The annual food forest training course
The annual food forest training is modular to take, but in its entirety a complete journey. We've been teaching it since 2017. You will be taught by thirteen highly knowledgeable instructors and visit ten inspiring food forest sites. Lessons are mostly taught live, but sometimes deliberately in the form of a digital lesson. All lessons and field trips are recorded, so you never miss a thing.
In the Basic module, you will learn what a food forest is. This module in itself is a completed unit. In the Design and Food Forest Plan modules, you get to work on your own and by the end you will have created a design and respectively a plan. The latter two can also be reversed at will or done only when you can actually start making a plan, or a design.
Modular Year-Long Training Course on Food Forests
Make the journey at once
We offer this annual training program twice a year so that you can complete it in its entirety. The first session runs from March through October. The second annual training course begins in May and runs through December. The final module (food forest plan) is then offered exclusively online. As a result, the second annual training course is less expensive than the first.
A year-long focus on food forests
Basic module
We teach this important module three times in 2026. Get lessons from Wouter van Eck, Marieke Karssen, Martijn Aalbrecht and Maarten Schrama. And, visit food forest Ketelbroek (on loess soil and 16 years old) the two food forests of Martijn Aalbrecht (on poor sandy soil and 14 and 5 years old), and food forest Lekker Landgoed (on fertile clay, full of wind and 10 years old).
Module Design
This is a real do-module. You will learn from top designers Evelyn Derksen and Weruschca Kirkegaard to look, think and act like a designer, and from botanist Wouter van Eck to think about your planting plan. Meanwhile, you work on your own food forest design. All teachers in this module assume that you already have the basic knowledge about a food forest.
Food forest plan module
In this module, you will learn how to develop your dream from a vague concept to a concrete plan. At the end you will present your plan in front of a jury that can really help your dream move forward. Marieke Karssen will guide you throughout the module towards pitching your plan in front of an expert jury. Teachers are also: Jan Huijgen, Liesbeth van Bemmel, Arne Driessen, Linda Buijsman and Frank de Gram. In the digital module there is even more room for experts.
Please note that the second 2026 Food Forest Plan module will be taught digitally only. We do this because field trips to food forests in November and December are no longer as useful and to make this module accessible to expats as well. So if you want to attend the module live, choose the first one.
Want to learn even more?
Do you already have the basics, and want to go into more depth? Then read on at our in-depth courses. Think about being able to propagate planting material yourself, or learn how to tell if a plant is healthy.
View all advanced courses
The Advanced CoursesFantastic professional course where you learn really good tools to proceed with food forest design.
