How much does a permaculture food forest cost?

A common question I get is "how much does it cost to make a food forest"? I think it's a video worth doing, so in this video I attempt to answer this question. However, make sure that you understand the difference between the cost of a food forest and the cost of a swimming pool. One of these things is an investment, an asset in our lives, and one of these things is a liability.


Often we weigh decisions between choices based on what they cost us to buy, but we never consider if one of these things actually MAKES us money in the long run, versus if one just keeps costing us more and more and more.


Okay, you get that, but still want to know certain things, like, how much will it cost me to install a food forest, how much money will I save, how long it will it take me to make my money back (return on investment (ROI)). Well that's also not easy to answer, because it's going to be completely different based on where you live!


So what I can do is talk about some of the costs, talk about some of the things that impact cost. Talk about ways you can save money in your installs, by say, fleshing out your herbaceous layer through foraging, or looking for end of season sales. Or tapping into free waste streams that are of incredible value to you (cardboard, woodchips, etc).


But then I can also run some numbers based on what it cost me to get this puppy up and running, and I can feed you back info on how much food I'm making per square foot, and we can at least come close to some kind of ballpark number that you can expect to be in the general vicinity of. And trust me, there's enough wiggle room in the numbers to almost guarantee that no matter where you are and how you do this, that installing a food forest is going to be one of the best financial investments you can ever make.


I then also touch on an extremely important point at the end of the video - make sure you watch the section on "nutrients", because at the end of the day, when we buy food, are we buying "apples" or are we buying the nutrients contained in the apple?


One thing I didn't touch on (edited it out due to length of video) so I will mention it here... also remember that this food forest is likely DISPLACING what used to be there. If what used to be there is a grass lawn that cost you time and money to "keep looking perfect", then for complete accuracy you want to factor that into your calculations. If you are now saving $200 per year because you aren't subscribed to some green lawn fertilizing maintenance company, or you aren't spending gas and hours on a lawnmower, then what is that worth?


For a little upfront money and time, you can gain both of those back, one hundred fold in the years that follow.


Thanks for watching everyone, and I'll see you on the next one.
Keith



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