Fun news! The city of Västerås receives the prestigious municipal award for its work with the Malmaberg food forest, an edible park environment where Martin Gustafsson and I have selected the plant material, designed the plantations and also carried out a large part of the planting work. The jury for the Municipal Award is the board of the association Sweden's City Gardeners, which motivates the city of Västerås to receive the award as follows:
"The municipal price 2023 awarded to the city of Västerås for the Malmaberg food forest, one of the first municipally initiated and planted food forests in the country. Matskogen is a designed entrance to Malmabergsskogen. In the future, western mountaineers will be able to harvest berries here, pickled green walnuts. The inspiration comes from the permaculture ideas of growing food by imitating nature. The construction work itself has basically taken place without drawings, in close cooperation between operating personnel and planners. The plant beds for trees and shrubs have been created with a mixture of existing soil, biochar and horse manure.
With this award, the Association of Swedish City Gardeners wants to thank for inspiration and role model for the work in Swedish municipalities and hopes to see more similar projects in Swedish municipalities. ”
Read more about the price in the city of Västerås press release. More information about the park is available at Västerås stads website and a small film from the food forest is on SVT:website.