Trouble in the Food Forest
Added 2025-09-05 20:52:15 +0000 UTCWhy is there such a strong correlation between invasion biology denial, anthropocentrism, ecological illiteracy and permaculture? How can permaculture move forward while at the same time acknowledging the functionality of native plant ecosystems and why the designation of "native" is not some frivolous, arbitrary, or puritanical designation? In this 40 minute conversation between myself and Lilly Anderson-Messec we talk about what permaculture is, its focus on functionality (to humans) and why there tends to be such a predictable link between those who espouse staunch invasion biology denial and their holistic integrative biodynamic permaculture food forest.
Comments
Try making pesto out of it....OMG.
April Hughes
2025-09-09 02:19:24 +0000 UTCOne of the things Lilly touched on that I think is an interesting line on the sustainability of the permaculture movement is the folks doing it right are moreso foragers in their native ranges. An offshoot of my own native botanical/foraging practice has also been learning the anthropgenic sources of the nasty invasives in my region. It was initially surprising to me how many of the invasive pests I deal with in my fav forests and meadows were brought here by colonizers as either a food source or for erosion control. For example, alliaria petiolata (Garlic Mustard), was brought over as a garden crop and is now out of vogue to eat. It plagues some of the remnant woods we have in Detroit and I will rip out every bastard I see on my spring hikes to try my best in not letting it encroach on my beloved erythronium americanum growing space. But one day my curiosity got the better and I made it into a nice little soup. I see what my colonizer ancestors were going for when they decided to introduce this scourge to the continent. Now I joyfully rip up grocery bags full in the springtime and treat it as a nice early delicacy coming out of the winter time. I've even ambushed my friends that thought we would just be hiking into being recruited in helping me rip out bagfuls to make a meal with after. I would never plant the shit in my garden, but for now it feels good to take some small impact in getting the bastards out of my wood while also recouping the free solar powered energy the plant grew for me to continue my quest in eradicating it from my local ecosystem. Cheers thanks for the convo both!
Devyn McNaughton
2025-09-08 22:37:28 +0000 UTCThe thing is, my motivation WAS a bit selfish. I didn't want to forage these things, but I wanted to eat them, so I figured I'd just grow them in my yard and then eat part and share the rest with the critters.
Jenny M
2025-09-07 01:16:42 +0000 UTCWhat's super funny is that I never set out to plant a food forest, but I seem to have planted one. I don't know much about what the permaculture folks are up to, but I don't see why they my pawpaws, persimmons, black walnut, black raspberry, hazelnut, wild plum, etc. don't count.
Jenny M
2025-09-07 01:12:50 +0000 UTC
