“I can’t plant a food forest! I have kids! They need a lawn to play in!”
Have you ever had that thought? Though it seems like a strange excuse
to some of us mad plant scientists, I’ve heard it multiple times.
There’s this idea that the lawn is sacred and that it’s just The
Place for kids to play. But what if you live in the forest? Would kids
not be able to play?
I think Christopher Robin would disagree with that conjecture.
Sure, a lawn is good for “kill the man with the ball,” soccer, slip
n’ slides and wrestling… but the forest has its own appeal. Secret
hideouts, climbing trees, hide and seek, tree forts; heck, even
paintball is better in the woods.
Just because you have forest instead of lawn, it certainly doesn’t
mean your kids will have no place to play. In fact, they’ll probably
have more fun playing than they would in a bare yard. Let’s take a look
at a few of the amazing perks of involving children in your food forest
project.
Benefit #1: It’s Fun To Play In The Woods
A few years ago when I began The Great South Florida Food Forest Project
in my amazing parents’ backyard, my mom, always thinking of children
and grandchildren, told me she didn’t want to take up so much yard that
there wasn’t a play area.
Unfortunately for mom, I have a rebellious streak and my dad is also a
free thinker… so piece by piece, we filled up a lot of the former play
area with plants. Cassavas, an avocado, naranjillas, cannas, a mulberry
tree… the list kept growing as the “lawn” shrank.
Last fall I made some proper paths through the rapidly growing forest area:
mom the other day… they really love those paths! They were running and
skipping through the food forest and bumping into eachother… hiding back
there and having a good old time. Abi (my niece) loves them too!”
building a managed forest ecosystem. No big bad wolves or witches with
gingerbread houses – which is good, because gingerbread can’t compare to
fresh fruit and nuts.
Benefit #2: Your Kids Get To Pick and Eat Real Food
eat healthy and delicious limburger cheese (I’ve tried… the baby just
won’t. I think he thinks it’s some kind of carrion), but I haven’t met
many kids that hate fruit. In my yard I’ve got a great variety of edible
berries and fruit, many of which I planted with children in mind.
backyard. We ate them, threw fruit at the neighbor girl, built a tree
fort in the grapefruit’s branches and generally adored that old tree.
Another much-beloved tree in my wife’s old neighborhood was a
wonderfully productive mulberry. We stained ourselves purple and ate…
and ate… and ate… (CLICK TO KEEP READING)
