ALEXANDRIA, MINNESOTA
Cold Climate Temperate Food Forest in Northern United States
Two acres of an abandoned suburban lot were transformed into a cold-climate food forest. Over 200 species of trees and bushes were selected for this project. A greenhouse dome was constructed to house figs, persimmons, grapes, goumis, and fuzzy kiwis. A large sundeck was constructed, surrounded by hardy kiwi vines, grape vines, honey berries, lovage, herbs, and gooseberries.
Other species included are raspberries, hazelnuts, apples, cherries, plums, chestnuts, chokeberries, elderberries, nanking cherries, black cherries, blueberries, nettles, rhubarb, juneberries, and mushrooms, both medicinal and culinary.
In the enclosed annual growing space, there are tomatos, cabbage, radishes, beets, spinach, lettuces, broccoli, peppers, eggplants, squash, and cucumbers.
Three bee hives were installed to help support the pollination and provide honey and bee pollen. In the surrounding areas, adjacent to the property, more plants are being established to support the entire area like buffaloberry, clover, black locust, and comfrey. This food forest is a cutting-edge experiment in agroforestry and gardening in the north-central United States.
With the greenhouse dome producing varieties not found in similar areas, along with varieties originally from Russia and Northern Europe, this is truly a jewel in the forest.
