No advise sorry. But envious of your situation and the possibilities. 😀

Hi, used to live in the upper Ottawa Valley. There is a good reason there aren't many farms on the Canadian shield. When I dug up potatoes the crop looked good until you realized they were mostly rocks. The deer eat anything you will so fencing is a must. You can try fishing line fences but they didn't work for us. The bees used to do well but if the bears find them that's it. Keep the hives as close to the house as you can. The bears are still fearful of humans because of the hunters but are getting bolder.
I would recommend some cold frames and hoop houses to extend the growing season but not to try and keep them up all winter as the snow load will collapse them and the cold will kill everything by December anyway. Final tip. Get lots of bug netting for any work outside after mid May, just when you are trying to get the garden started. I'm not trying to make anyone quit but get ready for a new normal if your not from the area. Go for a camping trip at planting time (first week of June) Good luck to all. Jeff

From what I've understood about food forests is it's important first to just sit and watch for a while.

Track where the sun shines and doesn't shine in all seasons. Where does the snow drift? Is it windier in one area than another? How does the water behave on the property in different seasons? Do you have any water features? And so on.

I am still mostly observing on our property before planting anything bigger than a kitchen garden. Though this year I hope to introduce blueberries where the wild blueberries have already shown me that the soil is good for them.

Start a property journal and keep track of wildlife visits - where are their pathways; when do the various natural plants bloom and so on. In short, observe and interact. I believe that's the first principle of permaculture.

Find a real permaculture teacher in your area, or go where there is one if you have to. Best of luck with the learning curve!

The link below was shared by someone from another forum for a permaculture course. One may follow along with the lectures for free and not get a credit, or pay and get credit at the end. There are 2 'textbooks' ...

"Gaia's Garden" available from http://www.amazon.ca

and

"Introduction to Permaculture", which you can get in Canada by going here - http://www.vergepermaculture.ca/content/books

The lectures are available here - http://mediasite.online.ncsu.edu/online/Catalog/pages/catalog.aspx?catalogId=1ec0688b-568a-4a47-a8ca-8926e7b4ef1b

Sounds like a great idea, and because you live in a forest area this style of food production will be most suitable, nature is already doing it where you live. I recommend the food forest DVD by Geoff Lawton, which you have probably already seen, and perhaps as you live somewhere cold get some information about how Sepp Holzer gardens.
For those not familiar with a Food Forest, it doesn't replace your zone 1 garden.
To locate a permaculturist near you check out the http://www.permacultureglobal.com/website
Good luck with your exciting project and sounds like a nice spot you have.
from Far North Queensland, Australia.

Identify your soil type and plan accordingly. Much of Norther Ontario shield is acidic soils where things like blueberries will thrive, but your potatoes and carrots will choke. Other spots like around the tri-towns have beautiful clay soils that can grow wheat and damn near anything else. Have your soil identified. (Ministry of Natural Resources, or local conservation authority or even universities like Nipissing or Lakehead)

Don't assume you can grow what you are planing. Get it checked out.

One thing that worries me about forest gardens is light. In the UK we sometimes don't get enough sun to really get things growing to their full potential and having various layers seems to me to be exacerbating this problem. The plus side is that in Pembrokeshire you shouldn't often have problems with water shortage. Forest gardens do need some work doing on them. I have seen one that had to be completely restructured because it hadn't been tended much for a long time. It looks a lot better now, and thinks some regular maintenance is being done on it now.
If you have animals you will have unexpected jobs as they never read the books (or if they do, so they know how to confuse you.). One thing that strikes me about time saving is ways of dealing with manure in as efficient way as possible so you can compost/spread it for improving the soil.

Northern Ontario gardening, wow you have your work cut out for you, but that said Ive seen some pretty nice garden in the Yukon. I would think the moose walking though might be a problem. As for gardening Permaculture Forest Garden style you got me there. something i,m just looking into.

if your setting up from scratch install a hydroponics system, or even an acquaponics system (forego the expensive hydroponics fertilizer mix and add a protein source to your diet)....why grow outdoors seasonally, when you can grow 3 - 4 times faster indoors in the dead of winter?

Sounds like a lot of Fun (hard work). Should keep your muscles loose until you stop.
Check out www.permies.com, also you may want to look into bee keeping. Cost effective and neccessary for most gardens, and of course theres the honey and wax.both great for preserving.

I would love to help, but still can't seem to get any more than seven days in a week.

While had had done small mounds for planting, we have started building based on the german models in regards to hugelculture, is that what you mean when you are talking about Permaculture forest garden, if so, perhaps you will find the post's I did on it useful, and I will answer any questions on what we have learned building a number of different ones and or questions if I can.

http://livingmydreamlifeonthefarm.wordpress.com/2011/03/20/hugelbeet-part-one/

http://livingmydreamlifeonthefarm.wordpress.com/2011/09/06/fall-update-on-hugelbeets-and-how-well-they-produced-in-year-one/

Had a look around the net and at amazon in regards to Forest Garden, hmmm, its appears to be very much what I call "my gardening in plain site" with a wonderful blend of hedges, and plants that look wild and produce a huge amount of food and medical value if you know what you are looking at.

Anyone got a recommendation on which of the books is worth the read?

I and a group I own land with are going to be starting a permaculture food forest, on a property just on the edge of the Canadian shield.

There are alot of videos on youtube; I would especially suggest looking up Sepp Holzer - by playing with micro-climates, he could grow Mediterranean species up in the Alps.

To echo someone else: I think the best thing to do is observe the site to get an idea of it's micro-climate, and existent ecology; and then see how much you can mimic nature. For example: maybe the "natural" forests around your chunk of land already have alot of wild edibles? Oaks, service-berries, blueberries, raspberries, wallnuts, wild apples, wild cherries, hawthorns, sun-chokes, etc etc etc...? - Your forest garden could be heavy on the natives - just be a higher concentration of "edible perennial per acre" - with suitable non-native/cultivars thrown in as desired.

One thing to think about too, if you haven't read up on the topic yet: a forest garden isn't necessarily just about edible plant species, it should also contain plants that support your edibles (ex. fast-growing pioneer species that you can "chop and drop" for mulch, or, plants that attract pollinators or other beneficial insects and wildlife, or, "sacrificial" plants specifically for the deer, to keep them from munching you baby fruit trees). A forest garden can also include really any plant that you consider useful and therefor want: trees for timber or fire; plants that produce fibers with which you could make clothing.

Had a look around the net and at amazon in regards to Forest Garden, hmmm, its appears to be very much what I call "my gardening in plain site" with a wonderful blend of hedges, and plants that look wild and produce a huge amount of food and medical value if you know what you are looking at.

Anyone got a recommendation on which of the books is worth the read?

Sepp Holzer has put out a few books, his latest is the best I have ever seen. Go to his website and you can preview the book there. Very detailed and he goes through everything step by step, as well as growing Fruits and Nuts at an elevation of 1500m in the mountains.
Absolutely awesome.