| Wednesday What's New: Seattle's Edible Forest |
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| Written by Heleigh Bostwick Wednesday, 28 March 2012 | |||
There’s a new trend in urban agriculture these days. It’s called the edible forest garden and it’s modeled on the forest ecosystem.  Urban agriculture is nothing new. Community gardens for example, have been around for decades. But forest gardens? Not so much, but there’s a new trend in urban agriculture these days and it’s called the edible forest garden. Modeled on the forest ecosystem, edible forest gardens are part of the sustainable gardening movement that has taken root (pun intended!) throughout the US and are being created all over the US from the Humboldt Edible Forest in Richmond, CA to the Jesse Gates Edible Forest in Jackson, MS, and now Seattle. Residents of the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Seattle first introduced the idea of the “Beacon Food Forest” to city officials in 2010. The idea was approved and $100,000 was allocated for the first phase of the park, which is being built on land city owned land and is accessible to the residents of the numerous apartment complexes located nearby. The goal of the food forest is to provide affordable healthy food for families and community groups in the city of Seattle and will be “mixed use”, including smaller community gardens as well as the forest, which will be planted with nut and fruit trees such as walnuts, hazelnuts, apples, pears, and plums in addition to huckleberries, salmonberries, and a variety of herbs. There are also plans for beehives to help with pollination. The target date for the first harvest from the community gardens is 2013. For more information visit: Beacon Food Forest |
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