This video is just an intro/sneak peak to my future food forest, not a "how to" guide. To learn more, I suggest this overview video by Canadian Permaculture Legacy: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/max8rKqHzduUko0.html I have listed some of my other favourite KZfaq teachers I'm learning from in the description box!

I am also referred to your channel by Canadian Permaculture Legacy. How exciting for you both and us viewers. Looking forward to your adventure 😀 Wildlife and Food Forest go hand in hand 🤲

I can't wait to watch your Journey and help out any way that I can!

Hey there, I’m west of Seattle so things are very similar here. Keith said you were looking for advice so here goes… The first reaction I had was the Gravenstein apple. I don’t know if Liberty will pollinate the Gravenstein but you should have at least three varieties of apple that pollinate each other. Unless you plant a crabapple, that will pollinate most apple varieties. The biggest problem with apples with our coastal influence will be scab. So far planting garlic chives between my apples (they are pretty close together) has been effective. I will divide them as they clump up and spread them closer to the trees. Definitely plant comfrey. With our dense clay soils and complete soil saturation they do an excellent job of pulling up nutrients. I’m glad you decided to go with the Bocking 14 variety. You can chop and drop several times a growing season, or compost them if you prefer. The leaves break down very quickly on the soil surface so. I don’t worry too much about them becoming habitat for the slugs. Comfrey root also has a lot of medicinal properties so if you are interested in that sort of thing you might want to put one plant where you don’t mind it spreading a little bit. (When you harvest the roots several more plants will develop from the roots you missed.) Some folks suggest growing them in pots for this purpose but the need to have contact with the native soil in order to mine nutrients, defeating the purpose (for medicinal use anyway.) if your medicinal patch gets out of hand the only way to manage it is with water, either withholding it until the roots expire or drowning them. Ok, off to finish watching the vid. I’ll edit if I think of anything else. EDIT: Re: pollinator plants, you will need something that blooms really early for your cherry and apple blossoms. The plants you mentioned bloom later in the season. Crocus and daffodils do a really good job. If you keep your apple trees as far apart as your plan suggested you will need several clumps of the early bloomers to create a little highway connecting them. Re: aromatic confusers. Don’t go overboard. You may be better off focusing on attracting predatory insects and birds. Interplanting sage, thyme, garlic, alliums and marigolds with veg works well but you want to have food for the predators in with your overstory as well. Don’t discount the amount of work birds will do. For example, sparrows, chickadees, pine siskins and nuthatches do an amazing job of keeping the plants free of aphids. We even tolerate one roof rat because he eats the slugs. Ants do an enormous amount of work. We don’t care for them in the house and with our weather that can be a big issue. I was skeptical at first but went ahead and planted a patch of mint. We let one or two flower for the bees and manage seed heads pretty religiously. The rest we chop several times a year and spread the leaves around the perimeter of the house. Nary an ant indoors. With the freezing temps and so much rain since October I feel pretty confident in saying it was a win. Winter is a good time to pull stolens to keep it in check. Re: Ground cover. Corisican mint is a good one for your shady wetter spots. For the little bit of hot weather we get chamomile is a good choice. Oregano can be grown and mown like a lawn, a scythe works better. Ours are evergreen even in pots. I’m sure they would be even more hardy in the ground. Thyme too. Daffodils create a rhizome barrier to most grasses, I’m not sure about Bermuda grass. The best way to erase the lawn? Wood chips now, pretty deep. We went with 8” august 2020. The chips are still there and the grass is gone. It is a pretty persistent variety though I couldn’t identify it. If you have buttercups they will invade even wood chips that deep and daffodils don’t deter them one bit. We will be removing the remaining surface wood chips and planting Bee Turf. I think there are 13 varieties so monoculture isn’t going the be an issue. The company says the seeded area doesn’t need to be protected but the chickadees disproved that. I use lightweight “invisible screen”. Even though it is spendy and is made of fiberglass and plastic it is treated for UV so doesn’t break down. It doesn’t fray and is lightweight enough to need minimal support. You know those grow through rings? The metal supports that come with those and a few bulldog clips work wonders and is very portable. I was even surprised that that barrier method kept the slugs and raccoons out. (I love raccoons but they can destroy a lot of expense and work in a few hours.) I’d like to encourage you to do some planning on soil microbiology improvement. Annuals with prolific roots systems (sunflowers, hemp, flax all do well in poor soils and will get organic matter into the soil without you having to till or even broad fork. Biodrillers like daikon radishes are fabulous… as long as you don’t harvest the roots. Once they die off worms eat the roots leaving tubes of fertilizer and air. Re: mulch. Construction companies remove a lot of trees! Neighbors cut down a lot of trees and the removal companies usually chip them up on site. If you are close enough they are more than happy to dump them on your property, saves them a lot of time and expense. It’s not as easy to get tree removal companies to haul a load of chips some distance to your house. If you know anyone who can help you load and haul wood chips it’s worth going to get them fresh. A lot of people say not to use fresh wood chips but the thing is if you create a pile that contains fresh leaves it will age a lot more rapidly. The neighbors aren’t thrilled about looking at piles of wood chips and compost but I’m not doing this for the neighbors. They might feel differently once the apples produce an abundance and they get to share in the harvest. The one time someone got belligerent over it I explained they were temporary. She still found them offensive. I let her know watching her use Roundup and use gasoline on maintaining a lawn no one use was just as offensive to me, and a lot more damaging than chips and compost. Then I turned my back and started planting the chicory and kale and hyssop and calendula seedlings in the parking strip… humming a little song. I smiled and waved goodbye as she left.

I'm excited to see how it goes! I started my food forest last year and it rules. Canadian Permaculture Legacy sent me. Thanks for doing this collabo!

A great place to get tree chips for mulch is from companies that cut down trees. They have to chip them and then pay to dispose of them at the landfill so they are often willing to dump them on your property for free. We did that two years ago on our half acre and the soil underneath now is amazing! We just put down cardboard and then a couple inches of mulch.

Congrats on starting your food forest! Also sent by Keith, you can't go wrong with his advice! Also Edible Acres and Maritime Gardening are great for free and budget ideas. Maritime Gardening mulches with free bagged leaves and yard waste he picks up. I do the same, never paid for mulch yet

Canadian Permiculture Legacy sent me to you. SO happy to find you at the right time. I am so interested in your journey as I hope to do the same. I'm an initial start up from a mental blank slate(in my mind😄).

Salal is a berry plant and native species in BC. It's not a high bush, but does spread. 1 maybe 2 is all you should need. I found out dandelion tops are good calcium providers, as is the root. Don't try digging them out. 😂 I will use "chop and drop" for the leaves around the figs, roses and berry bushes. Enjoy playing with ideas for the future of your land and living.

Hi...also here on Keith's suggestion. So excited to watch your food forest evolve - especially since I too am in BC. When I started my food forest (4yrs ago), I received a mountain of mulch from Chip Drop...it's free with the stipulation that you are able to take a large quantity. I'm on the Lower Mainland and I imagine the island has the same service. 🌻🌞

I love watching your videos. I also love nature and taking care of our environment.

I like the idea of keeping as many flowers as possible native, where I like they all the native flowers are gone

Fantastic! I've been following CPL for a couple of years now. Dreaming of the day when I can start my own food forest. I've spent the past 3 years container gardening, and learning how to read my plants needs, and appreciate insects I used to think were pests. We JUST bought a house this Winter, and we've finally got some land to get started!! We've only been moved in for 3 weeks, and I'm already working on the designs based on what I've learned from Keith. I'm excited to follow along with your journey through this year, and learn from both of your channels now.

Our Tribe is starting a Food Forest north island, so I was excited when Canadian Permaculture Legacy told me about your channel. So far we have irrigation installed, a mountain of wood chips, a load of sea soil, 3 apples, 2 pears, 1 plum, blue elderberry shrubs, lots of blueberries, gooseberries, rhubarb, strawberries New local subscriber.

Excited to see where you go with this as I want to combine Permaculture with Wildlife. Also on looking for mulch look at city services, our city has a place where you can drop off brush (and others do woodchips) and you can take as much as you want for free. Also contact the electric co and find out who does their tree trimming and where they take their mulch.

C.P.L. sent me! Glad to discover your channel!

Excited to see how this develops! Thank you for sharing!

Yes. All Keith's subscribers will be watching. I also live on the island & will be doing the same as soon as I buy property

I’ve started mine last fall. I got my wood chips free from our electric coop company. They put me on a list and I had a huge pile within the week. Also I got most of my trees from Missouri conservation site. All trees are native and only $1.00 each. I got blackberries, hazelnut bushes, paw paws, mulberries, persimmons, pecan, and walnut trees. I also got apple, cherry, pear and peach trees from a local nursery. Plus lots of seeds for wildflowers. Like you I’m not sure where to put everything.

Hi, Like many I found you through Canadian Permaculture. Really excited for you and to see how things turn out for you! Personally I never gardened a day in my life until last season. My goal is to work toward creating my own Food Forest however I am currently in the process of looking for land to buy. I'm getting started with some small scale gardening and perennials here in zone 4 in the Northern US (Maine). I've got things like Strawberries, Comfrey, Egyptian Walking Onions, Raspberries, both Onion and Garlic Chives, different types of Mint and just got a couple blueberry bushes I'll be putting in in the spring. I'm holding off on the trees until I find land to buy.

I looked you up because of Canadian Permaculture Legacy, good luck on your permaculture site.

Hi, I'm new here, came from CPL! I've been binge watching his video's from the start, so I'm almost up to date, so exciting to see everything develop and your food forest journey as well, from the start.

Hi Kristina, found you on Keith’s Canadian Permaculture Legacy channel. Great to see you getting started with a food forest, I just sheet mulched about 200 square feet of my yard about 2 months ago and finished up as the snow started flying. I ran out of cardboard anyway. Keith’s enthusiasm is so infectious that he should have to put warning labels on his videos 🤣 ! He got me hooked ! It will be interesting to see how you progress because you’ll be starting months before I can here in Zone 5 in west central Idaho.

You have a fine guide in Keith, and as scientists both, maybe you can solve the Unification Theory. It is my belief that gardening is a little quantum. You can have all of what a book describes; but alas the plant fails. What I love about permaculture is that you play a betting game where many eggs in many baskets works best. Whatever the fractal changes effecting are, there are many other bets that will cover and compensate the losses with the gains. And even losses give gains, soil building, and decay for the micro world of the black box. It is just great to see those that have space go out and try. Congratulations on your choice. Best wishes to you and the planning and practical application... and the overall fun and connection with nature to come. m

I'm also on Vancouver Island and am about to start my own but have been looking for local videos Canadian permaculture has great videos but glad your on island!

love your videos love hiking stay awesome

Hi 👋 I’m from Vancouver Island as well. I’m in a cooler zone due to my location being further up a mountain side and more inland. Hope you do some updates soon. I also follow CPL and Parkrose Permaculture as well. I’v planted some trees & bushes that I’ve never heard of before, like Paw Paw & Goji. Interesting learning curve on planting a food forest.

I'm excited to see the progress. Very interesting

So cool to watch, I'm in Saskatchewan Canada and this spring i as well will be starting a food forest in my urban yard! Keep it up guys

Hi! I'm coming over from Canadian Permaculture Legacy. He and I are on the same wavelength WRT forest gardening. So I decided I had to come here and watch this project. Being a wildlife biologist, you probably recognize the word "Ecocentric" which is the basis of both his forest garden and what I am trying to do in Newfoundland. So I am excited to watch your progress! WRT Comfrey, I recommend not getting it. It's an example of a dogma injected into an otherwise good movement (If your doing permaculture you MUST have comfrey!) There's probably native plants that will serve the same purpose. Cheers!

canadian permaculture legacy with keith said you have a channel to check out so here i am and am not dissappointed. looking forward to seeing your progressive in the food forest. i started last year and havnt stopped growing ever since

Congratulations! I too have a quarter acre to work with, and we bought a neglected property last summer I am just starting to plant and plan out. I come from a row crop farming back ground, but have been using permaculture techniques for several years at our last place. I also have horticulture certification. That was my first career. I am up on Texada Island. I look forward to comparing your approach to food foresting our coastal environment, to mine.

ahhh i’m so excited to see everything!! hoping to do something similar in my yard and to see how u plan things out will be super helpful

Following for this please keep us posted. I’m not too far from you in Washington and wa to g to start one on my backyard.

Its so cool...

I'm inspired. Very admirable person.

This is fantastic! I am so excited for you. I live in Ontario and we started planting our food forest last year. I can’t wait to follow your journey (it’s true what Keith says about beginner’s excitement).

CPL referred me to you - I've started binge watching some of your other videos too. Thank you for sharing.

Whoot! I'll support a great Canadian channel like this! Found you through Canadian Permaculture Legacy video. Try Salal as a ground cover. Native to Western Canada. The berries are edible and the plant has medicinal purposes.

Brilliant! Keep up the good job. On my socond year with my forrest. Looking forward for tips and ideas. Cheers.

Yay! Gardening!

Whoo-Hoo! So good to see people joining the revolution! Good luck!

You are so inspiring! I’m also popping in from Canadian Permaculture Lagacy! All the best and this is so exciting to witness and learn from! Thank you! 🙏🥰♥️

Awesome! You mentioned yarrow in your guilds, but check out using yarrow as a lawn replacement/ground cover....you can even mow if you wish, and it is native as you know. The other plant that I recently found that has blown my mind is the daikon radish. It is also known as the Jackhammer Radish and can help to break up heavy clay and granite, add nutrients and help your new plants have a path for their roots to go. Not a native and can become invasive, but I am having a huge amount of progress in breaking up the hard land. Also referred to you by Canadian Perm!

Ooo keep us posted this sounds like an awesome project!

I am excited to see what you create and how. I am also on Vancouver Island and am coming up on my third year with a food forest.

Hello Kristina. I was referred to you by Keith of Canadian Permaculture Legacy. I am so excited for your new food forest. I will be following the process. I live in Colorado and started mine 3 years ago and it has been very productive both in the city and on our mountain land. The mountain land has so much wildlife and I intend to keep it that way. We have bears, mountain lions, deer, squirrels, chipmunks, birds of all kinds-both prey and predators, and all kinds of small critters, almost too many to name. I’m happy to be with you.

I am so excited for you Kristina. I began my food forest just under two years ago on the East coast of Canada Zone 5b . A little jealous of your zone 9. Very much looking forward to following your journey. Happy planting!

Landed here from CPL and am excited to watch your journey. I’m about one year in to my forest and loving the process

Hey there, Keith sent me here! Looking forward to following you on your food forest journey!

Came over from CPL, we're also planning our Permaculture project but on the other side of the world! One thing I picked up on was that you have planted a Gravestien Apple, not sure if the nursery mentioned but the Gravestein is self sterile and needs Pollinators, the Gravestein is a 'Triploid' so will need 2 pollinators that match with season and timing, so please do some 'digging' to find the best Apples to match. Look at the thornless varieties of Seaberry, there is a nursery in your area that has some thornless hybrids, like Russian Orange and Sirola plus males 1 male to 8 female, Goumi and Silverberrys might also be of interest, all these are Nitrogen Fixers and highly attractive to insects. Keep smiling through the trials and tribulations... all the best

This is such a fun journey creating a food forest. You must be very excited, I know how much fun it is in the start. Planning and collecting all the new plants and materials. Enjoy the journey!! I have been following CPL for some time now. Can’t wait to watch your forest come to life. Cheers!

That's Good. Food forest as good start. Nature provides every for survive. Hope you are doing well Kristina. Love to see your more upcoming video. Due to Pandemic your video's are not coming. That's good. Wish I was there to help you out. And I love snow lol. Take care yourself. Happy New year Kristina. ☺️☺️

Hey I'm also on the Island! I've been transforming my yard as well, it's only been a year and I'm already seeing an uptick in birds and wildlife around my yard. When I started my yard was almost all lawn, but I have been slowly overtaking it with wood chips, leaves, etc and planting lots of native flowers and shrubs. Looking forward to the snow being gone so I can continue the process. Also looking forward to watching your progress on this channel!

I came here from Canadian Permaculture Legacy. So glad you're starting a food forest!! Incredible :D

Hi Kristina! Keith recommended your channel so here I am. Cheers from Down Under where the sight of snow in December is a mental reprieve from the heat of our summer.

Greetings! I found you through Canadian Permaculture Legacy! I’m excited to catch up on your content and experience your journey with you!

Hi Kristina! I am in Cincinnati, OH (zone 6b). I purchased a home about 10 months ago, and I am in the planning stage for my backyard suburban food forest! I found your channel while watching Canadian Permaculture Legacy's video with you. We are in very similar places on our journey! I just got my first ChipDrop about a month ago... after 3 days of heavy rain... so I now have a giant pile of woodchips sitting in a giant frozen pile in my driveway. Can't wait for them to thaw so I can get them put down! I just wanted to say hello! I will be following!

I would definitely try this when i havemy own home 🙏🏽

I'm near Campbell River, starting my own food forest! Tree Eater's stuff is fantastic! He does great stuff, so excited for you!

I live in a mild climate zone in Sweden and started my food forest approximately 5 years ago. I do recommend the sterile comfrey. It is easy to divide or take root cuttings from, and in a few years you will have as many plants as you want. I would like to warn everyone about the non-sterile comfrey, as it may become a huge problem to you and your neighbours, as far as I heard. Good luck! I will be following your channel, I like it! 😊

you might want to check with a local municipality for mulch. I live in the Lethbridge area and we use the sites that the city of Lethbridge provides free mulch for public use

Oh, wow, I am in almost exactly the same place as you. I am in the process of preparing my very first large garden in preparation of my husband and I retiring to rural southern Indiana next year. I'm also starting from lawn -- you wanna talk about Bermuda grass? I have Zoysia grass, a rhizomatous monster!!! Like you, I arrived at permaculture largely by accident -- I came in via foraging rather than gardening, so my gardening experience is pretty limited. I'm planning a mixed-use garden with annual beds and even an organic straw bale garden so I can grow my veg, but my guilds are concentrating on natives like serviceberries, hawthorn, pawpaws, persimmons, and pollenator herbaceous plants, shrubs and groundcovers. I've been frustrated with the fall and winter when I couldn't plant anything, but in retrospect this enforced planning and learning and prep time has been extremely valuable, forcing me to slow down and THINK about what I'm doing rather than frantically plopping plants into the ground. Unlike you, I'm 60 years old, so I really envy you starting in permaculture so young! I'm looking forward to growing with you and working your knowledge of wildlife into my own garden.

For mulch, you may want to grow your own. Birch, black locust, alder, comfrey, seaberry, siberian pea tree, lupine and silver maple are all good for this. (all of these, except for comfrey and silver maple, are nitrogen fixers)

I am biologist, I live in Peru right now, but this year I am going to study at UVic. You are a great influence for me, I hope meeting you in person some day

Hi Kristina. I am just up the road from you in Duncan which is zone 8a. I too am working on my 1/4 acre food forest. You may have found some of these resources in our area like Satin Flower Nursery. They are focused on natives of the lower island. Bob Duncan in Saanich is a great resource also. I would love to connect.

I’m fairly new to forest gardening as well. Getting those first trees and bushes planted is so exciting! For smothering weeds I would recommend rhubarb and artichoke. Be careful with your young fruit trees, it doesn’t take long for hungry rabbits to girdle them if you don’t have a protective barrier.

My dream is to build a food forest on Vancouver Island. It's going to be so much fun watching your project progress.

There are types of sedum you can use a ground cover. The bees like their flower too. Ones that don't have yellow flowers are edible raw. Yellow flowered one can be eaten after its cooked.

I can't wait to follow you. We are on Hood Canal in Washington State. We are starting this year. I think our site is similar to yours.

Nice video :) Have fun creating your food forest. I'm yet another referred by Canadian Permaculture Legacy. He inspired me to start a food forest - I'm only working with 1/8th acre, but am close to some green areas connected to provincial parks so in just one year I've attracted some pretty diverse species. It's a really fun, hopefully productive project for me so far, I hope you have the same experience! (Edit: thanks for the QCAD name too, might be fun to play with!)

For groundcover, clover works well. Try out dutch white. Mowing favors clover, so over time, you can phase out mowing. After that initial establishment phase of the groundcover, you can diversify it with things like strawberries and yarrow.

I really appreciate you focus on native plants, I see a lot of food forest gardeners that incorporate invasive species which makes it confusing for my own journey when looking for advice.

Wow! You are such a spectacular find for me. We just bought a home on almost a half acre. I have been actively planning just such an 'forest.' My first planting the week I moved in was a red oak. I hope to eventually fill in the lawn with food gardens amongst pollinator landing pads. My degree is also biology, with botanical focus. I look forward to unfolding my own plan while observing your progress! I am currently seeding up creeping thyme to use as groundcover for 6a.

After watching Keith's response to your video I am very enthusiastic for both of you. It's a great collaboration 👌 I am real curious about your plans for a pond or water feature. I know it hasn't been mentioned yet but I know it's coming 😄

I love all the way down in Florida, so my knowledge of Candian wildlife is limited, but cloudberries and deer lichen both seem nice. Cloudberries are edible and I think the lichen attracts deer, because they eat a lot of it.

I'm not sure if you have looked into it yet, but my city has a public mulch pile from the city tree trimmings so maybe you could look into that for mulch!

i just wanted to add that i found holy basil to be awesome for bees. i noticed it this year for the first time in the garden. give it a thought cheers kristina

You will probably want more comfrey. Comfrey can be used as a chop and drop fertilier/mulch or as a fermented tea. Before putting in the strawberries and mulch, cover the ground completely with cardboard to kill the bermuda grass. Otherwise, you'll be sending hours a week pulling the grass. You'll love the food forest. I don't have a background in wildlife or biology, but I love to sit and watch the birds. I get hummingbirds in my Salvia and all kinds of birds in my elderberry and quince.

Hi Kristina, I’ve been following your channel for a bit now and I’m very excited to hear about your food forest project! I have a degree in environmental studies with a bio minor, and am currently completing a permaculture design certificate, so I vibe hard with your channel. I live in Ohio and don’t know what is available in Canada, but here you can sign up and get massive quantities of fresh arborist wood chips delivered to you through the service Chipdrop. If you are flexible with the timeframe of when you are willing to receive the mulch, and prepared to handle A LOT of free wood chips, then you may want to look into it and see if it’s something that would work for you. Best of luck! I’m excited to watch your yard progress over time.

Keith’s friend here… wise move cancelling the non-sterile comfrey.

Pearly everlasting is hugely invasive.

Once you get enough leafy plants growing you can chop and drop to create your own mulch.

Hi. Best of luck for your food forest. If I may, I would like to suggest planting ginger and garlic if you haven't already, for they are life savers. Love from Toronto.

Hi I found you through CPL. I live on VI too - please check out hatchet and seed. They are in the island.

For ground cover native to bc and fruit producing, how about trailing blackberry?

Awesome! How did the first year go with the project?

CPL sent me over for a visit. Have you checked out Stephan from Miracle Farms in Quebec. So much info... Blessings get growing girl!!!😂

Two books you may be interested in are 'NatureScape Alberta' by Myrna Pearman, and 'Bird-by-Bird Gardening' by Sally Roth.

LOVE this idea!! How will you keep the deer out? That's my biggest issue where I live.

Hi, that's great news. Do you need any help? I am going to be in Vancouver Island March/April and would love to visit your project, meet you. :)

Me too a 1/3 acre in Maryland

Going fwd will you take into consideration how climate change might effect your growing? and how BC ‘s climate is changing? Lots of evidence this last year Floods, fires, unusual temps etc. I spent 6 years on your island a couple years back and saw differences in my short time there. Came to your site from CPL. Eager to watch your growth, from east coast.

PLEASE Can you do a video on the wolves in Yellowstone park being killed ?

Here from Canadian Permaculture. I planted out last year things are going great! Make sure to get some King Stropharia mushrooms!

Am a first year backyard food forester and CPL YT regular. Recommend using leaves for mulch and Chipdrop or tipping tree company for chips,. Make sure with nurseries that u get correct fruit species for cross pollinating. What design app is that? Been looking for a free one since on fixed income.

Add something Indian in video or title and subscribers will skyrocket 😁. Just kidding. I'm your true supporter and following you since past three years. Want to see you progress more on KZfaq 🙂

Food for survival is the topic of these days. The cost is way lower than super markets and more fresh. I worry more on politicians, than climate change.

1st ,are you still working in the field as a wildlife biologioly

What do you mean by zones?