Hampton volunteers, high school students building food forest

A group of students and community volunteers in Hampton are turning an unused strip of land between two sports fields into a food forest.

"We're hoping to integrate this with the life of the students at Hampton High School," said Chris Rendell, a volunteer with the project.

So far they've planted apple, cherry, plum, pear and hazelnut trees, as well as blueberry and haskap bushes.

Just one more section of fence has to be installed to complete this year's work and keep the deer out.

Next year, they'll start planting a garden.

"We're looking for opportunities to bring students out into the garden throughout the school year," said Rendell. "And looking for ways to make sure everything that's produced in the garden is consumed by the students."

Grade 12 student Abigail Middleton said it's been exciting to work on a project that brings together students and members of the broader community.

She was surprised to learn some of the things they planted could be grown locally.

The concept of permaculture was entirely new to her.

"How that will be making its own little ecosystem is something that I never really thought of or heard before," she said.

The food forest was designed by Phil Savage, who has some training and experience with landscaping and sustainable farming. 

Savage, his brother Nathan and sister Adrienne operate Savage Gardens, growing market garden vegetables on the Kingston Peninsula.

"If you just go and grab anything and throw it in a forest garden you may not ever get good fruit on the tree," said Savage.

The Hampton High forest garden has several hybrid hazelnut trees that are expected to grow to no more than about 12 feet (about 3.6 metres) in height. That makes them well suited to the relatively small plot of land, said Savage. It's less than a quarter of an acre.

This particular hazelnut species has also been bred to produce larger nuts and be more resistant to local mites. 

Savage expects a tasty and nutritious harvest within five or six years.

A hybrid plum tree that's resistant to black knot and some hardy apple varieties will also help make the garden as resilient and low-maintenance as possible. That means it shouldn't require tree removal or chemical applications.

"You might be able to buy a sensitive tree at a big box store ... maybe you bring it home here and it's not going to survive."

Varieties were also chosen based on their blooming times — to ensure pollination — and for what they contribute under the soil. 

Some boost nitrogen with bacteria that live on their roots, said Savage, such as sea buckthorn or Russian olive.

Meanwhile, trees that drop their leaves help build up a stable, mulched soil so underground fungal networks can thrive.

"They all become interconnected through these webs of soil fungus, which is a big part of a healthy forest system."

Savage said what he loves about permaculture is that it produces perennial crops in a sustainable, self-sufficient way, that's very friendly to pollinators.

"It creates more harmony for the natural world versus large-scale conventional agriculture which is mono-cropping massive stretches."

When it's mature, the food forest will look a bit like an orchard, he said, but without the "soldier-rows" of trees and with more diversity.

"I suspect that over time as it's established and the trees are producing fruit and nuts, it'll build up and a nice following of guardians and folks who just want to come out and enjoy it and learn from the space, too."