Agroforestry för svenska förhållanden 2024 - Flipbook - Page 27
Shiitakeodling, “Båt i skogen - hamn
för radikala nomader” / Shiitake cultivation at ‘Boat in the forest - harbour
for radical nomads’, Sweden.
forests, where the tree canopy is adjusted to create
favourable conditions for the undergrowth (sufficient
sunlight, shade and wind protection). Canopy cover
is recommended to be between 5-40%. Therefore,
thinning, pruning or planting more trees is usually
done when establishing a forest farming system. The
management elements of this cultivation method are
mainly the maintenance of the undergrowth and a
desirable canopy [26].
Forest farming is ideal for foods that need extra moisture and shade, such as edible mushrooms (e.g. shiitake mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, lions mane mushrooms), medicinal plants (e.g. chaga mushrooms,
ginseng), beekeeping, berry shrubs and woody perennials for sap tapping. Many agroforestry products
have a high market value, allowing a complementary
and faster income for forest owners compared to the
longer rotation period of timber trees. For example,
a forest owner can grow chaga mushrooms while the
timber stock is maturing. In forest farming, it is
common that a food crop is planted together with
existing timber production, but several food products
can be produced on the same area - simultaneously,
spread over a season or varied over years [26]. It is a
method of cultivation that is well suited to our densely
forested country but whose potential is largely untapped.
Examples of forestry combinations for Nordic
conditions:
Chaga and/or sap + firewood/grazing.
Truffles + oak Truffles occur wild in pastures for example on Öland and Gotland, mainly in symbiosis
with oak, but also with hazel, common hornbeam,
small-leaved linden and other deciduous trees. The
spores are spread by animals that have eaten the
fungus. The Gotland population is genetically distinct from continental truffles, probably an adaptation to the climate. Cultivation sites with the Burgundy truffle are increasing in Sweden, for example
in Gotland and in Skåne. One such plantation in
Gotland, was established in 2001, (500 trees on
one hectar) and has, since 2022, produced an
annual marketable harvest of 40 kg.
Ginseng, hops + timber - ongoing trials in Finland.
På Le Casine, en italiensk fäbod i Toscana ger skog med äkta
kastanj föda till människor och djur, lövfoder, virke, bränsle och
mjölkprodukter från betesdjuren. I Schweiz har kastanjevirke länge
använts till staket (odlat i lågskogar) och till lavinbarriärer (odlat
i högskogar) då det innehåller mycket tanniner som gör att det
åldras utan att ruttna eller försvagas avsevärt.
At Le Casine, an Italian summer pasture in Tuscany,
forests of sweet chestnut provide food for humans and
animals, tree fodder, wood, fuel and dairy products from the
grazing animals. In Switzerland, chestnut wood has long been
used as fence (grown in low-growing forests) and for avlanche
barriers (grown in high-growing forests) as it is high in tannins
that allow it to age without rotting or significantly weakening.
