South’s first homemade permaculture forest

JOHANNESBURG – ‘Organic food’ has been the buzz word on many health conscious people’s lips, however, a very important question remains unanswered: How far would you go to really lead a healthy lifestyle?

When Mondeor resident Debbie Howes decided to take her families healthy eating to the next level, those close to her did not think she would plant her very own natural food forest right in her backyard.

With the assistance of expert Food Forester and Permaculture Specialist, Jamie Shepherd, Debbie’s food forest of two years has produced more natural produce than she anticipated.

“I received a lot of negative comments from my family and friends when I started, they all asked where my child would play if I did not keep the grass and garden the way it was,” said Debbie.

Her backyard forest boasts produce of Amaranth, that has similar qualities to milk and can be eaten as porridge, pecan nut trees, lemon trees, marrow, potatoes, gem squash, beetroot, cabbages, sunflowers, butternut, blueberries, roses, pumpkin, lucerne, basil, tomatoes, parsley and lavender.

Permaculture is a design system that creates an integration of the natural landscape and communities as a means of providing food, energy and rain in a sustainable way. It is also described as the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive systems which have the diversity, stability and resilience that is found in natural environments.

Shepherd describes it as a home made natural forest that can either be created at a person’s home or on a plot. After removing all of the grassroots from the land or a pit bed to start small, seeds are then planted in the soil. This is followed by making little trenches from where the house gutters come from the roof directing rain straight to the garden where the seeds are planted. Kitchen refuse can be used to create compost.

Over time a permaculture garden or forest has the potential to serve as a natural irrigation system, which doesn’t need sprinklers, as the natural forest absorbs rain from the atmosphere and is able to store and use it when it’s needed to produce dew regularly during the winter season.

Although a lot of communities would benefit from building their own permanent culture or rather a permaculture garden for sustainable living, Jamie Shepherd explains that not many people know what a permaculture garden is.

“We need a cultural revolution in order to sustain the environment,” said Shepherd, adding that poverty could be alleviated in many communities sustainably and people provided with the most natural produce of good quality food only if they were taught how to build and maintain their own natural forests.