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Diversification - /dəˌvərsəfəˈkāSH(ə)n/ - noun

August 14th, 2019

Definition: The practice of planting a variety of species on a plot of land to ensure maximum resiliency and return.

In the Forest Garden: Diversification is the second phase of the Forest Garden Approach where farmers will begin to plant higher-value vegetables, fruit, nut, and timber trees. They will also learn increasingly advanced skills and techniques that will help them manage their Forest Gardens more effectively and sustainably. Early on in the diversification segment, farmers learn to plant permagardens and fill them with diverse, nutritious vegetables. They will then learn to plant various fruit, nut, and timber trees as they proceed through the project in years two and three. 

Through training events and follow-up support, farmers’ Forest Garden knowledge and experience will increase gradually as they learn, practice, then adopt new and more advanced techniques and concepts. Generally, farmers will have participated in all of the relevant diversification phase training events and adopted the practices they learned to date. The approach then transitions to Phase III: Optimization.

Learn more about the diversification phase in Module 2 of the Forest Garden Training Manual.