Creating a forest garden (Food forests mimic nature's own gardens) from scratch is an intensive process. It's a process that involves pushing through the natural ecological stages of succession rapidly. In the same way that fighting against the natural clock of succession (Ecological Succession) (eg. keeping a well maintained lawn) takes significant energy, so to does pushing the succession faster (Align with the flow of the system) than what is natural take a significant amount of energy.
However, the reward for pushing forward - as opposed to wrenching it backward - is that you get the results of a forest much sooner than you would have otherwise. Instead of a forest growing across 40 years, you could get similar results in 15 to 20.
Once you reach a certain point of density and maturity ((The Tipping Point #citation)) in a forest, the natural systemic mechanisms finally have more momentum (Flywheel Concept) than your manual input can keep up with. This is the really exciting time! This usually happens around years 5 to 10.
All the systems are interacting in full force. Your soil regenerates itself, the insects and birds keep eachother in check, the flowers bloom without your continued coaxing and the fruit trees are so loaded with fruit you don't know what to do with it (Gaia’s Garden).
This is the natural expression of a healthy garden (Market crash is a correction), and it's beautiful.
#permaculture #toolong