From zombie land to a productive field, the St. Edward’s food forest has grown into a hidden oasis on campus behind Teresa Hall. 

The vision of a food forest started years before plans were solidified. Our campus arborist and sustainability coordinator, Roy Johnson, associate professor of environmental science and policy, Amy Concilio, Ph.D., and two now graduated students, Luke Tobias and Margaux Ordoveza, proposed the idea to administration. After the plan was approved, they broke ground and did the earthworks – the initial groundwork and site preparation – in October of 2022.

“The elevator pitch of a food forest is that you’re trying to mimic nature,” Johnson said. “You’re mimicking a natural forest. So you have your overstory, understory shrubs, herbaceous layer, cover crops and you’re creating an ecosystem at the same time, just as a forest would be. You’re creating an agriculturally productive ecosystem.”

A food forest uses a stack system in which all plants serve more than one purpose. The goal is to protect and build new top soil, sequester carbon dioxide to help mitigate climate change, minimize water usage, pull nitrogen from the atmosphere into the soil and practice biodiversity through regenerative agricultural practices. Tilling is only done at the beginning to loosen up compacted soil, but not afterwards because topsoil full of microbial life is needed for a successful food forest. Texas’ soil is vastly dry during droughts, but the food forest’s efforts have already started making change.

“It shows that you can create a topsoil and produce food anywhere, which is why we didn’t import soil,” Johnson said. “We had nutrient deficient dirt that we started with. It’s kind of a confidence builder that anyone can do this, even if they think that the land that they have access to is not viable.”

Another key person in the creation and continuation of the food forest is Concilio. She, along with other professors, utilize the space for a number of activities. Some classes go out for workdays, while others collect soil samples to look at its properties and gather long-term data to track the changes over time.

“Humans can also have a really positive impact on the environment,” Concilio said. “It feels really great to be part of that, you know.”

Students have also been able to do research there by comparing soil fertility and hydrological function of the food forest to adjacent mowed grass plots.

“We found that at our food forest there was no difference yet, but we compared this to Festival Beach Food Forest, which had been around for eight years,” senior Grace Hosek, environmental science and policy major, said. “At Festival Beach, we saw a difference between the food forest and the mowed grass plots. The food forest had better soil nutrients and water movement. We think our food forest will definitely get there. It’s only two years old.”

Some students learn about the food forest through their classes, while others learn about it through SERVE 1 Day workdays and Big Event. 

“Being able to actively see the process of how things are grown, but also how much care goes into every single thing is super interesting,” senior Dahlia Duron, SERVE 1 Day volunteer, said. “Just to see how much has progressed since the last time I’ve been here, a year ago, is so wild and honestly amazing to see.”

Much planning goes into deciding what plants are grown in the food forest. At times, people working on the food forest have to make an educated guess of what might be viable and test how certain plants will react to the climate. The majority of the trees planted are native, while the others are adapted to this region’s climate, which is increasingly becoming drier due to evaporation and transpiration, even if there is precipitation.

“I ate a pear from the food forest the other day,” Concilio said. “It was delicious. So we (are) already getting fruit on some of the trees. It’s cool how quickly fruit trees grow in Central Texas.”

The food forest provides organic and locally produced food available for the entire St. Edward’s community. Food security is a part of the multifaceted mission.

“Realistically, most of the population cannot afford purchasing really high quality, nutrient dense food,” Jacob Zivin, Office of Sustainability natural resources intern, said. “This is a good way where people can come out and have nutritious food for free.”

Many students involved with the food forest are not environmental science and policy or natural sciences majors. Students can build skills including leadership, teamwork, gardening, landscaping, research and more.

“Students that are interested in the environment in general, there’s so many ways to contribute and to get involved,” Concilio said. “There’s lots of different skills that we need.”

The practice of food forests date back to Indigenous agriculture as part of their land stewardship traditions. Doug Martin, a member of the Central Texas Cherokee Township, has a partnership with the campus food forest where he grows corn, squash and beans from heritage seeds as part of a Three Sisters garden. The food forest plans to expand the amount of Cherokee corn they grow in the spring.

“This is for everyone,” Johnson said. “Everyone should feel comfortable to not just spend some time there, but to feel free, and if they see something, to take it, to eat it, just to kind of make it as if it was their own backyard.”

To stay up to date with food forest related information, join their newsletter. The food forest will host Roots and Wings Festival events on Oct. 26 where they will have speakers including Martin and Gabriella Pardee, Ph.D., Wild Basin research director, along with live music and free food for the community.