Miyawaki Experiment #4 — The Biggest Mini Forest

In collaboration with the Biggest Mini Forest project — for which the Orchard of Flavours’ founder, Miguel COTTON, is an advisor —, we put together the smallest, most dense Food Forest experimental plots yet. The idea is to progressively add new 4m² squares, building on acquired learnings.

jump to —> Concept — Experiment #4 specifics — Experiment #4.1 specifics — Expected results — Data Monitored — Species List — Other Experiments

The benefits of a Food Forest

All our Miyawaki-inspired Food Forest experiments are focused on growing fruit trees and other edible plants, while strongly contributing to improve their surrounding environment.

They offer a number of advantages over traditional gardens, including high productivity, low maintenance, water conservation, soil erosion reduction, wildlife habitat provision and resilience against drought or powerful winds. In addition, Food Forests can be educational and aesthetically pleasing.

Putting the Miyawaki method to practice

We’re doing this by mimicking a natural forest environment:

• Enriching the existing soil 🪱🍄

• Designing a multi-layered forest 🌳🌿

• Planting very densely and at the same time 🌱🌱🌱

• Caring for and protecting all the baby trees 💧🪺

Food Forest Experiment #4 - The Biggest Mini Forest (TBMF)

• This Food Forest Experiment follows the exciting approach developed by the Biggest Mini Forest team, who implemented it together with us at the Orchard

• The approach is a simplified design that allows people to implement their own Mini Food Forest with as few obstacles as possible, by keeping it small (or ‘Mini’) and using fewer resources than a bigger project would

• Its tiny scale (4m² plots : 2m x 2m), not only brings down the maintenance needs, but also allows the growers to learn from their previous tries, applying the newly-gained knowledge and experience (as well as genetic material, like seeds) to new tiny expansion plots later on, slowly growing that Mini Forest into a Big Forest

• This is why it’s called the ‘Biggest Mini Forest’ — it’s basically an “Expand-at-your-own-pace” system of planting a Food Forest! Their motto is Start Mini, Go Big — you can learn more on their website

We decided to make a two-square experiment first (Experiment #4) , and then one month later we expanded it with a third plot (Experiment #4.1 — more about that in a minute)

Experiment #4 — The specifics:

• Planting date: August 2023

• Area: 4m² + 4m² (2 Mini Forests)

• Number of species: 25 *

• Total of plants: 25 (each Mini Forest)

• Planting density (of perennials seedlings): ~6/m²

  * —> in addition to the usual seedlings of perennial plants, this TBMF experiment also includes the following, in significant quantities:

  • perennials by seed and cuttings (9 and 6 additional plant species, respectively)

  • annuals by seed and cuttings (12 and 1 plant species, respectively)

• Experiment #4 consists of Mini Forest 1 and Mini Forest 2. In each of these — and according to the TBMF approach (see diagram) — we evenly distributed the seedlings of perennial species belonging to each forest layer, namely ‘canopy’, ‘understory’ and ‘shrub’, making sure each was equally represented in each quadrant. This will ensure a diversity of plant size in each corner of each Mini Forest

• Surrounding each Mini Forest, we planted a 70-cm wide border with edible annual plants (13 species, using both seeds and cuttings). The idea is to take advantage of the fertility brought by the initial soil preparation and so, to harvest some early crops from the area, while also providing the Mini Forest seedlings with extra protection against wind and strong sunshine

• Specifically on Mini Forest 2, we also added numerous cuttings and seeds belonging to quite a few (15) additional perennial species, as a cheap and fast way of increasing (even more!) the density and biodiversity

Experiment #4.1 — The specifics:

• Planting date: September 2023

• Area: 4m² (1 Mini Forest)

• Number of species: 36

• Total of plants: 3 to 4 cuttings per species; several seeds per species

• Target plant density: 9/m² (depends on rooting and germination success rates)

• This specific Mini Forest was created to test how we can create a Food Forest using just species propagated by seeds and cuttings. These were directly inserted in the plantation area, without prior development in pots or trays

The expected results:

• The fastest growth rate compared to other designs of Food Forest (due to higher density)

• Fast growth and protective effect by annual plants in first 6 months

• Early food production from annual plants

• More biomass production, allowing more and earlier chop-and-drop

• Faster nutrient cycling (helping faster growth)

Data monitored:

• Plant height

• Trunk diameter at 20% of the total height

• Food production

• Average water usage

• Plant survival rate

• Pests & diseases

Remember that you can find out more about the Biggest Mini Forest project by visiting their official website.

Make sure to check our main article on Miyawaki-inspired Food Forests, where we explain the whole concept and how we’re putting it in action at the Orchard of Flavours site. Also, don’t forget to compare this Experiment #4 with all the others already growing:

• Miyawaki Experiment #1: Wild Food Forest

• Miyawaki Experiment #2: Organized Food Forest

• Miyawaki Experiment #3: Semi-organized Food Forest

Perennial species in these Mini Food Forests (1, 2 and 3)

Numbers on the list do not correspond to the diagrams shown earlier on the article

1. Aloysia citrodora — lemon beebrush

2. Annona montana — mountain soursop

3. Annona cherimola — cherimoya

4. Arbutus unedo — strawberry fruit tree

5. Bauhinia variegata — orchid tree

6. Cajanus cajan — pigeon pea

7. Carica papaya — papaya

8. Celtis australis — Mediterranean hackberry

9. Cinnamomum verum — true cinnamon tree

10. Cymbopogon citratus — lemongrass

11. Debregeasia edulis — yanagi ichigo

12. Diospyros digyna — black sapote

13. Eugenia uniflora — Surinam cherry

14. Fraxinus excelsior — European ash

15. Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus — lemon lily

16. Hovenia dulcis — Japanese raisin tree

17. Inga edulis — ice cream bean

18. Litchi chinensis “Kway May Pink” — lychee

19. Malus communis "Almata" — apple

20. Moringa oleifera — moringa

21. Morus alba (different varieties) — white mulberry

22. Myrtus communis — common myrtle

23. Phyllanthus emblica — Indian gooseberry

24. Pistacia terebinthus — terebinth

25. Plectranthus ornatus — Chinese boldo

26. Prunus armeniaca — apricot

27. Psidium guineense — Brazilian guava

28. Punica granatum (different varieties) — pomegranate

29. Salvia officinalis — common sage

30. Salvia officinalis purpurea — purple sage

31. Sesbania grandiflora — vegetable hummingbird

32. Solanum betaceum — tree tomato

33. Stevia rebaudiana — candyleaf

34. Syzygium cumini — Java plum

35. Syzygium jambos — rose apple

36. Tabernaemontana elegans — toad tree

37. Tamarindus indica — tamarind

38. Thymus vulgaris — common thyme

39. Tulbaghia violacea — society garlic

This article was compiled by Miguel COTTON, Luís AFONSO & Miguel PEREIRA. If you have any questions or suggestions, do not hesitate to contact us. Please write us anytime at miguel@orchardofflavours.com.