Welcome, on this page you’ll find a food forest establishment protocol that’s specifically developed for mediterranean and subtropical climates. In these climates, late fall/winter is the only recommended planting window.

This protocol covers a scenario in which you want a food forest WITHOUT swales. Compared to the ‘Food Forest With Swales Establishment Protocol,’ there is no need to test the soil for earthworks, doing the site survey for it, and the installation of swales.

The protocol consists of seven tasks executed in this order: 1) Plan the food forest, 2) Define a layout, 3) Site clearing, 4) Staking out the layout, 5a) Sheet mulching, 5b) Winter cover crops, 6) Bare Root Planting, and 7) Mulching.

In this protocol, you can choose between two soil improvement methods; sheet mulching, that’s done early, or winter cover cropping that’s done late in the growing season. You then plant your trees and shrubs, preferably in the winter months, after an extended period of covering your soil with sheet mulch or after winter cover crops have been growing for a while.