Ste lačni? Kar odpravite se v park. Seattleški novi gozd za prehrano si prizadeva postati užitna divjina. (Foto: Buena Vista Images/Getty Images)
Seattleska vizija urbane prehranske oaze se uresničuje. Sedem hektarjev veliko zemljišče v mestni soseski Beacon Hill bo zasajeno s stotinami različnih vrst užitnih rastlin: orehi in kostanji; borovnice in maline; sadno drevje, vključno z jabolki in hruškami; eksotiki, kot so ananas, citrusi yuzu, guava, kaki, medovite jagode in brusnice; zelišča; in drugo. Vse bo na voljo za javno nabiranje vsem, ki se bodo zatekli v prvi mestni prehranski gozd.
»To je popolnoma inovativno in tega še nikoli niso storili v javnem parku,« je za TakePart povedala Margarett Harrison, vodilna krajinska arhitektka projekta Beacon Food Forest. Harrison trenutno dela na gradbenih načrtih in načrtih za dovoljenja ter pričakuje, da bodo gradbena dela začeli to poletje.
Koncept prehranskega gozda zagotovo premika meje urbanega kmetijstva in temelji na konceptu permakulture , kar pomeni, da bo trajen in samooskrben, kot gozd v divjini. Ta gozd ni le prvi obsežni permakulturni projekt v Seattlu, ampak velja tudi za prvega te vrste v državi.
»Koncept pomeni, da upoštevamo tla, spremljevalne rastline, žuželke, hrošče – vse bo vzajemno koristno,« pravi Harrison.
Že samo po sebi je izjemno, da je načrt sploh uspel. Kar se je začelo kot skupinski projekt za tečaj permakulturnega oblikovanja, se je končalo kot šolski primer uspešne ozaveščenosti skupnosti.
» Prijatelji gozda hrane so se junaško potrudili, da bi si zagotovili podporo sosedov. Ekipa je poslala več kot 6000 razglednic v petih različnih jezikih, jih razstavila na dogodkih in sejmih ter razdelila letake,« piše Robert Mellinger za Crosscut .
Organizatorji so tako cenili prispevke sosedov, da so celo uporabili prevajalce, da bi kitajskim prebivalcem pomagali sodelovati pri načrtovanju.
Kdo bo torej pobral vse te nizko viseče sadje, ko bo prišel čas?
»Vsi in vsakogar,« pravi Harrison. »O tem je bila velika razprava. Ljudje so bili zaskrbljeni: 'Kaj če kdo pride in vzame vse borovnice?' To se lahko zgodi, ampak morda je nekdo te borovnice potreboval. Mi na to gledamo takole – če jih na koncu sezone borovnic nimamo, potem to pomeni, da smo uspešni.«
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How many acres? How many people?
If one or a few people pick all of the blueberries one season, or someone else sells some apples they picked, why not plant more acres and more acres and more acres?
Until people bought and barricaded all the land every forest was a food forest...and if you know a forest you can get into, it is still a food forest. Pine, cedar, willow, nuts, and all sorts of forest plants are deliciously edible and sustained humankind for thousands of years. Seattle has a nice urban idea but certainly NOT America's first food forest. Creator gave us that! We have in New England all kinds of orchards with berries, pears, apples, peaches, nuts, honey bees, etc, (not many exotics); a kind of fruit forest - though not usually free. Perhaps it should be called America's first Free Fruit Forest.
This is a fascinating trend. I applaud the visionaries behind this movement. Harold, Lead Pastor @ Life Center, Pasadena, CA
I suspect that is a real possibility Rosemary, but by far better to build this and know that the right people will enjoy. I would love to see this manifest everywhere, no one would need to then try to sell because FREE is available. What a wonderful world this will be!
I read somewhere... can't remember which state... doesn't allow the planting of fruit trees on public property ( schools etc ) because (they say ) it will bring pests. I don't like it when people act stupid.... fruit trees feed people. Rock on permiculture!
This is fascinating and I applaud the people of Seattle, who are once again leading the way :) I do, however, have a question, and this comes from the potential conflicts between 'scarcity' and 'abundance' models. How have they tackled the question of what to do if someone, for example, thinks they can take advantage of this 'abundance' by picking lots of apples and then selling them at a market? I am working with a colleague on an issue of a journal that will focus on 'open source thinking' and this question - is there a dark side to the concept - is one we have been reflecting on, along with thinking about its advantages. In other words, how does one sustain 'orderly' use of the fruit forest without imposing 'control'? Is there an equivalent to the creative commons approach that could apply to such abundance-oriented models and activities?
I think the world was like this.........but we have made it as it is now....it is great that we are trying to swing it back to it glories past...well done good job....all nations, institutions etc can replicate this to their own capacity....