Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/1262303
www.AbbysHealthFood.com - Issue 42 | Page 7 Building a food forest can help us reconnect with Mama Nature, our communi es, and give us breakfast, lunch, and dinner! What could be be er? "We cannot exempt from our care anything at all that we have the power to damage-which now means everything in the world." Wendell Berry pioneer species to help prepare the ground. As each layer dies back, it provides nutrients for the next layer. When the soil is ready, new species grow and offer food, shelter, and an abundant ecosystem to the animals, like us, that need to eat them. The process of building a food forest mimics the techniques that Mother Nature uses to create a forest. I'm simplifying the process for the sack of space, but this is pre y much it in a nutshell. As we build our food forest, we won't rip things out and destroy the land; instead, we will add and layer as nature does. We will guide the foods we want to produce but let Mother Nature do the heavy li ing. She will break down the old materials and create nutrients. As the forest grows, all that material will hold water. Everything in the forest works together, and we are part of that symbiosis. We won't weed but allow the weeds to grow, die, and rebuild the soil. We will give it compost, mulch, and seeds that will grow as the natural forest system gets bigger and stronger. Like a food forest, everything is interconnected. By helping to build a food forest, we support the earth, water, air, animals, pollinators, our community, and ourselves. We need to turn to a lower carbon future, a lower chemical future, and a more sustainable future, and we can do that by following the laws of nature. Something as simple as turning to a community-run food forest can help us move in the right direc on quickly.