Every city should have one of these as its heart…
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Just think for a moment – we are the only species that pays to live on this planet! This is a crazy concept when we really consider the implications of that statement. It seems that nowadays everything has a price and everything is a commodity. It’s what we’ve been taught to believe.
But amidst all the doom and gloom, there are some people out there who are set to buck the trend. To challenge these received ‘wisdoms’ and to do things that are truly inspirational.
This is a story about one group of people who have done just that; the Beacon Food Forest community have designed an edible park right in the heart of Seattle. This seven acre site is going to be the largest food forest in North America.
The two main goals of this project are to bring the community of Beacon Hill together around a common goal and to make high-quality fresh organic foods available to all. In addition the organisers hope to promote cultural exchange, recreation, exercise, access to nature and educational opportunities.
If you’re not sure what forest gardening is, have you ever wondered how trees can grow so big without any help from man? Well this approach is taking a leaf (literally) out of nature’s book in creating natural systems that require no chemicals or fertilisers. A wild forest is basically a self-supporting, self-feeding, self-composting, self-weeding system. A forest garden recreates that with various layers from which food can be harvested.
These systems are not only producing amazing amounts of fruit and vegetables but they also provide natural habitats for many species of plants and animals. Another plus point is that as they require no chemical input they are also highly cost effective.
As well as the edible forest, Beacon Hill is planning a number of private allotments, a canning area for fruits, planting a collection of trees from around the world and children’s areas.
This really is a wonderful idea and one that needs to be replicated in every town and city – imagine what a difference it would make to us, the environment and to our neighbourhoods. The people of Beacon Hill are environmental heroes and if you’d like to join them you can find more information here.
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Photo: Beacon Hill