The Vadnais Heights Green Team is thrilled to announce the Native Plant Food Forest grand opening. This new community garden not only provides food to local residents, but also encourages community members to learn about healthy landscaping practices that support the ecosystem. Email us at vhgreenteam@gmail.com if you’d like to be a volunteer to help maintain and harvest the Food Forest.

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A food forest is based on an agricultural practice of mimicking the structure of a natural forest. It consists of a canopy of fruit and nut trees, an understory of fruit-bearing shrubs, a herbaceous layer of herbs and other edibles, and finally ground covers and root edibles. This layering of species creates the biodiversity needed to ensure resilience against pests and disease. It also builds soil fertility and supports wildlife including pollinators, birds and beneficial insects. Applying permaculture principles creates a self-sustaining garden requiring less maintenance than traditional gardens.

We designed our food forest to be composed of only native plants (i.e., plants native to our region in Minnesota). Providing sources of native plants is important because these plants have developed a survival relationship with our native insects, birds and wildlife over thousands of years. Plants provide wildlife with the exact habitat and nutrients they need, when they need it, to survive and thrive. In return, wildlife pollinates, spreads seeds, and fertilizes next year’s plant growth. 

Learn more about the Native Plant Food Forest on our website, or come to our Native Plant Food Forest Grand Opening! Check it out on August 15th at 10:30 AM. Use the resources on our website to learn how you could establish a Food Forest in your own yard!