Farming the Woods : An Integrated Permaculture Approach to Growing Food and Medicinals in Temperate Forests

Mudge, Ken; Gabriel, Steve; Munsell, John F. (FRW)

ISBN 10: 1603585079 / ISBN 13: 9781603585071

Published by Chelsea Green, 2014

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 21601657-n

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Farming the Woods : An Integrated Permaculture Approach to Growing Food and Medicinals in Temperate Forests
• Publisher: Chelsea Green
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1603585079
• ISBN 13: 9781603585071
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

In the eyes of many, the practices of forestry and farming are mutually exclusive, because in the modern world, agriculture involves open fields, straight rows, and machinery to grow crops, while forests are primarily reserved for timber and firewood harvesting. Farming the Woods invites a different perspective: that a healthy forest can be maintained while growing a wide range of food, medicinal, and other non-timber products. While this concept of forest farming may seem an obscure practice, history indicates that much of humanity lived and sustained itself from tree-based systems in the past; only recently have people traded the forest for the field. And it's not an either-or scenario: forest farms can be most productive in places where the plough is not, on steep slopes, and in shallow soils. Many know that daily indulgences such as coffee, chocolate, and many tropical fruits, all originate in forest ecosystems. But few are aware that similar abundance is also available in the cool temperate forests of North America. Farming the Woods is the first in-depth guide for farmers and gardeners who have access to an established woodland and are looking for productive ways to manage it. Authors Ken Mudge and Steve Gabriel describe this process as "productive conservation," guided by the processes and relationships found in natural forest ecosystems.

About the Authors

Ken Mudge has been involved in agroforestry research, teaching, and extension for over twenty years. His research has focused on non-timber forest products including nitrogen-fixing trees, American ginseng, forest-cultivated mushrooms, and others. He teaches courses including a practicum in forest farming, plant propagation, and grafting. He is principal investigator on a NE SARE-funded extension project, in collaboration with the University of Vermont and with established shiitake farmers (including coauthor Steve Gabriel) to train forest owners in shiitake mushroom production as a business enterprise. 

Steve Gabriel, author of Farming the Woods (with Ken Mudge), is an ecologist, educator, and a forest farmer who has lived most of his life in the Finger Lakes region of New York. His personal mission is to reconnect people of all ages with the natural world and to provide the tools for good management of forests and other landscapes. He currently splits his time between working for the Cornell Small Farms Program, and developing the farm he runs with wife Elizabeth, Wellspring Forest Farm, which produces shiitake mushrooms, duck eggs, pastured lamb, nursery trees, and maple syrup.

John Munsell is an associate professor and forest management extension specialist at Virginia Tech. His background is in sociology and natural resource management. He also is associate editor of the journal Agroforestry Systems and has served as a reviewer for New York City Museum of Natural History, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. John teaches agroforestry and permaculture at Virginia Tech. He has worked with communities from Appalachia to Cameroon to study agroforestry implementation and associated environmental, social, and economic impacts. He has helped design whole-farm plans incorporating permaculture and agroforestry for properties across the United States.