Head & Hands Edible Forest Garden

Head & Hands is a nonprofit organization which has been committed to supporting the needs of marginalized youth within the Montréal area for the past 50 years. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Head & Hands, the organization has elected to plant an extensive Edible Forest Garden on it's grounds.

The concept of edible forest gardening utilizes permaculture design practices to mimic the natural succession of forest ecosystems, while prioritizing perennial plants that are productive towards human needs. Perennials build soil and control erosion, improve rainfall capture, and sequester carbon. Once they are established, they return year after year, providing yields with minimal work. The process of implementing an edible forest Garden involves planting a layered combination of fruit and nut-bearing trees, edible berry bushes, vines, herbs, pest repelling plants, soil amending plants and even fungi, which all contribute to a no-till, no pesticide, no fertilizer, low maintenance edible garden scenario, with many additional benefits such as supporting local wildlife, including at-risk pollinator species.
The garden currently holds 165 perennial species of plants, out of which 52 are edible. Our edible species include apple, plum, pear, hazelnut and mulberry trees, as well as many fruit bushes and vines such as blueberry, raspberry, gooseberry, goji berry, grapes, and hardy kiwi. Amongst these, there are a variety of perennial herbs such as thyme, lovage, chives, and mint.

The primary objective of this project is to meet human needs while improving ecosystem health by creating a resilient, vibrant, self-sustaining, and productive edible landscape that will grow, self-regulate, and evolve for many years to come. This project is about creating community food security within the urban context as well as providing an educational and inspirational framework of what can be possible as we engage with urban green space moving forward.