Growing Food and Medicincals in Temperate Forests and its companion book Silvopasture: A Guide to Managing Grazing Animals, Forage Crops, and Trees in a Temperate Farm Ecosystems are both available for sale in the Visitor Center.