Fukuoka Food Forest  

SOURCE: http://www.perennialsolutions.org/fukuokas-food-forest

Many of us in the permaculture and organic movements have read Japanese farmer Masanobu Fukuoka’sOne Straw Revolution, which lays out his ingenious (though hard to replicate) no-till organic rice production system. I was surprised and pleased when, in my job as librarian for the New England Small Farm Institute in the late 1990s, I stumbled on his Natural Way of Farming, a translation of his 1976 book Shizen Noho. At that time he had already been running his orchard as an organic polyculture food forest for over three decades – since the 1940s! Natural Way of Farming offers much detail about Fukuoka’s methods of grain, vegetable, and fruit production. It was a major inspiration to me as I worked on writing Edible Forest Gardens.

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Fukuoka’s food forest (he refers to it his orchard) is a fantastic example of a warm temperate/subtropical food forest featuring multiple layers, abundant nitrogen-fixers, a diversity of fruits, nuts, and perennial vegetables, with sophisticated use of self-sown and broadcast annual crops. There is much for us to learn from his lifetime of experimentation in his humid, warm-temperate to subtropical climate. This is a good-sized operation, covering ten or more acres. In the 1980s Fukuoka was shipping 200,000 pounds (about 90 metric tons) of citrus annually from 800 citrus trees.[i]

The book is full of fantastic color photos of his no-till grain, vegetable, and food forest systems. I don’t have rights to them, so get a copy of the book and check them out! Used copies of several editions are available online.

Mandarin_tree_closeup

Mandarin orange, a main crop of Fukuoka’s food forest. At one time he was shipping an impressive 90 tons of citrus fruit annually. Image wikimedia commons.

Food Forest Design

Fukuoka recommends diverse polycultures, starting with mixing deciduous and evergreen fruits. “Never forget to plant green manure trees[ii]”. Fukuoka’s nitrogen fixing trees include acacias, alders, autumn olive, wax myrtle (Myrica) and podocarpus. He advocated maintaining a productive and diverse understory. “Using the open space in an orchard to raise an undergrowth of special-purpose crops and vegetables is the very picture of nature.[iii]” “A natural orchard in which full, three-dimensional use of space is made in this way is entirely different from conventional orchards that employ high-production techniques. For the individual wishing to live in communion with nature, this is truly a paradise on earth.[iv]

Food Forest Establishment

“When starting an orchard, the main goals initially should be prevention of weed emergence and maturation of the soil[v].”(144) Fukuoka also advocates for terracing and the use of contour berm-and-basin systems (known as contour swales to many of us in permaculture).

Fukuoka set out his orchard in forest land he had recently cleared. Trunks and branches from land clearing were laid out in windrows on contour – like the hugelculture technique popular in permaculture today. “To establish a natural orchard, one should dig large holes here and there among the stumps of felled trees and plant unpruned saplings and fruit seed over the site, leaving these unattended just as one would leave alone a reforested stand of trees[vi].” Resprouting stumps and weeds were cut or coppiced with a sickle.

He offers some sophisticated ecosystem mimicry advice, listing weed crops by family and replacement crops in the same family. For instance, wild morning glories might indicate planting of sweet potato. Fukuoka advocates a minimal pruning strategy (see below). At establishment, he aims to set up the tree for a lifetime of minimal pruning by establishing a form like its wild character. After 5-6 years, Fukuoka came in and built terraces uphill from each tree row. Then he transitioned the understory to ladino (white) clover (Trifolium repens).

Food Forest Understory

“What helps to rehabilitate depleted soil? I planted the seeds of thirty legumes, crucifers, and grasses throughout my orchard and from observations of these came to the general conclusion that I should grow a weed cover using ladino clover as the primary crop and such herbs as alfalfa, lupine, and bur clover as the secondary crops. To condition the deeper strata in the hard, depleted soil, I companion-planted fertilizer trees such as black wattle, myrtle, and podocarpus.[vii](188)” Fukuoka found that ladino clover would fully suppress weeds within 2-3 years, and would not need to be reseeded for 6-8 years. Drawbacks included less shade tolerance than he wanted, and the requirement for regular mowing. In winter he sowed brassica vegetables, and in summer legume vegetables and millets. Perennial vegetables were introduced and annual crops seed broadcast, with some annuals allowed to reseed themselves, producing strong-flavored feral offspring.

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White or ladino clover, Fukuoka’s preferred nitrogen-fixing groundcover in the food forest understory.

Table: Fukuoka’s Companion Crops

Adapted from table on page 144, Natural Way of Farming.

Crop Type Sample Crops Understory
Evergreen Fruit Trees Citrus, loquat Fuki (Petasites), buckwheat
Deciduous Fruit Trees Walnut, persimmon, peach, plum, cherry,  apricot, apple, pear Devil’s tongue (probably an aroid), lilies, ginger, buckwheat
Fruit vines Grape, kiwi, akebia Millets
Nitrogen fixing trees Acacia, wax myrtle, alder Green manures*, vegetables

 

Table: Fukuoka’s Green Manure Crops

Annual crops (mostly) broadcast seasonally. Adapted from page 144, Natural Way of Farming.

Crop Spring Summer Winter
Ladino clover, alfalfa Yes Yes Yes
Bur clover Yes
Mustard family vegetables Yes
Lupines, vetches Yes
Soybeans, peanuts, adzuki beans, mung beans, cowpeas Yes

 

Management

Black wattle trees (Acacia mearnsii) were his favorite nitrogen fixer as they were evergreen and grew to the size of a telephone pole in 7-8 years. At this point he cut down the wattles and buried them in trenches (morehugelculture). The wattle trees, fast-growing and evergreen, always served as a home for aphids and scales, and as a home to their predators like ladybugs, which provided pest control through the food forest. He ran poultry and other livestock in the orchard understory once it was established.

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Black wattle acacia, Fukuoka’s primary nitrogen-fixing tree speces. Image wikimedia commons.

Pruning

Fukuoka has a lot to say about pruning in Natural Way of Farming. He sought minimal pruning styles to allow his fruit and nut trees to grow as close as possible to their natural shape. To this end he grew many seedlings of citrus and other species to observe their natural form. Almost half of the trees he inherited from his father died in his quest for a low-maintenance, natural pruning regime, about 400 trees!

Fukuoka’s Food Forest Today

Masanobu Fukuoka died in 2008 at the age of 95. Today his children and grandchildren maintain the farm, including the food forest area. Citrus and ginkgo are thriving, and mango, avocado, and feijoa have been added. Shiitakes are cultivated in the understory on logs. Wild vegetables still grow beneath the orchard in some areas[viii].

Masanobu-Fukuoka

Masanobu Fukuoka in 2002. Image wikimedia commons.

 

Species in Fukuoka’s Food Forest

I’ve done my best to extrapolate from the translated common names in Natural Way of Farming. Some were nailed down with assistance from my Yama-Kei Pocket Guide to wild edibles of Japan. Surely there were many, many more which did not make it into the books, but this is a pretty good start.

LARGE TREES
Latin Name Common Name Uses Functions
Acacia mearnsii Black wattle Nitrogen fixer
Alnus japonica Japanese alder Nitrogen fixer
Castanea spp. Chestnut Nuts
Ginkgo biloba Ginkgo Nuts, medicinal
Juglans spp. Walnut Nuts
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Ginkgo nuts, still producing well in Fukuoka’s food forest today. Image wikimedia commons.

MEDIUM TREES
Latin Name Common Name Uses Functions
Amygdalus communis Apricot Fruit
Aralia elata Japanese angelica tree Shoots and young leaves
Citrus maxima Shaddock, pummelo Fruit
Citrus reticulata Mandarin orange Fruit
Citrus x. sinensis Orange Fruit
Cydonia oblonga Quince Fruit
Eriobotrya japonica loquat Fruit
Malus domestica Apple Fruit
Prunus avium cherry Fruit
Prunus persica Peach Fruit
Prunus salicina Plum Fruit
Pyrus spp. Pear Fruit
Zizyphus jujuba Jujube Fruit
Eriobotrya_japonica_JPG1b

Loquat, a tasty evergreen fruit tree. Image wikimedia commons.

 

SHRUBS AND SMALL TREES
Latin Name Common Name Uses Functions
Eleagnus umbellata Oleaster, autumn olive Fruits Nitrogen fixation
Ficus carica Fig Fruit
Fortunella japonica Kumquat Fruit
Myrica rubra Wax myrtle, yumberry Fruits Nitrogen fixation
Podocarpus spp. Podocarpus Nitrogen fixation
Punica granatum Pomegranate Fruit
Ribes spp. Currant Fruit
Myrica_rubra5

Wax myrtle or yumberry, a Japanese native nitrogen-fixer with edible fruit. Image wikimedia commons.

 

VINES
Latin Name Common Name Uses Functions
Actinidia deliciosa Kiwifruit Fruit
Akebia quinata Akebia Fruit, shoots
Dioscorea japonica Japanese yam Tubers, aerial tubers
Dioscorea polystachya Chinese yam Tubers, aerial tubers
Peuraria lobata Kudzu Tuber starch Nitrogen fixation, weed suppression
Sechium edule Chayote Squash, shoots, tubers
Vitis vinifera Grape Fruit
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Akebia, another Japanese native with edible fruits and shoots.

PERENNIAL HERBS
Latin Name Common Name Uses Functions
Allium fistulosum Welsh onion Scallions
Allium sativum Garlic Garlic
Allium tuberosum Chinese leek Greens
Aralia cordata Udo Shoots
Asparagus officinalis Asparagus Shoots
Colocasia esculenta Taro Tubers
Crambe maritima Sea kale Leaves, broccolis
Cryptotaenia japonica Honewort Culinary
Dactylis glomerata Orchardgrass Weed suppression
Lilium spp. Lilies Bulbs
Medicago sativa Alfalfa Nitrogen fixation
Mentha spp. Japanese mint culinary
Panax ginseng Ginseng Medicinal
Petasites japonicus Fuki Stalks
Phleum pratense Timothy grass Weed suppression
Zingiber mioga Mioga ginger Shoots
Zingiber officinale Ginger Spice, shoots
IMG_6640

Fuki, a Japanese native perennial vegetable for full shade and one of the traditional “seven herbs of spring.”

 

GROUNDCOVERS
Latin Name Common Name Uses Functions
Ipomoea batatas Sweet potato Tubers, leaves Weed suppression
Medicago spp. Bur clover Nitrogen fixation, weed suppression
Trifolium pratense Red clover Nitrogen fixation
Trifolium repens Ladino clover, white clover Nitrogen fixation, weed suppression
Vicia spp. Vetches Nitrogen fixation
IMG_5143

Sweet potato, an excellent weed-suppressing groundcover as well as a food crop.

 

ANNUALS: SELF-SOWN AND BROADCAST
Latin Name Common Name Uses Functions
Arachis hypogaea Peanut Peanuts Nitrogen fixation, weed suppression
Brassica napus Rapeseed Oilseed Weed suppression
Brassica rapa Turnip Roots, greens Weed suppression
Brassica spp. Indian mustard Greens Weed suppression
Echinochloa spp. Japanese barnyard millet Grain Weed suppression
Fagopyrum esculentum Buckwheat Grain Weed suppression
Glycine max Soybean Beans Nitrogen fixation, weed suppression
Hordeum vulgare Barley Grain Weed suppression
Lupinus spp. Lupine Nitrogen fixation, weed suppression
Melilotus spp. Sweet clover Nitrogen fixation
Panicum mileaceum Proso millet Grain Weed suppression
Perilla frutescens Shiso Culinary
Pisium sativum Garden pea Peas Nitrogen fixation, weed suppression
Raphanus sativus Daikon Roots, greens Weed suppression
Setaria italica Foxtail millet Grain Weed suppression
Trifolium incarnatum Crimson clover Nitrogen fixation
Trifolium subterraneum Sub clover
Triticum aestivum wheat Grain Weed suppression
Vicia faba Broad bean Beans Nitrogen fixation, weed suppression
Vigna angularis Adzuki bean Beans Nitrogen fixation, weed suppression
Aster Family crops Burdock, lettuce, edible chrysanthemum Greens, roots
Brassica Family crops Chinese cabbage, cabbage, leaf mustard, potherb mustard, black mustard Greens
Carrot Family crops Carrot, parsley, celery Culinary, greens, roots
Chenopod Family crops Spinach, chard Greens
Cucurbit Family crops Watermelon, cucumber, melons, winter squash, bottle gourd, wax melon Fruit vegetables, some greens
Legume Family crops Kidney bean, asparagus bean, sword bean Beans Nitrogen fixation
Potato Family crops Tomato, eggplant, potato, peppers, tobacco Fruit vegetables, tobacco
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Shiso is a Japanese native culinary herb that is almost excessively well-suited to the food forest understory. Image wikimedia commons.

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