Step-by-Step FOOD FOREST DESIGN for a Tiny House: NZ / 2023

In this video I'll break down the entire design process of a recently installed Food Forest for a Tiny House, offering valuable insights and practical tips that you can apply to your own permaculture or food forest projects.
For more, follow
@byron.grows & @backyard.paradise.permaculture on IG
and @big.hippy.life and @consciously.emma to watch their journey unfold...
Section List:
Site Context: Discover the unique features and challenges of the site, exploring how we leverage its natural elements to maximize the Food Forest's potential.
Permaculture Zones: Gain a deeper understanding of the concept of zones and witness how we strategically organize our design to optimize efficiency and productivity.
Solar Aspect: Uncover the secrets of harnessing solar energy for the benefit of your Food Forest, ensuring proper sunlight exposure and warmth for your plants.
Wind: Learn how we utilize wind patterns to our advantage, creating windbreaks and designing microclimates within the Food Forest.
Stacking Design Patterns: Explore the art of stacking functions and elements within the Food Forest, maximizing space utilization and promoting a harmonious ecosystem.
Planting Patterns: Delve into the intricacies of planting patterns, as we carefully select and arrange plants to create a diverse and resilient Food Forest ecosystem.
Access Paths: Follow our footsteps as we demonstrate the importance of designing efficient and accessible paths throughout the Food Forest, making maintenance and harvesting a breeze.
Fast-Growing Shelter: Discover our secret to establishing fast-growing shelter for your Food Forest, creating protection and privacy while ensuring rapid growth and establishment.
Sun Traps: Witness the creation of sun traps within the Food Forest, optimizing warmth and light distribution to support the growth of various plant species.
Working on-Contour: Learn the art of designing on-contour, utilizing the natural shape of the land to capture and retain water, organic material & nutrients within the Food Forest.
Rainwater Overflow: Utliize rainwater overflow within the Food Forest, minimizing waste and maximizing water utilization.
Permaculture Design Overview: Gain a comprehensive overview of the principles we've applied in this unique context.
Chop + Drop Edges: Incorporate edges of particular chop & drop species along the access paths to promote easy management of the building fertility and soil health (syntropic agroforestry)
Scale and Efficiency: Discover how we optimize scale and efficiency within the Food Forest, ensuring a bountiful harvest and minimal maintenance requirements.
Species Selection: Delve into the thought process behind species selection, as we carefully curate a diverse range of plants that thrive in the New Zealand climate.
Phase 2: Spring Intervention: Experience the transformation from a blank slate to a completed design, as we illustrate the importance of ongoing care and intervention in the spring season.
Join us on this educational and inspiring journey, as we explore the patterns of designing and establishing a Food Forest using permaculture & syntropic agroforestry principles. Whether you're a passionate permaculturist or simply intrigued by sustainable living, this video is a must-watch for anyone seeking to create a thriving ecosystem that harmoniously integrates with a Tiny House lifestyle.
Subscribe & enjoy this enlightening adventure to unlock the secrets if designing your very own Food Forest

[@MrMarako]

Thanks a lot for taking the time to explain the key principles without unnecessary fluf and in such detail so it makes it easy to follow your thought process and decision making. thats its extremely helpful to form my own mental models for work on my own land. You earned a new subscriber! Keep it up 🙌🏼

[@SMTairua]

Thank you for your contents as I'm starting my own food forest and your giving us gold nuggets of information. Thank you ❤

[@smoothbrain8519]

Such dense info, amazing transferable concepts even for us in colder climates, thank you for sharing your process

[@byron.in.new.zealand]

Glad it was helpful!

[@EverettSmithLoveisAll]

Thoroughly enjoyed this video and got a lot of good info...gracias!

[@ceciliagaribay8328]

Wow, thanks amazing to see it ❤

[@lisacliffe9792]

Thank you, I'm in Rotorua which is also in the BOP. I have a section on lawn about 6mtrsx6mtrs ish (need to measure), that I'm going to make into my own little food forest. it's flat so I'm going to build up some beds a little making shallow swales. I know exactly what I'd like to grow but its really difficult to decide what to put where so it will flourish. You make it all look so easy. I'm going to now go away and look at the initial things like where is North and south for the winds. I guess I have some big choices of straight or curved beds. so thank you for the starting points.

[@senseuall]

Awesome watch! Learnt so much in such a short video love the way you deliver information straight to the point and super organized easy to flow with. Currently planting small backyard orchard in the North so alot of points to incorporate and consider for my own situation. Can't wait to see next progress videos!

[@byron.in.new.zealand]

Thanks for the kind words! Glad it was helpful - if you ever need any help don’t hesitate to get in touch or check out the website (backyardparadise.co.nz) 👍

[@caz6152]

The visual drawing as you are explaining is much more helpful for learning and transferring information, I learned and refined my understanding a lot from this video thankyou

[@thecraigcliff]

Really great. Would be interesting to see what the approach would be in a colder climate like coastal Otago

[@byron.in.new.zealand]

Thanks! Would love to organise a project down there

[@johnowens5342]

I live in NC USA. We are in USDA zone 7B to 8. I grow multiple cultivars of: Japanese persimmons, peaches, cherries, asian Asian pears, apples, hazelnuts, figs, Paw Paws, grapes, kiwi, chestnuts, mammoth Hickory nuts, and pecans. We also do 2 annual gardens. We have wooded, silvo pasture, and pond ecosystems. We have geese, goats and chickens. We do all this on about 3 acres or 1.5 hectors.

[@SerRegenera]

Bro thanks for this beautiful video, Epic design process🕺🏽🕺🏽🕺🏽🕺🏽 Would be Epic to see how it develops

[@byron.in.new.zealand]

Happy to see you here! Glad it was helpful - Excited for the 12 month update 😎🌳🌳

[@same1106]

Just remember folks, if you're in the Northern Hemisphere you want South facing exposure for maximum sun, not the North like there in the southern hemisphere

[@jeshunajeshuna]

Amazing Dude

[@byron.in.new.zealand]

Thanks 🔥

[@arronharvie6179]

Love this vid Byron, have so many dreams to make into reality from this, love the detail and passion.

[@byron.in.new.zealand]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@JackPitmanNica]

Thanks for showing your process; awesome inspiring stuff

[@igorganti]

Amazing, I see many videos here in Brazil but this is the first to talk about the species in agroforest desing! Great Job Byron.

[@Navunievu2kid]

Thank you very much! You’ve given me a blueprint of where I can begin my journey. I’ll be starting my foray into agroforestry/permaculture soon in a tropical island so this will help me figure out a plan.😊

[@akleshamorrison9475]

Wicked video bro! You covered everything I wanted to know. Thanks for sharing 👍

[@byron.in.new.zealand]

Glad it was helpful!

[@akis1544]

this is epic info dense, easy to understand, and inspiring

[@Redus1111]

I needed this!

[@chriswong8659]

Nice. What drawing program you used?

[@brianbarnicle8052]

Great video, I have been loving all your stuff. Camera 2 on manual focus next time ;)

[@byron.in.new.zealand]

Noted! Glad you’re enjoying things

[@agn855]

Paulownia trees are growing 2-4m a year. So if shading is of interest go for them, after some time fell them to get free lumber, and it will growing from the remaining stock.

[@raddasra7084]

thank you very much, very cool video!

[@tomostojanovic1172]

great info

[@varalta.floresta]

excellent

[@tanjowil9743]

Loved it, very helpful.

[@byron.in.new.zealand]

Glad it was helpful!

[@clairestokes4119]

Would like to hear more about mitigation for flood risk? And how climate change may affect conditions in the bio region for this property!

[@byron.in.new.zealand]

That’ll be covered when we expand into the riparian area of the design. Mitigating flood risk is a big one here

[@clairestokes4119]

@@byron.in.new.zealand great! I'll be following along. Thanks!

[@subtropical_greg]

Loved the video:) More of these please! Greetings from San Diego zone10b

[@byron.in.new.zealand]

Glad you loved it! More will certainly be on the table 🤝

[@sunandgrapes]

Do annuals eventually phase out completely as the system matures? I am learning and interested in implementing a forest system, but was wondering if there was a way to be able to plant my favorite annuals (carrots, beans, certain tomatoes, etc.) year after year, without negatively impacting the system or the annuals themselves being negatively impacted by the system. This video was really helpful by the way!

[@byron.in.new.zealand]

Thanks! Always depends on how you set the system up - Easy to set up “permanent annual crop areas” with more widely spaced rows to allow for enough sunlight. Or a sun trap setup. Lots of options, along with transitioning more and more towards a perennial diet

[@leivajd]

Thanks for the video! Can you share the name of the banana, please? I live in Costa Rica and want to see if we have something similar here

[@jimmybowens]

This is so great. Thanks for sharing this plan. Where do you source Bana Grass from? We live North of Auckland and I can’t find anyone selling it.

[@byron.in.new.zealand]

Email me [e-mail]

[@Syaraan]

Really great video. What app are you using to draw on the photos please?

[@byron.in.new.zealand]

Procreate

[@Max-vg8mg]

Thanks for the video Just what i was looking for. What is the software called? Cheers

[@byron.in.new.zealand]

Glad it helped. Procreate

[@acasas28]

What water setup did you do for each zone/area?

[@tobi6011]

Hey, Igot a question that bothers me for some time now. I would like to start planning for a future garden/forest, but I am from Germany. So most videos and Data I can find is more suited for subtropical regions. Can someone please give me some hints or tipps on where to find more information about species for temperate climates?

[@NathanielKenaston]

I mean basically all the fruit trees and berries that might grow in your local area is great. For the chop and drop/support trees you can just do some research on nitrogen fixing trees local to you

[@4evermetalhead79]

👋

[@byron.in.new.zealand]

🤝

[@ahmadzeb3597]

Which software or app you used for designing.?

[@JanesVoiceVibes]

Gratitude for this video. Is it possible for me to get a copy of that computer file from you, so that I can have the different color lists printed out in front of me?

[@byron.in.new.zealand]

Email [e-mail]

[@Joseph-yc6qb]

So does mexican sunflower handle frost? I'm after some more bio mass plants. I live down in Tasmania and get frosts down to -3c

[@byron.in.new.zealand]

That’s just on the border if it’s tolerance I’d imagine. Worth giving it a try, knowing that a certain percentage of them will get roasted. I had around 20% come back after the first year with temps around that

[@nzlaoliu]

Hi Byron, where can I buy Samoan Jumbo Bananas and Bananas? Can I buy from you? I am in Auckland.

[@maxwellbarrett]

Bay trees are soo horrifically invasive! Are you remaining conscious of our vulnerable endemic ecosystem when you're putting these in?

[@byron.in.new.zealand]

Sounds like we have very different opinions about the idea and practical application of “invasive” species