EDIBLE FOREST GARDEN · Grow Food & Heal the Earth · Lessons Learned

10 years of successes and... learning experiences. Lincoln is here to share what we've learned about forest gardening so far, and introduce you to some rock star plants growing at Forested. Ask us any forest garden questions in the comments and we'll try to answer!

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Forest Garden Design Video Series
(follow along in the Guide while you watch)

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---- CONTENTS OF THIS VIDEO ----

0:00 - The Young Forest
1:43 - Build Soil with Plants
4:29 - The Right People
5:34 - The Importance of Paths
6:53 - The Land Tells You What to Plant
10:42 - A Very Special Tree: Persimmon
13:13 - Vegetables in the Forest Garden
15:24 - Native Plants Take On Invasives
17:47 - Acorn Food
22:33 - Scythe Maintenance
24:31 - Chop & Drop Fertility
25:18 - Grafting Invasive Pears
27:02 - Growing Mushrooms
28:53 - Extra Tasty Mulberries
29:45 - Phasing a Forest Garden
31:11 - Helpful Insects and Their Habitats
36:36 - New Wetland Forest Garden
40:42 - Community Garden
41:39 - Forest Agroecology - Looking Ahead

[rickershomesteadahobbyfarm]

I came across a food forest channel on YouTube a few years ago and it was really interesting to me. I was in the process of buying my homestead but didn’t live on it yet. I watched videos and did a lot of research so I knew what I could grow when I did move onto it. I paid it off in February of 2019 and moved a mobile home onto it in June or July of 2019. I started planting my 1st trees around that time. I was excited. Now I have over 100 food producing trees, vines and bushes growing. It’s not even half way done yet.

[wandahughey]

As a food forest gardener, orchardist, flock keeper, I learned something new in every minute of your video. The inserted clips that demonstrated the concept discussed were so helpful, too! I hope you'll continue to give updates, show your brilliant care tips, and know you're helping many who seek the same goals! Thank you so much! Can't wait to enjoy the whole channel, brilliant!

[mffmoniz]

I totally agree about the paths.
If you can walk on a forest, you enjoy it more and are therefore more inclined to want to keep it.
Also the paths provide an environment for some plants that need a little bit more sun, usually grass, bushes and they bring flowers, who bring insects.
Paths help to enrich your forest.

[TheGggnome]

Brother your Pragmatism is refreshing in a world full of Dogma!

[eponaepona]

Hi you can make elderberry syrup. You will need 40 flowers, just opened or unopened; 3kg of sugar; 4 lemons; 5lit of water. No pasteurization needed. 36-48h and filter it before bottling.


Pruned foliage of elderberry can help your potatoes you can use it for mulching and as raw food for the tubers

[kellyeckley]

I accidentally stumbled onto this video and am so glad I did. 🤗

I used to spend my summers in Bowie with my Aunt as a child. I remember my uncle being so mad about the building up of the area he lived in. It's so nice to see someone reclaiming some of the land in a positive way.

Thank you for healing a little piece of the earth and for teaching others how important it is to do so. The land and the animals thank you. 😊

[jeremystanton]

Awesome video, Lincoln, really well done! I could watch this over and over and learn something new each time. And so great to see the garden looking so lush and green. Thank you for this inspiring video!

[elisabettaepiney]

We make syrup in Switzerland out of elderberry…nice diluted in water with ice .. kids love it. Or over Prosecco for adults

[gtromble]

Great to see the continuing evolution. My first trees and shrubs go in this spring. Hope they look as good as yours in 10 years.

[Infinitybein]

Love seeing the forest so alive. The time lapse is amazing😍. Looking forward to seeing the next 10🧚🏿‍♀️

[rubioalvin]

Your literally creating your own Garden of Eden 2.0 .. thats awesome 👌

[mikkeljylland]

Elderberries was a big deal for the Vikings. A symbol of fertility and the plant of Freja, the goddess of fertility and love.
In the middle ages and later there was a lot of superstition surrounding it. Dont sleep under it! You will go cracy.
And its bad luck to chop it down.
Still today it is used for many kinds of food here in Denmark.

[ginbean]

This is awesome, Lincoln. Great video - thanks so much for all this experimenting and for sharing what you're learning!

[jessicayates]

I have a TON of yaupon holly, dewberries and maypop that grow wild in my back yard. I didn't know you could eat the flowers on the maypop! They are very pretty but I never thought to try and eat them. I live in East Texas on 1 acre but the surrounding 20 acres belong to my parents so I have pretty free access to a lot of wooded area and pasture.

A lot of the times, I feel that native plants get treated as weeds to get rid of in yards and I think that's kinda sad.. I am trying to learn more about native plants in my area especially ones that were important to the Native American Caddo who lived here before.

[KooroshJoon]

I hope to have a garden like yours one day. Thanks for sharing!

[Sonsie]

This is what our government should be subsidizing.

[mlindsay]

Lots of good insights! I’m working on my 4 acre silvopasture with fruit, nut, and legume trees along with sheep, chickens, a pig and one cow. Prunings become fodder for the animals and then the woody leftovers become biochar feedstock which then gets spread back on the silvopasture. Seems to be working well!

[mybootscamewithoutstraps]

I have my little urban food forest going at my home in the city and it's been able to produce a bit of food for me already. Many things won't produce for years to come, but once they do, I believe I'll have some pretty incredible foods that travel nowhere to get to my kitchen.

I always hear people say they spend $500 to make $2 of lettuce, but it's far more than that. It's trucks not having to drive that lettuce. It's tractors and many other gas powered vehicles having to work towards growing them on a commercial farm. It's having produce that's grown in the exact environment that I live.

[jamep]

The Youtube algorithm suggested this video to me, and I'm glad it did. I'm near Frederick, MD and in the process of converting my just over 2 acre property into a forest garden. Very cool stuff you're doing over in Bowie!

[TD-nfqo]

Holy moly, so glad youtube told me to watch this! I'm barely getting my food forest started (<1/2 acre), but already dreaming of a bigger location while I work with what I've got. Thanks for a great video.