This unique edible public garden provides design, plant, and technique inspiration for home gardeners
In the heart of downtown Austin , right next to the interstate highway that runs from Mexico to Canada , is theFestival Beach Food Forest . This small public garden is situate on two - thirds of an Accho of city country . It ’s one of a handful of food forests in the United States . Food forests , also get it on as forest gardens , consist of layered planting of edible plants along with non - edible support metal money .
The benefit of this type of system , when compare to a traditional yearly food garden , is that solid food forests are very resilient once established . They focalize on comestible woody plants and other eatable perennials that do n’t need to be replanted annually , and they include species that do as living mulch and enrich the grime over the foresightful terminus . I had the pleasure of tour the Festival Beach Food Forest in 2015 when it was brand raw and again in the twilight of 2020 after it was well established . I conceive there are a few lessons we can take forth from the food for thought timberland for consumption in our own Southern Plains home garden .
Multiple layers allow for the highest yields in the smallest space
Designing a garden with multiple layers enable us to fit more plants in a minuscule blank , and if we choose our plants carefully , it does so without creating too much contention between the layers . Some examples of good plants for every bed of a Southern Plains solid food timberland include these :
Plan for an early yield for quick gratification while waiting on longer growth cycles
food for thought timber are establish upon the tenets of permaculture , which is a theoretical account for ecological design that include sustainable , regenerative gardening and farming . One of the tenets of permaculture that is stress in the early form of a garden labor is to plan for a yield . In other give-and-take , check that you are plant something that will provide you with a tangible return right off . I ’ve always found this to be good praxis because it is easy to get overwhelmed and discourage in the early phases of a garden project when you are putting in a mint of labor and effort and you have yet to reap the full benefits of your body of work . These former conflict are tempered by the joy of an early ( and easy ) yield .
In our region , honest example of plant life that can provide us with early yields are special K ( such as Swiss chard in fond weather condition and collard greens in nerveless weather condition ) , herbs ( parsley , cilantro , and basil are simple and spry ) , or cut bloom ( slowly reliable selections such as zinnias ( Zinnia elegans , annual ) or cosmos ( Cosmos bipinnatus , annual ) ) . We can plant these easygoing annuals aright away even as we await the take from the plants that we consider to be the more long - term goals of our garden ( woody plant life , herbaceous perennial , bulb , etc . ) .
Plan for areas of exploration and rest in your garden layout
When I chit-chat the Festival Beach Food Forest , I took my 10 - class older girl with me . catch her move through the garden reminded me of how much garden plan can boost or discourage geographic expedition and can provide chance for expression and rest . I determine my girl move chop-chop and confidently along the path flanked by mustang grape , which matte up much like a corridor . She go more slowly in spaces that had a more divers collection of plants ( such as the layers I delineate above ) , and she stopped to catch one’s breath on benches nestled among shelter plants and overhanging trees . It ’s so hot and gay for so much of the class in the Southern Plains that it ’s important to plan for shelter , invite blank in our garden where we can slow up down and cool off . Because the nutrient forest is laid out on a series of berms and swales that match the natural conformation of the site , the itinerary conform to these same contours . The curving shape of these path of course invites exploration , with the visitant eager to see what is just around the corner and out of sight . It transform a walk through the garden into a serial of discoveries with new and interesting plant life ( and their edible fruit ) at every turning !
— Karen Beaty is a horticulturalist at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin , Texas .
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A narrow path edged by grapevines serves to connect areas to each other while using the space to produce edible crops.Photo: Karen Beaty
A map of the Festival Beach Food forest shows the differently themed berms that intersect with winding paths.Photo: Karen Beaty
Due to their small size, figs can be planted as understory trees, maximizing garden space.Photo: Karen Beaty
When attempting a new garden project or just in general, reward yourself with quick-growing plants such as Swiss chard rather than only growing difficult or slow-growing plants that won’t pay off for a while.Photo: Brittany Carlson
In hot Southern Plains gardens, it’s important to factor in areas out of the sun to rest, which the food forest has many of.Photo: Karen Beaty
