‘Memo’ derives its name from Memorandum of Understanding, and has come to be the name we call our ‘kitchen jungle’ or food forest. It mimics a natural forest, where the system is autonomous; no one fertilizes a forest, weeds it, or adds pesticides. Over time, with proper design and initial care, the food forest becomes self-regulating with items planted specifically for health and nutrition needs.
What is a Forest Garden?
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A forest garden, sometimes called a food forest, is an agroforestry system based on woodland ecosystems, incorporating fruit and nut trees, shrubs, herbs, vines and perennial vegetables which have yields directly useful to humans. Making use of companion planting, these can be intermixed to grow in a succession of layers, to replicate a woodland habitat. By making use of the seven layers of a forest system, forest gardens are vastly more productive and diverse than conventional agriculture systems.
In a resilient system like a food forest, permanent beds are nourished through companion planting, organic compost, and integrated pest management (IPM); stable soil traps water and carbon. Small animals can be integrated into forest gardens and in our kitchen jungle we make use of a chicken tractor, which we rotate through the beds to aerate soil and add nitrogen-rich manure.
Unlike conventional gardens, over time a forest garden becomes autonomous; a self-fertilizing, self seeding garden with no need for weeding pesticide use. With proper design, initial care & energy input, the food forest produces food, medicine, fuelwood, and shelter materials in additional to creating a pleasant microclimate.
Memo is a working demonstration of household level methods and provides our staff of 20 with their daily ndiwo, or relish, which complements nsima, the staple carbohydrate. Through diversification and resilient designs, our ‘household’ enjoys a year-round food supply. We highlight the nutritional value, alternative uses, and careful species selection of regional plants, many of which were once commonly propagated but have been replaced by maize in the local diet.
In a resilient system, permanent beds are nourished through companion planting, organic compost, and IPM; stable soil traps water and carbon. At the Centre, a chicken tractor is rotated among beds to aerate soil and add nitrogen-rich manure.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an adaptation strategy to bolster resilience; a variety plants with naturally repellent properties are inter-cropped to mitigate pest damage and attract beneficial insects, without the use of chemical pesticides. Polycultural (or biodiverse) agriculture systems are less vulnerable to widespread pest damage than those of monoculture. We practice IPM by inter-planting marigold, nasturtium, chili peppers, tephrosia, and other repellent plants throughout our demonstration gardens.
