The Foodscape Revolution. Brie Arthur

      I don’t bother much with fruit trees. They require so much work in order to get them to produce edible fruit, and there are lots of great organic options at the grocery and farmers’ markets for staples like apples, peaches and pears. Of course, there’s nothing stopping you from growing fruit trees, but I find the time, energy and money required to get a substantial harvest is not worth it. I will, however, plant some native trees that produce hard-to-find fruits that don’t ship well. Persimmons and paw paws are wonderful options because they’re easy. Instead of an ornamental pear (please never plant one of those), try a paw paw; they’re on the smaller side and they produce delicious fruits!

      As for nut-bearing trees, if you have room for larger shade trees, plant a pecan or chestnut, but be sure to position it on the north side of the bed so it doesn’t steal sunlight from your other edible plants. Almond and hazelnut are slightly smaller and can be inter-planted with the shrubs and seasonal edibles.

       Plants for Your Region

      Important note: As you’ve seen, I have been using my North Carolina foodscape as a template and I have mentioned a few of my favorite ornamental plants – some of which may not do as well in other parts of North America. And there are lots of plants that I can’t grow successfully that do beautifully elsewhere. If you’d like some plant selection advice for your area, please visit the extensive plant-list section at the back of the book, “Ornamentals for Every Region.” It can help give you some inspiration in designing your foodscape framework.

       Planting the Ornamental Framework: Trees and Shrubs

      The next chapter will focus mostly on planting the seasonal edibles, and the techniques and issues specific to them. But first, here’s your crash course on planting trees and shrubs.

       Prepare the Soil

      Whenever you’re about to embark on a big gardening project, it’s a good idea to have your soil tested. That way, you’ll know exactly what you’re working with. What’s in the soil (or not in the soil), in addition to the soil pH and structure, has a huge impact on plant health. If you do end up needing to make some adjustments to the soil, better to do that as you’re planning.

      To test your soil, download the necessary instructions and forms from your local Cooperative Extension office. Extension services originate from land grant universities such as Purdue University (my alma matter) or NC State, near my house. They have offices throughout each state, regardless of where the “mothership” university is. You can look up information about soil testing and download forms from the website for your state’s extension agency. All you’ll have to do is mail in or drop off the soil sample. You’ll get a report via mail or email.

       Interpreting a Soil Test

      The soil test will give you some specific information to act upon. Test results will tell you about certain qualities of the soil, including:

      • Soil pH

      • Soil class (mineral, mineral organic, organic)

      • Humic matter percentage

      • CEC (Cation Exchange Capacity)

      • Macro nutrients: levels of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K).

      • Micro nutrients: including, but not limited to, levels of magnesium, copper, sulfur and calcium

      These numbers, and the way the soil characteristics they indicate interact, will lead to the more important (for gardeners) parts of the soil test, which are the lime and fertilizer recommendations compiled from an analysis of the data contained in the soil test.

      These recommendations will be listed in pounds per 1,000 square feet of surface area. Multiply the length times the width of the garden area to see how many square feet you need to cover. Doing this will help you determine how much lime or fertilizer to purchase.

      You may read here and there that if your soil has a low pH, you should add lime, and if your soil has a high pH, you should add sulfur, but the pH number itself doesn’t tell the whole story. It also doesn’t give you specific information about what to add and how much, which is why the recommendations in the soil test are important.

      I don’t want you to freak out, though. If you were planning on gardening without much math, you can – for the most part. If you start noticing weirdly-colored leaves or plants that aren’t producing fruit, it is possible that the problem is in the soil and it’s something that can be corrected with the right information. So, why not start with the right information and try to head off a few issues before they appear?

      Once you have the soil test results, you can prepare the soil. I recommend starting by adding compost to the top of all beds where you’ll be growing edibles. Spread compost to a depth of 4-6 inches. Here’s where you have to do more math (sorry!).

      To figure out how much compost to buy, multiply the length of the bed (in feet) by the width of the bed (in feet). If you have a 4×10 bed, that’s 40 square feet. Compost and mulch is, however, sold in cubic yards. To calculate the number of yards you need, follow this formula: multiply bed square feet × inches of compost depth × 0.0031. This will give you the number of cubic yards needed. For example, for 5 inches of mulch, you would need .62 cubic yards (that’s 40 square feet times 5 inches times 0.0031).

      You do not have to till or dig the compost into the planting bed. The earthworms will take care of incorporating it. If you’re planting closer to the street in foodscape Zone 3 (see page 22 and next page), you can mulch just around the plants, instead of spreading it across the entire bed.

      If

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