Please support our work to document and connect forest farmers in the temperate climates of North America. We are writing a book about the practice, theory, and principles of Forest Farming based on our years of research and successful real-world examples. About Us We are an agroforestry professor & researcher (Ken Mudge) and an extension educator and forest farmer (Steve Gabriel). We have been researching and educating students, farmers, and landowners on these systems for the past several decades.We are excited about Forest Farming. So excited, in fact, that we are writing a book about it through Chelsea Green Publishing with an expected release of Spring 2014.



What is Forest Farming?

Forest Farming is an agroforestry practice of growing non-timber crops under the canopy of an existing forest. The practice is both old and new, as historically many traditional cultures around the world have gained their sustenance through forest-based ecosystems. Read more…

About the Book

The book is the first of its kind. It is a resource for temperate climate forest farming that discusses context, techniques, and design considerations. The book will enable readers to begin farming their woods for hobby or profit. Read more…

Connect With Us

A big motivation for writing this book is to encourage dialogue and a greater expansion of forest farming in temperate regions. To this end, we are committed to collecting, telling, and facilitating the stories of established forest farmers and to connect them with new forest farmers. We will do this through three means:

Survey: Are you Forest Farming? Take our survey of existing forest farmers. Help us document the stories and experiences of your work. The information will be entered into a database and presented as a free online directory and map. Blog: This site will feature stories of the farms and people we visit. Forest Farming Network: This free email listerv helps practitioners new and old share advice, stories, and resources with each other.

What We Need

We want to visit and document many real world examples of Forest Farming in the Eastern and Midwestern US. We will interview forest farmers, document their sites, and write up case studies. Much of this information will be presented in the book, but also available as a free online map and database resource at on this site. These free tools will to foster connection and collaboration among all who are learning to farm the woods.

Your generous contribution helps us with travel and research of case studies. The face-to-face interviews and onsite examination of forest farmers and their land will provide crucial information and learned wisdom for the book and our website.

Your gift also pays for the development of the free online database and map. The book will be for sale, but the database will be a free public resource online, available to anyone interested in farming the woods.

A Thank You Gift!

We deeply appreciate your support. Your donation will help encourage sustainable woodland use and we’ll send you a thank you gift.

Other Ways You Can Help

Help to spread the word about this fundraising campaign. Like us on Facebook, and share with your friends.

If you know forest farmers we should profile, please let us know.