The design phase always starts with the buildings, because they are often already present, but also because there are legal provisions regarding where new buildings may or may not be located. First discuss your plans with a (local) architect before you go to an official, so you run less risk of them rejecting your project.

Privacy in your food forest

When designing, we always place the buildings together as much as possible. This is how you prevent disorder, unity and structure are important here! If your food forest has a public and/or social character, such as holiday rentals, working with volunteers via Workaway or WOOFING or a freely accessible picking garden, then it is important to think about privacy. No matter how social we are as humans, we also need the opportunity to retreat to a safe place where no one will disturb us. In such projects with a public character, it is desirable to keep the public part friendly separated from the private part. So if you want to spread buildings across your terrain for this or any other reason, try to work in clusters or units as much as possible.

Guarding your boundaries in your food forest

Most food foragers we know are idealists, which we think is great, because we are idealists too! But what happens when the person responsible for the entire project experiences burnout? How do you ensure that your idealism does not fade away? By guarding your boundaries. We know several people who chose to fully open up to a community where there is little to no separation between public and private space. Some of them have withdrawn due to serious disappointments and now guard their privacy more than ever.

A resting place in your food forest

Most people need a place where they can relax completely undisturbed. A place where you can walk around naked, so to speak, and scream loudly without anyone being able to see or hear it. If you want to 'live together' in a group based on idealism, having your own place is all the more important. Being able to relax alone for a while gives you the energy to live in a group. So always design with an eye for sufficient privacy for yourself.

Vernacular architecture or folk architecture

With food forests we farm firmly ecologically. Let us try to extend the line to the buildings. An important question you should always ask yourself is: how long should this building last? A permanent residence should preferably last more than a few decades, so be sure to contact an architect for this. Today there are many architects who specialize in ecological construction and renovation.

A yurt or glamping tent in your food forest

A yurt and a glamping tent are fantastic inventions, but wonder how you want to use them. Do you live temporarily in a yurt during renovations or do you rent out some glamping tents and teepees on your domain as extra income? A yurt will last about fifteen years if you take good care of it. Setting up and dismantling is quite a job and the cost is not bad either. Glamping tents are very easy to set up and dismantle, are many times cheaper, but have much less insulation, which makes them actually suitable for the hottest months. . They also don't last as long. A wooden floor for both is useful. Do you like to dream about 'back to basic' living in a glamping tent? Then surf to: www.foresttoplate.com . (Use commensalist as a discount code to get a 5% discount).

Build naturally

Do you want to get started yourself? Good plan! Be sure to look for examples of vernacular architecture. These are structures that were not built by architects. Look at how cultures used to work with local building materials. Today 'Natural Building' is a hot item. Building with straw, clay and wood is back in fashion, so you will find many books, websites and Facebook groups about this where you can gain knowledge and inspiration. Not enough yet? Look for workshops where you can literally help build an ecological house or building. This way you will gain a lot of experience and you will start your own project much more resilient.

Would you like to learn more about food forest design? Then read 'Design your own food forest' by Commensalist founder Louis De Jaeger or book a no-obligation phone call with one of our Commensalists.