The American Persimmon (diospyros virginiana) is among the likely candidates as part of a community food forest. (photo/Chris Rice)
The Quad City Food Forest has scheduled an awesome lineup of entertainment for its fundraiser, coming April 18, 2015.
The event will raise money for plants and supplies for The Blackhawk Gardens Community Food Forest in Davenport, Iowa.
Food, drawings, an auction, plant sales, massages, and more are all part of the fun in this community effort.
A food forest is a gardening technique or land management system that mimics a woodland ecosystem by substituting edible trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals. Fruit and nut trees make up the upper level while berry shrubs, edible perennials and annuals make up the lower levels. Unlike other farming and gardening systems, food forests are designed to require minimal maintenance and allow for continuous food production, while also providing habitats for wildlife and rehabilitating the natural environment.
Here is more from the Quad City Food Forest about the event, including the musical lineup:
Time: 5:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.
Saturday, April 18 2015
Place: Fraternal Order of Eagles (F.O.E.)
4401 W. Locust Street
Davenport, Iowa
Entertainment will be provided by the following musical acts:
Earth Ascending
The Tritones
MRG
Justin Morrissey
Obie Bishop
Karl Beatty
Esme Haferbier
Zodizac
For more information or to donate items or services for the drawings and auction please email: QC.EdibleLandscape@
Check out the Quad City Food Forest on Facebook at fb.com/QC.FoodForest
MISSION:
At the Quad City Food Forest, our mission is to design, grow, and maintain an edible food forest that will produce healthy food for the community, foster education and support the environment.
To achieve this mission, we have determined five goals we wish to accomplish:
1) To improve the quality of life in the Quad Cities
2) To provide an opportunity for the community to grow together
3) To educate the public about native foods and plants
4) To provide an unrestricted source of healthy local food
5) To support the native ecosystem
WHY?
At the Quad City Food Forest, we are dedicated to educating people about native fruit and nut bearing trees, as well as native shrubs, while also helping end food insecurity. The food forest will be free and open to the public, where individuals and families can receive free food. But, for us, the food forest is about much more than just food; it is a way for our community to grow together and build wild landscapes within city limits, while educating the next generation about their food system. Food forests will be a place to receive free food, a place for the community and friends to gather together, and an educational place for all ages, while working to end hunger in the Quad Cities.
7 LAYERS OF A FOOD FOREST
1. Canopy (large fruit & nut trees – pecan, american persimmon)
2. Understory trees (pawpaw)
3. Shrub Layer (gooseberry, serviceberry, raspberry, blackberry)
4. Herbaceous Layer
5. Root Crops
6. Soil Surface (ground cover crops, mayapple)
7. Vertical Layer (climbers, vines)
8. Fungi (mushrooms)
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FOOD FORESTS ARE AN ANCIENT PRACTICE of indigenous cultures around the world. In the midwest early explorers found oak hickory forests that had been maintained by periodic burning to give an advantage
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QUALITY OF LIFE
1. Provide nutritious and healthy food
2. Teach our children where food comes from
3. Build a sense of community and a sense of purpose
4. An example for the community
5. A place to collect seeds and plants for home projects
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SECTIONS:
1. natives
2. represent all perennial edible landscape plants suitable to our environment while ruling out any plants that are known to be invasive
3. orchard
4. vineyard
5. community gardens with vegetables
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