How, When and Why of Forest Farming

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Unit 2: Site Assessment and System Design.

Objectives: This unit will provide an overview of the process of laying the foundation for a forest farming enterprise. By the close of the unit, you will:

be able to diagnose the capacity of your land for ginseng and goldenseal cultivation with the help of the Ginseng Visual Site Assessment
recognize indicator species of "good land" for growing forest crops
be familiar with the tools of forest farming development
be able to develop a plan for your own land

Required reading:

Selections from "A guide to Agroforestry in BC":

Chapter 2 - Shade Systems: Shade Agroforests and Forest Farming
Chapter 7 - Getting Started
Chapter 8 - Planning Your Agroforestry Development
Chapter 9 - Site Assessment
Chapter 10 - Completing a Non-timber Forest Crop Inventory
Chapter 13 - Agroforestry System Design and Management (just the shade systems portion)
Chapter 14 - Building an Agroforestry Development Plan

Also be familiar with these tools::

The Agroforestry Workplan
Appendix 1- Glossary
Appendix 3- Mapping
Appendix 5- Inventory Information

Links:

Planning Agroforesty Practices - Agroforestry Notes #20 published by Agroforestry.net

Agroforestry Learning Communities in the Northeast - Ginseng Visual Site Assessment Criteria

Start Small… and expand on successes - The Overstory #5
published by Agroforestry.net

Designing Resource Systems - The Overstory #18
published by Agroforestry.net

Unit 1
Introduction

Unit 2
Site Design

Unit 3
Ginseng and Goldenseal

Unit 4
Mushrooms

Unit 5
Maple

Unit 6
Marketing