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

by Ken Mudge, Steve Gabriel, John Munsell (Foreword)

The first in-depth guide for farmers and gardeners who have access to an established woodland and are looking for productive, innovative ways to create a natural forest ecosystems that produces a wide range of food, medicinals, and other non-timber products. "What a joy to read! Nice pictures, great case studies, and well organized. . . . Farming the Woods is  the  source for temperate climate agroforestry."―Jonathan Bates, Owner of Food Forest Farm   While this concept of “forest farming” may seem like 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.  The good news is that this is not an either-or scenario; forest farms can be most productive in places where the plow is on steep slopes, and in shallow soils. It is an invaluable practice to integrate into any farm or homestead, especially as the need for unique value-added products and supplemental income becomes more and more important for farmers. Farming the Woods  covers in Forest crops covered include : This book is a must-read for farmers and gardeners interested in incorporating aspects of agroforestry, permaculture, forest gardening, and sustainable woodlot management into the concept of a whole-farm organism. 

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Nature, Agriculture, Reference, Food, Environment

384 pages, Paperback

First published September 23, 2014

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really wanted to give this book five stars. The photos are riveting and I love the fact that the authors of the book have really tried many of the techniques they write about. There's some good information on which plants will *really* produce fruits in shade (not many) and an excellent analysis of which non-timber forest products will make a good income (shiitakes, maple syrup, ginseng, chestnuts, and hazelnuts). Plus, I really loved Ken Mudge's free pdf about shiitake mushroom production (search for "Best Management Practices for Log-Based Shiitake Cultivation in the Northeastern United States"), so he gets a free star unrelated to this book.

So why only four stars? Farming the Woods is too long and too expensive. I didn't have the same length complaint with the much longer Edible Forest Gardens, but the primary author of Farming the Woods is a college professor, and it shows in his sometimes dry and academic writing. If you've already heard of forest ecology, climate change, and permaculture, you're not going to get anything out of the first 80 pages nor the last 30, which adds up to a full third of the book that I would have cut out (and there are other long sections in the interim that could have used excising). And at a cost of nearly $30 even after Amazon lowers the price tag, this is a book I would have preferred to check out of a library.

The bottom line is that I don't really recommend this book to most readers. If you're like me and absolutely must read every book on the subject, you'll likely find a few gems in these pages, but otherwise, I'd recommend checking out Extension Service websites on the topics of non-timber forest products, silvopasture, and so forth. Chances are you'll get most of the same information at a much lower cost --- free.

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid introduction into the aspects of agroforestry and applications of permaculture principles. This is by no means a definitive guide, but is a good "foot in the door" for those curious about such topics.

[Samantha B · Rating 4 out of 5]

SO GOOD. So good.

As a beginner's guide to farming the woods, this is probably unparalleled. It discussed various forms of production, the combination of said forms, a brief bit on design, plus how to incorporate animals into systems, and *chef's kiss*

Will definitely be revisiting.

4 stars

[Emily Culver · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read most of this book for a class I'm taking. I've learned a lot about forest gardening in the past and it was interesting to see the overlap, and lack there of, with forest farming. Forest farming seemed more focused on large scale established forest management for a few specific, nonwood products, whereas forest gardening can be done in a smaller space and focuses on a variety of plants across all niches (salad greens, berries, root plants, edible flowers, etc.). If you're more interested in the latter read Creating a Forest Garden by Martin Crawford. If your interested in managing a forest area as a career to produce marketable products, this is probably better.

I gave it four stars because the writing is very formal and academic and I did not find it very easy to breeze through the pages as I have with a lot of other books around these subjects. Also, a lot of the content felt very tailored to the northeast US.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I have sufficiently absorbed this book and can move on to another one now. I feel like I've been reading this f-o-r-e-v-e-r because there was so much information to absorb - so many engrossing topics.... Another book on my favorites shelf!

I highly recommend this book to anyone with forested land that isn't being utilized, or anyone interested in a self-supporting lifestyle that's in-tune with nature.

If anyone has 20 acres to sell (cheap), send me an email!

[Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Farming the Woods is book overflowing with useful information to integrate into your permaculture library. Each section is laid out well, is easy to read and understand. Anyone who is inspired by food forests should get this book to delve even further into the magical realm that is the forest garden!

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative but for me, one of those books I'll go back to as reference material.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This felt like a student thesis and science textbook combined. The personal field experiments of the authors were very detailed but they were also very specific to a particular place. I live in Eastern KY. If you want to farm here, you have to either buy a farm that most likely hasn't had quality pasture management practices or worse has toxic soil from strip mining and you have years of work ahead of you fixing all those problems, or you have to buy a section of forest and clear a ton of trees and do a lot of time consuming soil work before you can bring in livestock or grow produce. I picked up this book thinking it would help me "farm in the forest". I thought it would talk about how helpful certain breeds of goats are in clearing wooded areas and how to take small cleared patches and "use what you've got" to plant a garden. The text did mention goats and hugelkulture which were the two main things I was looking for but they were almost in passing and nothing else was really useful unless I wanted to just take a walk through the woods and identify edible mushrooms that grow in the wild. As a reference text for growing your own mushrooms in the woods this is an excellent book (the majority of the book was focused on this specific subject). However, if you're like me and trying to figure out how to turn the thickly wooded acre behind your house into something conducive to livestock and a vegetable garden without destroying your shade trees, this book isn't very helpful.

[JustJams · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 4 stars I gave this book does not reflect it's readability. The work was very informative but very academic and a bit hard to read. The 4 stars were for the very useful information about mushrooms.

[Marc Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of useful information and some good ideas.

[Munchkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chapter 5 has information about Shitaki log growing

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forest farming 101. A great intro with case studies.

[Beckie Gaskill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. It is very informative and easy to follow. I would recommend it to anyone looking to learn more about how it relates to permaculture.

[Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous resource for anyone interested in regenerative temperate forest farming.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book on all the ways to make a little money from your plot of woods.

[Gabriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent deep dive into the world of Non Tree Forest Products (NTFPs). Plenty of ideas for how to leverage wooded spaces on your property and how to design systems so they work together.

[JamiG4 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is definitely a textbook feel book. There was a LOT of detail and a big focus on the economics and data where I was looking more for general information and how-tos. There was also a big focus on mushrooms which are a bit scary to me as I think it's too easy to pick the wrong one...

I was excited to see photos from Edible Acres - a fave of mine on YouTube, Sean Dembrosky is really doing some great work. His videos are very informative and encouraging, which is what I hoped to find in this tome.

Overall, this is a great book for those serious about Farming in the Woods as a living but not as applicable for someone looking for self-supporting gardening. It works for that but includes a lot of extra stuff that makes it a bit overwhelming.

[Zohara Hieronimus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Want to plant fruit and nut trees so the next generation benefits? I know I do. I just didn't know how possible it was to grow food in the forest. This is a great book to learn how to do just that. Does your local nursery say you need 6-8 hours of sun for successful farming? Not true for a lot of plants -- the forest is like a mosaic of light and a lot of nourishing food sources can be grown there. I'll be putting some of these tips into good use this year in our back yard!

[Denise Spicer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A textbook style work on agroforestry with a brief history of the field. Ten chapters cover exhausting content on raising food, mushrooms, medicinals, even livestock in a forest-like setting, along with advice for the business person and homeowner alike.

[Erkki · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book for anyone interested in the subject area. I wrote a review in Finnish: http://iso-orvokkiniitty.fi/blog/kirj...

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

a good resource