Greenwich Forest Garden at Hampshire College Ned Phillips-Jones

Terminology Permaculture: A holistic (whole-systems) process that enables synthesis of many types of information which is used to create stable, productive communities which don’t rely on large energy inputs. • Forest Gardens: Landscapes designed to mimic the dynamics and functions of forest ecosystems in order to produce healthy foods & useful materials. (designed using Permaculture) Academics Bill Mollison and David Holmgren developed the concept in the 1970’s in Australia. Made up of a set of principles, techniques and patterns though it is also a worldwide movement and community. (word Permaculture is a contraction of permanent + agriculture, recently permanent + culture)

Why Create Forest Gardens? They produce diverse high-quality foods locally without fossil fuels, tilling or annual planting This includes a wide array of fruits, shoots, nuts, greens and roots that are perennial and disease & pest resistant Forest Gardens are a promising and timely idea

Why here? There is both imminent need for and also student interest in Permaculture and Sustainable Agriculture. Creating forest gardens on campus increases: • opportunities for NS experimentation • campus biodiversity & wildlife habitat quality of living areas educational resources Why here?

Greenwich Forest Garden provides: • A “living museum” of plant tissues and chemical compounds for scientific experimentation and use An alternative to low-biodiversity landscapes such as lawn that would require less energy to maintain Enriching learning experiences for steward interns of the garden, encouraging a personal course of experimentation in the garden

Ornamental Agriculture Many species valued for their produce also have other landscaping appeal Foods grown in Greenwich Forest Garden have the potential to be locally-viable crops. (blooms, aroma, visual appeal, wildlife habitat) Knowledge of their performance will be useful to local growers Forest gardens created with permaculture are at the cutting edge of sustainable landscapes innovations In the future the value of having a mature forest garden for research will be a unique asset to the college.

Getting to Know Our Food Forest

• The garden covers approximately 3/4 of an acre • The location was previously disturbed Eroded, rocky soil Infiltration ditches catch sediment Stakeholders representing a different aspects of Hampshire have been involved, including: Larry Archey, Charlie Ekdahl, Linda Mollison, Ken Hoffman, Naya Gabriel and Leslie Cox These pictures were taken in 2007.

Project Facts Greenwich Forest Garden currently contains more than 60 species of plants, including over 25 kinds of fruiting crops. The project has received funding from: • Physical Plant •The Community Gardens Student Group •The Dana Meadows fund (grant through NS) •Hampshire Financial Services

Garden Development Above left: Fall 2007 Above right: Spring 2008 Taken from similar perspectives Above left: Fall 2007 Above right: Spring 2008 Lower left: Fall 2008

Resident Wildlife Below: a box turtle at the woodland edge Right: a bee samples anise hyssop Below right: a fly on an aster-family plant

Garden Sights

Woodland Steward Internship The garden is a legacy and community resource • With reasonable amounts of the right kind of care, it will provide an abundance of diverse foods for generations to come. • Woodland Steward Interns are responsible for the care of the garden. Design and notes for planting a diverse fruiting hedge Large plant order prepared to over-winter

Concept The Steward Intern position and the garden are intended to act together in facilitating a stimulating learning environment for the steward and the Hampshire community.

Intern Tasks Include: Mulching beds Weeding (decreasing priority as groundcovers expand) Pruning Addressing disease and rot Saving seed, propagating by cuttings Species labeling Seeking out and training successors Documenting work, specific observations and experiences to contribute to the garden records.

Internship Benefits Stewards: Enjoy extensive foraging opportunities •fruits (pawpaw, juneberry, apricot…etc.) •chestnuts and hazelnuts •perennial vegetables, wild edibles •medicinal and culinary herbs •useful materials (dyes, woodworking materials) •gain knowledge of Permaculture Design and forest garden dynamics and maintenance

Stewards… build the garden’s archive base by contributing observations, updates, etc.. learn about propagation, seed saving, polycultural guilds, soil health, site analysis, plant identification, etc… conduct soil dynamics, plant chemistry or nutrition studies with NS faculty, staff & facilities become members of the Western Massachusetts Permaculture Guild

In summation… • Low-maintenance landscape which yields a diversity of crops Low-cost way to expand agriculture on campus Student projects contribute to global knowledge base of ecosystem-mimicry agriculture

Bibliography Holmgren, David. Permaculture: Pathways and Principles Beyond Sustainability. Victoria: Holmgren Design Services, 2002 Jacke, Dave. Edible Forest Gardens: Ecological Vision and Theory for Temperate Climate Permaculture. White River Junction: Chelsea Green, 2005. Toensmeier, Eric. Perennial Vegetables: From Artichoke to ‘Zuiki’ Taro, a Gardener’s Guide to Over 100 Delicious Easy-to-Grow Edibles. White River Junction: Chelsea Green, 2007.

Thanks to the following for helping make Greenwich Forest Garden a reality: Division III Committee Brian Schultz, Colin Twitchell, Steve Roof Chris Jarvis, Charlie Ekdahl, Larry Archey, Ken Hoffman, Naya Gabriel, Dave Brunelle, Gerry Bohdanowicz, Beth Ward, Elaine Thomas, Steven Breyer, Tripple Brook Farm, Linda Mollison, Leslie Cox, The Vervane Foundation, Oikos Tree Crops, Jono Neiger, Dave Jacke, Greenwich residents & countless others..