food forest course
working together with nature to create an abundance of food
Saturday October 15th - Saterday October 22th
Catalunya, Spain
Language: English
What if you could harvest delicious and healthy food from your own designed food forest?
“I love to just walk through the food forest I planted. Noticing how the plants are growing, how the trees start blooming, how more and more insects, birds and soil life are around. Harvesting the first apples, and tasting some sweet raspberries.` - Bastiaan (your host for this course)
There is something magical about growing a food forest. Building a relationship with all the trees and plants, experiencing how nature works together with you. How new life appears and diversity increases. And how, with a little love and care, you will receive the most delicious and healthy food, fresh from the trees and plants.
A food forest is an edible landscape of trees, shrubs and plants that live together like a natural forest (or forest edge). Designed and planted in such a way that all the parts support each other ánd the surrounding environment. You basically create an ecosystem.
A food forest needs some proper love, care and knowledge, especially in the first phases. After a while, nature will do its work and continue to create an abundance of delicious, healthy food for you (and the birds).
In one week, you will learn everything you need to know to design, execute and care for a food forest. Including:
- the principles of a food forest design
the multiple layers, water, soil, nutrients, light and shade, access, pest control and more
- which plants, trees, shrubs to use in which environment
- the different types of, and perspectives on food forests
- practice by making your own food forest design
- practice of implementation by planting the food forest on our finca
During this course, you will design your own food forest, based on the environment that you choose. Maybe you already have a specific place in mind that you want to turn into a food forest (for instance in your home or community garden), or else you choose a climate where you would like to grow one in the future.
This course is for all people who have an intention to create a food forest (big or small, sooner or later). You don’t have to have any prior knowledge. A healthy dose of curiosity and eagerness to learn will be all you need.
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” - Chinese proverb
As with all our programs, this course is embedded in a setting that allows you to connect to nature and yourself. You will stay at our beautiful finca with its hills, forests, fields and river. Next to the theory and practice on food forests, we will also spend time connecting to nature in other ways, like sitspotting*, swimming and cooking. An example day would look like this:
8-8.30 sit spotting*
8.30-9.30 breakfast
10-13 theory/practice
13-14 lunch
15-18 practice/freetime
19-20.30 dinner
21-23 campfire/nightwalk/freetime
*Sitspotting is a very simple yet powerful practice. On the first day, you will find yourself a spot in nature where you will return to every morning, just to BE, without any distractions
Accommodation & facilities
You will stay on our finca and share a tent with one other participant. We have different tent models, all are spacious (you can stand up) and have two single beds. Bed linen and towels are included.
It's a remote finca, so expect an immersion in the wilderness. The water comes from the source and river and after use it runs back onto the land, the energy comes from solar panels. All organic waste (including from the toilets) is composted into fertile soil.
Your hosts
Bastiaan is our food forest expert
From the moment his interest in ecology came to light, Bastiaan has been drawn to how we (hunt, gather and/or) grow our food, including the concept of food forests. In 2017, he designed and planted his first food forest near Amersfoort, the Netherlands. Later, he created an edible landscape in a mountainous area in Spain. His knowledge and inspiration come from studying pioneers like Ben Falk, Robert Hart, Martin Crawford, Wouter van Eck and Mark Shepard as well as his experiences in communities and farms in Mexico and Guatemala. Now he is creating an edible landscape, including a food forest, on our finca in Spain.
Jorien is our co-facilitator
Being together with Bastiaan, Jorien learned a lot about plants and food forests along the way. Next to this, she developed a strong intuition for working with people and helping them connect to nature and themselves.
Price
The price includes the whole program, all delicious food & (non-alcoholic) drinks and accommodation.
For private individuals:
€695,- if you use our accommodation
€625,- if you bring your own tent/campervan and sleeping gear
Through a businesses:
€905,- excl VAT, if you use our accommodation
€815,- excl VAT, if you bring your own tent/campervan and sleeping gear
Travel costs are not included. If you are coming by train or plane, we will pick you up at the nearest train station Figueres Vilafant, at a fixed time. This costs €30,- for both ways.
We like to have an intimate tribe and personal attention for every one. Therefore there is a maximum of 8 participants. So if you're interested in joining, let us know as soon as possible!
Are you interested in joining? Leave your contacts by clicking the button below and we will be in touch with you soon.