Northern Food Forest specializes in growing cold hardy trees to zone 4 and colder that produce the best tasting food for our Canadian climate. We are located on a 16 acre homestead and farm in Calvin, Ontario. Some of the most nutritious, best tasting foods in the world can surprisingly be grown in the harshest zones. We’re excited to share our trees and plant material with you!
Everything we grow is on full sized standard root stock, and is shipped bare root. Explore our catalogue and discover the abundant food forest you could create in your own community.
Our Philosophy
We are proud to say that all of our trees are grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, or coddling. This is actually very rare in the nursery industry, and you can rejoice in knowing that your trees will enhance the ecology around you after they are planted. These trees experience nature in all of it’s natural glory; for better or for worse. This prepares them for the real world.
Our trees, vines, and berry bushes are grown bareroot in rich, friable soil which we continuously add organic matter too. The benefits to growing this way are unparalleled. A large amount of trees can be shipped with minimal packaging and the roots are much healthier and adapt to their new home much better than trees grown in pots.
We also utilize air pruning systems that encourage trees to grow superior root systems and enables them to adapt to their new surroundings at planting with resilience. By allowing the trees we grow to have fibrous dense root systems, they are able to tap into nutrients in the soil more effectively and grow proficiently.
We are as green as possible in our practices and always keep the local wildlife and fauna in mind.
When you buy trees from us, you are creating giant steps towards food resilience with incredibly adaptable, hardy, and ecologically raised trees. It is truly incredible how much food a single tree will produce in it’s maturity.
Shipping
Our trees, vines, and berry bushes are shipped bareroot. We ship orders with Canada Post all over Canada, except to British-Columbia because of its specific rules and regulations regarding fruit trees imports. Depending on your location, you should receive them within 1 to 10 days. We always ship trees on a Monday or Tuesday, so they spend a minimum of time at the post office.
They are shipped in the dormant season from late April to mid May. This also eases the trees from transplant shock, and they take off running once spring is in full swing! We also ship garlic, jerusalem artichokes, comfrey and walking onions in the fall. Each and every tree is carefully packaged and wrapped to ensure adequate moisture and a safe journey to it’s new home.