In Harmony with Habitat: Monica Van der Vieren's Food Forest
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Monica Van der Vieren on her property.
When Monica Van der Vieren first read about Vancouver Island forest gardens in a science journal, she was captivated. As an environmentalist, both at work and at home, she had heard the term agroforestry before, but never visualized what it meant. Words like “forest garden” and “food forest” brought the concept to life. At a site visit sponsored by the Sustainable Lands Strategy, she brought up the forest garden article with Daryl Williams of the Tulalip Tribes.
“Daryl told me there were forest gardens in our area too,” said Monica. “They were in the Redmond area.”
In the not too distant past, indigenous people cultivated openings within surrounding forests. They fostered dappled canopies of fruit and nut trees, sun-loving and shade-tolerant shrubs rich with berries, and medicinal and edible plants, roots, and fungi.
“Settlers may have thought that Coast Salish peoples only harvested from the land because they didn’t recognize indigenous cultivation methods,” said Monica. “Indigenous peoples across the world have shaped their environments to ensure food security since time immemorial.”
These forest gardens (also referred to as food forests) essentially served as grocery stores and pharmacies. But they didn’t just support human life. Scientists in coastal British Columbia have found that these areas were more than twice as likely to be inhabited by animals and pollinators, even 150 years later (read more here).
Diving In
Supporting wildlife with sustainable agriculture really appealed to Monica. A love of nature had sustained her through diverse careers in research science and public involvement, and countless hours of volunteer work. Over the last 20 years, Monica had spent her winters in muddy boots and soggy gloves restoring wildlife habitat on her property along Ebey Slough in the Snohomish River Valley.
However, she still had four acres of Reed Canary Grass that had overtaken a field previously used for pasture hay.
“After my last horse died,” said Monica. “I kept wondering, what am I going to do with all of this space?”
She learned that her neighbor, Nick Pate, had planted a food forest on his farm, Raising Cane Ranch (read his story here). Monica was intrigued by Nick’s sustainable farming approach. She learned about plants that were thriving in the wet winter ground in her area, like Aronia berries.
At Nick’s suggestion, Monica reached out to Snohomish Conservation District’s Agroforester, Carrie Brausieck, who had worked with Nick on his food forest. It just so happened that Carrie had a grant funding opportunity to share costs and help with startup labor.
“I just jumped in feet first,” said Monica. “I said, ok, I know nothing. I’ll figure it out. Sign me up.”
Doing It Her Way
But Monica knew more than she realized.
“I knew I wanted to take a first foods native plant approach,” she said.
Since agroforestry systems often incorporate these elements, Monica was able to work with Carrie to find a balanced mix of native and non-native species for her first round of plantings. Among cultivated species such as Aronia, Hazelnuts, Apples, and Gooseberries, she planted Evergreen Huckleberries, Serviceberry, Salal, Highbush Cranberry, Myrica Gale, Twinberry, Vine Maple, Black Hawthorn, and Oregon Grape.
Monica also envisioned a wildlife-friendly landscape.
“My style is unapologetically chaotic,” said Monica. “Wildlife like that. I wanted the landscape to have curves and bends, like it was shaped by wind and water.”
In order to reduce the use of fossil fuels, Monica decided to rely on sweat equity, a wheelbarrow, and shovel. And she had the experience to know she could do it.
“I've always had a full-time job but I've done acres of landscape restoration,” said Monica. “The way I've been successful is to help those plants until they can hold their own and start shading out the weeds.”
Monica's property before planting (2002), after years of habitat enhancement plantings (2021), and after the first year of agroforestry plantings (2023).
Set Up for Success
For years, Monica used planting approaches she learned from a restorationist at her workplace. When restoration techniques changed with lessons learned, she would test new approaches. This helped her landscape thrive in compacted soil depleted from years of Grass growing and mowing.
When grant funding and labor became available in 2023, Carrie and Monica jumped into action. Hundreds of plants arrived and kept arriving into June. Monica had never planted later than May, and 2023 was a hot, dry year when months passed without rain. Even still, she ended up with about a 95% survival rate. So how did that happen?
Monica’s approach is to give plants a healthy start in really wide holes (at least 1.5-2 feet wide) filled with a mix of soil and compost.
“I didn't want to till so I had to keep the Grass at bay until the plants could get established,” said Monica. “With Reed Canary Grass that meant not mixing native soil back in. If you have even a fragment of root left, you’re just going to grow Grass around your new plant.”
The restoration expert had taught Monica another solid lesson—using organic starter fertilizer with mycorrhizae.
“Overworked soils are really devoid of microorganisms that form associations with the roots and help plants get access to water, food, and nutrients,” said Monica.
Her final step was to put organic matter on top.
“I used everything I had: leaves, wood chips, Pine needles, anything to start building healthy soil, keep in the moisture, and keep the Grass down.”
Grass in this area was covered with cardboard and organic matter over the winter and planted with Squash and Pumpkins to keep weeds down and provide food bank donations. This fall Monica will plant Blueberries and put cardboard and mulch around them.
Hazelnut trees that were planted by using cardboard to smother the grass and adding mulch to retain moisture.
The First Spark
Shortly after the initial planting, Monica reaped the first reward of her food forest with a fruit she’d never tried before.
“My big discovery was that I love Gooseberries,” said Monica. “Birders talk about your spark bird—the bird that made you get into birding. If there was a spark plant that got me really jazzed about this, it would be Gooseberries.They have a taste that is perfectly balanced between sweet and tart.”
That wasn’t Monica’s only reward.
“I noticed wildlife in the landscape almost immediately,” she said. “I went out in the morning and saw a Northern Harrier there hunting. I never had Harriers hunt in the Reed Canary Grass. Now I see small songbirds, garter snakes, and I found a salamander the other day.”
Sharing Connection
Monica has had two major plantings of shrubs and trees so far, with another planned for this winter. She plans to add layers of vegetables, flowers, and herbs with meandering paths of wood chips in between. Ultimately, she wants to share both her food forest and abundant wildlife with visitors by partnering on workshops and hosting wildlife tours. She also plans to use Carrie’s suggestion for “grazing tickets,” a u-pick option where people harvest whatever is in season that appeals to them.
“People will be able to experience harvesting food in a wild setting, wander, and build a connection to the landscape,” she said.
Monica is also continuing to explore the interconnections between native species, food producing non-native plants, and wildlife in her food forest.
“Augmenting with non-invasive, non-natives can actually help wildlife because they’re blooming when native plants aren’t. With climate change, you're supporting wildlife that are getting here earlier or staying longer—even year round—when they didn’t used to be.”
Climate Change
These kinds of climate change impacts are what motivated Monica to explore resilient agriculture options like food forests in the first place. She lives in a floodplain that is already feeling the effects of sea level rise and changing weather conditions.
During the second major round of plantings, the weather flip-flopped wildly from the previous year. Despite all her tricks for success, Monica was worried.
“I was amazed that the plants made it through the first hot, dry summer,” she said. “This year it snowed. It rained. The fields were ponding and I thought, it’s just too soggy, they’re never going to survive.”
As spring approached, Monica took her dog for a walk on the trails winding across her property.
“It was a pristine morning with bright sunlight and the birds were hopping from plant to plant,” said Monica. “I looked up and the Quince was flowering. Everything was starting to leaf out,” she said. “I realized, this is going to work. They’re going to make it.”
With a new way forward, maybe we will too.
