Forest Farming

Forest farming is the cultivation of non-timber forest products under a managed forest canopy. Examples of non-timber forest products include edible and medicinal understory herbs, mushrooms, tree barks, ornamentals, fruits, nuts, and tree saps. Forest farming has been practiced by Indigenous peoples around the world, and in New England, Indigenous peoples have stewarded wild populations of native plants and practiced successional agroforestry for centuries. Forest farming can enrich and protect biodiversity, especially when over-harvested, rare plants are added to the forest understory. These systems also have the potential to diversify forest-based income on lands managed for other values.