Growing your own food is one thing. Growing a self-sustaining ecosystem that feeds you, your family, and the wildlife around you — that’s something else entirely.

A food forest is one of the most rewarding things you can put on your property. It’s also one of the most misunderstood. Adam Bigelow is here to change that.

This class covers the fundamentals of food forest design from the ground up — how to think about your land, choose the right plants for our mountain climate, and layer everything together so nature does most of the work for you.

What You’ll Cover:

Site Selection: How to read your property (sun, slope, soil, and drainage) and identify where a food forest will actually thrive
Plant Selection: Which fruit trees, shrubs, and ground covers perform at our elevation and in our acidic Appalachian soils
Companion Planting: How to pair plants strategically so they support each other’s growth, deter pests, and build soil health over time
Layering Your Forest: Understanding the canopy, understory, shrub, and ground layers and how to stack them for maximum yield and minimum maintenance
Ecosystem Benefits: How a well-designed food forest supports native pollinators, improves water retention, and gives back to the landscape around it
Maintenance Without the Misery: What ongoing care actually looks like once your food forest is established
Class is held on our grounds with plenty of time for questions, conversation, and the kind of tangents that only happen when someone genuinely loves what they’re teaching.