forest farming

[forgeblast]

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/225243-shiitake-growing-logs.html
the shitake thread has helped me realize that there is a lot of property that I can use to farm, even if it is covered by forest.

The main forest farming things that I have been reading up on are
1. gensing
2. medicinal products/plants, Bloodroot, Cohosh, Goldenseal
3. botanicals
4. paw-paws
5. truffles with hazlenut inoculated trees
6. firewood
7. sryups/essential oils

Just wondering if anyone here did any forest farming, and if there was anything that you found helpful when preparing/planting.

My plan will be to put in some exclusion fencing in the spring (jackleg fence using the wood on our property) and plant some gensing seed ( i have some stratified seed), and then work on possibly pulling out some firewood(need to build a log arch), put in some food plots, and look at ordering planting some medicial herbs, paw-paws, and I think I am going to try the truffles. I have a great spot for them and wanted to plant hazlenuts there anyway.
The deer, and rodents (both 4 and 2 legged) will be my biggest concern with the gensing but it will be a few years before that will be an issue. Another reason for doing the plantings is that if a gas well is placed on my property and it goes into an area that is planted I can recieve $ for the loss of the crop.


some sites that i found were
Woods in Your Backyard

Non Timber Forest Products — Botanicals — Penn State Extension

Non-Timber Forest Products - Medicinal Products

Medicinal Herbs for Commerce Project- North Carolina

Discovering Profits in Unlikely Places: Agroforestry Opportunities for Added Income

How, When and Why of Forest Farming - Home

Income Opportunities in Special Forest Products--Self-Help Suggestions for Rural Entrepreneurs

 

[AlanB]

You may already be familiar, but if you use the word permaculture in your searches you will find quite a lot.

One site I like a lot is Survival Podcast

He does a lot of work in the area's you are looking at (and I am trying as well for many of the same reasons you listed)

 

[forgeblast]

Thanks for that site I will check them out.
There seems to be some money to be made in forest farming, its not all immediate takes a few years but I think with the list that I came up with I may have a good diversified crop.
I took a look at $ to start, time involved in starting it up and how hard is the work (can I do it myself), along with potential profit.
I just dont want to put all my eggs in one basket, and I dont want to do something that I cant involve my daughter in.

 

[Short Game]

In my opinion, permaculture is about the only chance we have at sustaining our species on this limited planet.