Edible food forests – gourmet eateries of the future?

Edible food forests – gourmet eateries of the future Earth-Based Living For The Future:
Picture yourself in a forest where almost everything around you is food….Mature and maturing fruit and nut trees form an open canopy. If you look carefully, you can see fruits swelling on many branches—pears, apples, persimmons, pecans, and chestnuts. Shrubs fill the gaps in the canopy. They bear raspberries, blueberries, currants, hazelnuts, and other lesser-known fruits, flowers, and nuts at different times of the year.
Assorted native wildflowers, wild edibles, herbs, and perennial vegetables thickly cover the ground. You use many of these plants for food or medicine. Some attract beneficial insects, birds, and butterflies. Others act as soil builders, or simply help keep out weeds. Here and there vines climb on trees, shrubs, or arbors with fruit hanging through the foliage—hardy kiwis, grapes, and passionflower fruits.

MAPLE SYRUP IN THE CITY - Tapping Our Urban Bounty!; Maplewood, Toronto, Canada

MAPLE SYRUP IN THE CITY - Tapping Our Urban Bounty! Aviva Community Fund:
Imagine a community where residents are connected to the environment around them, to each other, and to their food system. Imagine a community that operates on a “one-mile diet,” going beyond the 100-mile diet. Now imagine this in winter, when the maple trees that dot the city streets are magically awakened to produce sweet syrup for all to enjoy!
Yes, you know you want it to happen: MAPLE SYRUP IN THE CITY! Many city-dwellers (children and adults alike) rarely get the oh-so-Canadian experience of going to a maple syrup bush, so we thought we'd bring the sugar bush to them!

In Galveston, dead trees see new life as art; Galveston, TX

In Galveston, dead trees see new life as art Houston & Texas News Chron.com - Houston Chronicle:
GALVESTON — The Dalmatian sitting outside the Galveston Central Fire Station isn't your ordinary mascot. This one is made of wood, carved over the weekend from a tree killed by salt water when Hurricane Ike inundated the city a year ago.
The sculpture is the first of dozens that the city's citizen Tree Committee hopes will grace parks and street corners throughout Galveston in an attempt to salvage beauty from the destruction of an estimated 40,000 trees.
“This helps heal that wound,” said Tree Committee member Donna Leibbert, referring to the outpouring of grief from the public over the destruction of at least half the island's tree canopy.

Dead Galveston trees may held refurbish world's only remaining wooden whaling ship in Mystic, CT; Galveston, TX

Dead Galveston trees may branch out into ship repair | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
GALVESTON — Instead of a date with a dump, live oaks killed by Hurricane Ike in Galveston may get an unusual second lease on life.
Some of the trees might be used to refurbish the world’s only remaining wooden whaling ship. The Mystic Seaport maritime museum is hoping to haul six to eight truckloads — about 176 tons — of live oak from Galveston to the museum in Mystic, Conn., where it is rebuilding the 1841 whaling ship Charles W. Morgan, said Quentin Snediker, director of the museum shipyard.
As much as the city welcomes the museum’s interest in taking away the wood, the 176 tons will barely make a dent in the estimated 40,000 dead trees killed by Ike that must be cut down and disposed of by Sept. 12 to qualify for federal reimbursement.
The city is struggling to find ways to dispose of the mountains of wood that will be cut down, but options are few. Another problem is convincing property owners that their dead trees — victims of saltwater storm surge — must be cut before they become a safety hazard.

Protecting the World's Most Expensive Tree; Moshi, Tanzania

ENVIRONMENT-TANZANIA: Protecting the World's Most Expensive Tree
By Denis Gathanju*
Moshi, TANZANIA, Jun 18 (IPS/IFEJ) - With the snow-capped peak of Mount Kilimanjaro providing a backdrop under simmering tropical sunshine, a group of women in Mijongweni village break into song.
The song, in Swahili, praises the benefits of protecting the environment and living in harmony with nature for the survival of generations; values vital to the survival of one of the rarest hardwood trees in the world, the African blackwood.

Known to locals as mpingo, the African blackwood (dalbergia melanoxylon) is a tree that has been exploited to extinction in southern Ethiopia and Kenya and is currently only found in Tanzania and northern Mozambique. Tanzania boasts large tracts of natural forest and woodlands

While few people would recognise the tree, many across the world have heard its melodious tunes: the tree is a prized commodity for makers of musical instruments like flutes, clarinets and oboes, so much so that it is today the most expensive hardwood tree in the world, currently fetching up to 25,000 dollars per cubic metre.

Kenya can cultivate eucalyptus successfully, but only in certain locations; Kenya

DAILY NATION - Eucalyptus dilemma: Is the tree worth growing commercially?

By ISAIAH ESIPISU Posted Sunday, May 31 2009 at 16:20
THE CONTROVERSY SURRO-unding the eucalyptus and its penchant for consuming far too much water leading to environmental depletion has led to confusion among commercial growers. Environmentalists, supported by government officials through the Ministry of Environment, are persuading Kenyans to uproot all trees of this genus grown near riverbeds and water catchment areas, without explaining where, and how best they should be grown.
At the same time, some forestry scientists and researchers claim that the stricture has no legal and scientific backing. But if Kenya followed the example of Punjab province of Pakistan, which has ordered all eucalyptus trees uprooted without replacement, then it means it will need to import most of the products best made from eucalyptus.

Tree damaged in wake of NCAA championship could end up as art to honor sports achievements; Chapel Hill, NC

Tree Stump Could Become Tar Heel Trophy - Orange County - MyNC.com:
Credit: AP Online Caption
By Town of Chapel Hill, Press Release, 3 days, 3 hours ago
Updated: May. 19 2:36 pm CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -
The tree stump that could stands at the intersection of Columbia and Franklin. It could become 'The Championship Tree' if Dwight Bassett has his way.
The tree was damaged during the street celebration that ensued after the UNC-Chapel Hill Tar Heels Men's Basketball Team won the NCAA Championship. The tree canopy had to be cut off, leaving a remaining seven-foot stump. The tree was originally an 11-foot Green Ash that had been recommended for removal by Bartlett Tree Experts, arborists hired by the Town to inventory downtown trees in 2007.
During a site inspection of the street the following morning, Mayor Kevin Foy had an idea. Why not make art from the remaining stump?