The workshop last Saturday saw a great bunch of people planting two of potentially seven native food forest guilds. These types of guilds ideally have seven layers, from very tall trees to smaller trees, shrubs, ground cover and root plants. The two guilds we made have a sandpaper fig and a macadamia tree as their highest storey. At first the chosen part of the site was covered in thick grass, that needed to be cleared, so it doesn’t compete too much with the new plants. The guilds were positioned by the gully so they can benefit from the nearby moisture.
Then everyone got stuck into it, digging, ripping, putting seedlings into holes and watering.
The wood chip mulch went on, nice and thick. The wood chips will encourage beneficial fungal growth in the soil.
And finally a lot of water was carried to water once again. Job well done!
We also trimmed back some of the beautiful tree. The idea is provide a little shady spot for the Gympie community to sit and relax and enjoy the edible forest.