What is Edible Forest Gardening?

 

                                                         (for forest gardening resources please scroll down)

Edible forest gardening, an aspect of Permaculture, is a sustainable low maintenance food producing method modeled after a young natural woodland, comprised of a multi storied network of edible and human useful plants and trees all growing within each other as we see in nature.

Fruit and nut bearing trees and shrubs are used along with perennial vegetables, herbs and vines, self mulching, self feeding, self fending, protecting, regenerating itself year after year, literally Garden of Eden style.

Forest gardening is about returning to a place of honoring our relationship and connection to Nature, of sacred partnership with the living planet we comprise, and through these relationships reinventing and building whole connected thriving eco systems that sustain and regenerate all life.

“Forest gardening is the most high yield, low maintenance, most sustainable form of agriculture available to humanity. Incorporating knowledge from the fields of permaculture, agriculture, ecology, biology and other natural sciences into a holistic set of evolving tools and techniques, edible forest gardening is one of humanity’s greatest hopes for a stable and prosperous future.”  -David Jacke; of Edible Forest Gardens

Tour of Ken Fern’s (Plants For a Future) Edible 20 acre farm
Ken introduces a variety of rare and unusual plants, particularly those which have edible, medicinal or other uses. Practicing vegan-organic Permaculture with emphasis on creating an ecologically sustainable environment based largely on perennial plants.
For More Info please Visit: http://www.pfaf.org or http://blogs.plantsforafuture.org.uk

 

 

 

For resources and more information please scroll down or click here.

 

 TABLE

(scroll down)

 

Forest Gardens

Beacon Food Forest

Philly Food Forests

Maya Forest Gardeners

 

Plant Data Bases

Plants For a Future

The Natural Capitol Plant Data Base

 

Design, Workshops, Training

Agroforestry Research Trust

Pittsburgh Permaculture

Permaculture Artisans

Living Mandala

Edible Landscaping

Urban Permaculture

Perennial Solutions

The Living Center

Southwood Forest Gardens

 

Nurseries

Useful Plants Nursery

Paradise Gardens Rare Plant Nursery

Menzies Natives

South Meadow Fruit Gardens

Mountain Gardens Herbs

Horizon Herbs

Lawyer Nursery

Heirloom Appletree

Burnt Ridge Nursery and Orchards

Trees of Antiquity

St Lawrence Nurseries

Permaculture Nursery

Raintree Nursery

Bountiful Gardens

 

Related

Synergy Seed Exchange

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

United Plant Savers

Association for Temperate Agroforestry

 

 

beaconfoodforest.weebly.com

We would like to integrate a Food Forest into the current designs for the area adjacent to the west side of Jefferson Park.  Located just 2.5 miles from downtown Seattle, Jefferson Park hosts a variety of recreational opportunities, one of which could be community gardening. In 2010, a $20,000 City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Small and Simple Neighborhood Matching Fund (NMF) grant was provided to hire a design team to come up with a design based on input from three public design workshops. The design team selected included Margarett Harrison, a landscape architect with Harrison Design, and Jenny Pell, a permaculture designer with Permaculture Now!. In December of 2011 the project received $100,000 from the Department of Neighborhoods to begin phase one of the food forest plan.

Full seven acre proposal to be built over the next few years.

Harrison Design is the landscape architect for this innovative project for the neighborhood of Beacon Hill, located in the heart of Seattle. The goal of the Beacon Food Forest is to bring this richly diverse community together in fostering a Permaculture Tree Guild approach to urban farming and land stewardship. The design of this seven-acre site provides opportunities for cultural exchange and understanding, for education and recreation. The Food Forest includes an Edible Arboretum with fruits gathered from regions around the world, a Berry Patch for canning, gleaning and the joy of eating right off the bush, a Nut Grove with tress that provide both shade and sustenance, a Community Garden using the p-patch model where families can grow their own food, and a Kids Area. Living Gateways will connect and serve as portals between areas.  beaconfoodforest.weebly.com/

 

 

 

 

phillyfoodforests.org

PFF is working to change traditional community gardening as we know it through food forestry & the creative use of space. This will involve merging of traditional tried & true urban farming, permaculture, biointensive, and biodynamic farming methods with a heavy emphasis on each forest space achieving self-sufficiency within a short span of time.

Our ever-expanding vision involves planting trees, shrubs, bushes, vines, creeping plants, perennials, annuals, mushrooms, edible flowers, veggies, fruits, nuts, herbs, etc. etc.; composting; rainwater harvesting; seed saving; and eventually keeping animals such as bees, chickens, goats, and rabbits.

In PFF’s vision, there won’t be traditional plots, but rather an emphasis on cultivating the space to eventually grow to be self-sufficient and mimic a natural, wild environment.

Forests will function as a collective. Individual volunteer foresters can steward predetermined areas within a space until they feel comfortable maintaining a personal plot of their creation somewhere else. Stewards will be able to have a say in what’s planted in a particular area and harvest the bounty for personal or community use. The ultimate goal in PFF’s vision is to empower volunteers to take initiative & create similar community gathering & growing spaces in vacant lots in other areas of the city.

Our first site is located on the 500 Block of Mercy Street in South Philadelphia, but we’ve also been working with the lovely folks at Plotand on 44th & Locust in West Philly & revamping a beautiful not-yet-named garden on the corner of Ella & Stella Streets in West Kensington.

Philly Food Forests believes;

• A few people are powerful enough to change a neighborhood.
• Everyone should be able to do what they’re good at.
• There is no leadership without leading by example.
• “The big picture” comes into focus when it starts local.
• The world has enough stuff. Use free & recycled materials.
• Playing in the dirt in the middle of a city is really fun.
• Philadelphia is beautiful.
• Teaching people to grow organic food, improve the soil, cook healthy meals, harvest rainwater, compost waste, save seeds, talk to their neighbors, play outside, stand up for their beliefs, consume less, & act more will create the future we need.

Phillyfoodforests@gmail.com

See a blog on Mercy Edible Park here; http://phillyfoodforests.org/how-to/zines/year-one-volume-one/

 

 

 

 

 

mayaforestgardeners.org

This website provides educational information about traditional Maya agriculture and conservation in the Maya forest.

Conservation is increasingly imperative for the world. It has never been more important to learn from indigenous groups, such as the Maya, that have centuries of cumulative knowledge of conservation and coexistence with their environment.

The El Pilar Forest Garden Network is a group of Maya farmers who are keeping alive Maya cultural traditions, promoting sustainable agriculture, conserving biodiversity in the Maya Forest, and educating the public on the value of their time-honored strategies.

The increased practice of modern, industrial farming in this region is threatening the Maya forest. Traditional Maya agriculture, however, demonstrates a rich relationship with the tropical forest environment of Mesoamerica. Maya farmers are known as forest gardeners because their traditional multi-crop farming methods actually encourage the biodiversity and growth of the forest. These are exemplary agriculturalists, the ultimate conservationists, among the original permaculturalists, and the unsung heroes of the Maya forest!

 

 

To learn about ancient agricultural traditions, the nonprofit organization Exploring Solutions Past ~ The Maya Forest Alliancebegan consulting with contemporary traditional Maya farmers. In the course of this collaboration, the farmers realized they could work together to educate not only researchers, but also the community at large. Accordingly, traditional farmers in the surrounding area of El Pilar, an ancient Maya city center that straddles the Belize-Guatemala border, joined together to spread the concept of forest gardening. Drawing on their ancestral knowledge of plants in the Maya forest, they are working together to teach and share their unique knowledge of plant use, soils, and ecology, and provide economic incentive for conserving the tropical forest.

Today the Network is comprised of forest gardeners in Belize and Guatemala. A core group in Belize meets regularly to work on community projects, collaborate, ask each other questions, as well as share techniques and heritage seeds.

Goals:

• Preserve the cultural heritage of the Maya
• Keep alive traditional knowledge of plants and plant use
• Build appreciation for the agricultural skills of forest gardening
• Encourage practical conservation measures based on forest gardening
• Promote sustainable agricultural practices in the Maya Forest
• Explore the economic potential for sustainable Maya Forest products
• Maintain a database of plants of the forest gardens
• Inform the global community with an accessible and educational website

Forest gardener Ramon Zetina examines a bromiliad plant with ESP~Maya team member Megan Havrda

Projects:

• Creating an active forest garden at the primary school in the village of Santa Familia to re-introduce forest gardening to children.
• Maintaining a forest garden at the ancient Maya site of El Pilar to contribute to the living environment and educate visitors on Maya life-ways.
• Offer forest garden tours to the public as an opportunity to see creative approaches to forest gardening, as well as the incredible beauty of the Maya forest.

Eco-Archaeology; Then and Now:

Where is the Maya Forest?

How do the “contemporary” traditional farmers use their landscape?

How did the ancient Maya use their landscape?

Why is the Maya forest called a “feral forest”?

How does the language of the Maya reflect their intimacy with nature?

What is “archaeology under the canopy”?

Who are the Enlaces and how are they helping the forest gardeners?

 

 

 

Plants For A Future

pfaf.org/user/default.aspx

A resource and information center for edible and otherwise useful plants

Plants For A Future (PFAF) Is an indispensable charitable Database Resource and information center for edible perennial and otherwise human useful plants. An invaluable community resource and charitable company, originally set up to support the work of Ken and Addy Fern on their experimental site in Cornwall, where they carried out research and provided information on edible and otherwise useful plants suitable for growing outdoors in a temperate climate. Over time they planted 1500 species of edible plants on ‘The Field’ in Cornwall, England which was their base since 1989. Over ten years ago, Ken began compiling a database, which currently consists of approximately 7000 species of plants.

For more information on the work carried out by the Ferns, see: The History of Plants For A Future

The Plants for a Future Concept;

 

It is our belief that plants can provide people with the majority of their needs, in a way that cares for the planet’s health. A wide range of plants can be grown to produce all our food needs and many other commodities, whilst also providing a diversity of habitats for our native flora and fauna.

There are over 20,000 species of edible plants in the world yet fewer than 20 species now provide 90% of our food. Large areas of land devoted to single crops increase dependence upon intervention of chemicals and intensive control methods with the added threat of chemical resistant insects and new diseases. The changing world climate greatly affecting cultivation indicates a greater diversity is needed. more Plants For A Future on Facebook

There are currently five trustees of the PFAF Charity - see Trustees’ biographies.

 

Plants For A Future: 20 years on

The trustees of PFAF, in recognition of the work of the Ferns, and for information about what they achieved, commissioned a detailed mapping and ecological Survey of The Field (see below). The Survey Report is available for anyone who is interested. We have also employed professional website developers to redesign the website and improve the content of the database, work on which is ongoing. We share in, and continue to support, the aims of the founders.

 

Plants For A Future: Survey and Research Project on the ‘The Field’

 

The survey and research project on the ‘The Field’,  the experimental site of Ken and Addy Fern ( Plants For A Future founders) in Cornwal is now available. Ken and Addy carried out research and provided information on edible and otherwise useful plants suitable for growing outdoors in a temperate climate. Over time they planted 1500 species of edible plants on ‘The Field’ in Cornwall, which was their base since 1989.

The full report can now be downloaded for free…more

The main aims of the charity are researching and providing information on ecologically sustainable horticulture, promoting a high diversity, holistic and permacultural approach namely ‘woodland gardening’. We aim to use a minimal input of resources and energy, create a harmonious eco-system and cause the least possible damage to the environment whilst achieving high productivity.

 

The Plants for a Future Concept

It is our belief that plants can provide people with the majority of their needs, in a way that cares for the planet’s health. A wide range of plants can be grown to produce all our food needs and many other commodities, whilst also providing a diversity of habitats for our native flora and fauna.

There are over 20,000 species of edible plants in the world yet fewer than 20 species now provide 90% of our food. Large areas of land devoted to single crops increase dependence upon intervention of chemicals and intensive control methods with the added threat of chemical resistant insects and new diseases. The changing world climate greatly affecting cultivation indicates a greater diversity is needed.

When comparing a large cultivated field to natural woodland the woodland receives no intervention but produces lush growth and diversity of plants and animals. Yet the cultivated land supports very few species. The quality and depth of soil in a woodland is maintained and improved yearly whilst erosion and loss of soil structure plague the cultivated field.

Our emphasis is on growing perennial plants with some self-seeding annuals, a large part of the reason for this is the difference in the amount of time and energy it takes to cultivate and harvest crops. Annuals means the cultivation of the ground every year, sowing the seeds, controlling the weeds, adding fertilizers and attempting to control pests and diseases. It all seems so much extra work compared to planting a perennial and waiting to harvest its yield. Especially when you consider that even with all the effort put into growing carrots their yield for the same area of ground will be less than that of a fruit tree and will only last the one season.

Not only do people seem trapped in a method of growing with lower yields for far more input but also one that is damaging the environment and all the plants and animals that live in it.

Continued cultivation of the soil, whilst creating a desert to most of our wild plants and animals, destroys the organic matter and opens it up to the risk of erosion from wind and rain. The soil structure is damaged and becomes compacted leaving it unable to drain properly or allow plant roots to penetrate and obtain nutrients, and valuable topsoil is washed away in heavy rain.

A cultivated crop such as wheat has all its roots in a narrow band of soil with intense competition between plants for the same nutrients. Any nutrients below this belt are inaccessible to the plants. The crop is susceptible to the same pests and diseases and has similar climatic requirements, if one plant suffers they all suffer. The amount of energy used in producing high yields is far more than the food itself yields in energy. We do not believe this is sustainable.

When looking at woodland, almost no weeding is required, no feeding and no watering yet year after year a host of animals can be found along with the inevitable plant growth. A wide range of plants grows side by side each occupying its own space. Some with deep roots bringing up nutrients from beyond the reach of other plants. When leaves fall they provide nutrients and substance to the soil. Plants with shallow root systems obtain their nutrients from nearer the surface of the soil. The canopy of trees creates a shelter and temperature fluctuations are less extreme in a woodland environment. The soil is protected from erosion.

Woodland sustains itself and is highly productive due to its diversity which leads to a gradual build up of fertility. All the different available habitats allow a wide range of creatures to live in woodland, and the plants, insects and animals all work to create an altogether much more balanced and harmonious way of life. Another benefit of Woodland Gardening is that the high humus content of the soil acts like a sponge to absorb water therefore replenishing the ground water table.

Growing a diversity of plants emulating woodland, we can grow fruit and nut trees, under- planted with smaller trees and shrubs, herbaceous, ground cover and climbing plants. This way it is possible to produce fruits, nuts, seeds, leaves and roots throughout the year. Unlike the majority of cultivated food plants these have not been selectively bred to increase size of yield, reduce bitterness or increase sweetness, yet many of them are delicious and highly nutritious.

We aim to recover lost knowledge and learn more about the hundreds of medicinal plants that we can grow, in a race to find safe natural alternatives to drugs used today. Plants can also provide us with fibres for clothes, rope and paper, oils for lubricants, fuels, water proofing and wood preservatives, dyes, construction materials and more.

A large number of native broadleaf trees are planted to provide natural shelter and wildlife habitats. Trees are the lungs of the planet; they purify the air locking up carbon and have the potential for reducing the greenhouse effect. Trees protect the soil from erosion, encourage rainfall, and regulate the flow of ground water preventing flooding. Fallen leaves are an effective soil conditioner.

The Activities and Services of Plants For A Future

Concentrating on the restoration and conservation of the land we get much satisfaction in seeing the return of a wide diversity of wildlife where once we did not see a bee or a butterfly.

Literally planting for the future. Personal experience of growing the plants is the most valuable way to learn about growing, cropping and utilising them.

Research is on going since much of the information on plant uses has been lost from every day life but is stored in books and research papers. We are collating this information in a more accessible way, in the form of a database, which currently consists of nearly 7,000 species of plants. We can supply information print outs from the database or we can supply the database, for more information about this please ask for the database leaflet. Further research is carried out by visiting gardens around the country recording the results of these visits. Virtually all the plants we grow have never been selectively bred for edibility so there is a huge potential for alternative foods, which careful selection could help to realise.

We have published a ‘Plants For A Future – Edible and useful plants for a healthier world’.  Visit the shop for more information.

Free Plant Leaflets;

The Leaflet Collection. All 57 Plants For A Future leaflets

The Leaflet Collection. All 57 Plants For A Future leaflets in one convenient PDF eBook with 291 pages. For a small donation to Plants For A Future to help support and expand our activities you can now download the entire leaflet collection to view offline…more

The Natural Capitol Plant Data Base

oldsite.permacultureresearch.us

This is an excellent poly culture plant database combining the best sources of plant research and documentation. Partner designers provide the best information with the highest integrity. They provide plant data with the important characteristics needed for sustainable permaculture design.

This is a working site for serious designers and researchers. Citations from multiple sources for information are used, and downloadable query spreadsheets are formatted as a standard plant list with all the information needed for sorting and refining plant choices.

 

Offering;

Extensive plant lists

Research

Design workshops

Polyculture plant designs

Site subscription

Membership

Glossary

oldsite.permacultureresearch.us/PolycultureDesigns/PolyculturePlantDesigns

The Natural Capital Plant Database Workshops;

This day-long Saturday workshop introduces participants to the basic principles of permaculture and plant polyculture design. Teaching how to consciously design and maintain productive agro-ecosystems with the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. Participants apply the concepts they learn to real site plans in a small group design activity. Participants receive a annual membership to the database on the designer level (fee included in course cost).

oldsite.permacultureresearch.us/Subscription/Subscription

Agroforestry Research Trust

agroforestry.co.uk

Started by Martin Crawford, and based on his forest garden which he began in 1994, the Agroforestry Research Trust is a non-profit making charity, registered in England, which researches into temperate agroforestry and into all aspects of plant cropping and uses, with a focus on tree, shrub and perennial crops.

They produce several publications and a quarterly journal, sell various other relevant books, and also sell plants (particularly fruit and nut trees and bushes), seeds and Parafilm grafting tape.

 

Listen to Martin Crawford on BBC Radio 4:

The Food Programme (May 8, 2011) at : http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b010xy3g

Gardener’s Question Time (September 9, 2011) at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b014641y (about 31 minutes in) – the forest garden

Gardener’s Question Time (November 25, 2011) at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b017clwz (about 31 minutes in) – nut trees

Latest News

Contact us

Agroforestry and Forest Garden Network and how to join

Consultancy service

plant list (shorter file for dial-up connections)

seed list & secure order form

publications list & secure order form

2011-12 Catalogue (pdf, 2.5 Mb)

our journal, Agroforestry News

Agroforestry and Forest Garden Network and how to join

Consultancy service

plant list (shorter file for dial-up connections)

 

 

Pittsburgh’s Premier Permaculture Design Company

pittsburghpermaculture.org

Pittsburgh Permaculture  is an edible landscaping and ecological design business.  Offer consultations, design and installation services to transform your landscape into a beautiful, ecologically-sound space…that you can eat!    They designed and planted the first community food forest in Pittsburgh and are committed to planting similar gardens throughout the region.  Through this work, we increase biodiversity, green space and inspire a care for the earth.

The Designers

Michelle Czolba and Juliette Jones began working together with the design and planting of the Hazelwood Food Forest in 2009.  Since then they have been working to share their passion and knowledge of sustainability and plants through edible landscape designs and educational opportunities offered by Pittsburgh Permaculture.

Juliette Jones, M.S., M.Ed, has always had a passion for nature, art and teaching.  Her work with Pittsburgh Permacultrue allows her to combine all three as she designs natural spaces, plays in the dirt and shares her knowledge via workshops, speaking engagements and classes.

She studied sustainable agriculture and permaculture design at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania.  She completed a permaculture apprenticeship at the Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute and has worked with and learned from permaculture experts, Dave Jacke and Darrell Frey, teaching courses on Edible Forest Gardening and Permaculture Design.  She is currently teaching Growing Sustainably Lab for Chatham University’s Food Studies program.  Notable design experience includes, design and installation of Pittsburgh’s first food forest in Hazelwood, demonstration gardens for Phipps Conservatory and an edible garden for the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh along with many residential designs.

Michelle Czolba, M.S., came into the study of permaculture while pursuing her Master of Science in Sustainable Systems at Slippery Rock University. Permaculture made so much sense that she sought to study it further by obtaining a Permaculture Design Certification under the tutelage of Christine Glenn and Darrell Frey. After graduation, Michelle and partner Juliette Jones began the Hazelwood Food Forest to implement permaculture theory, have a living laboratory and demonstrate a creative reuse of vacant lots. Some design projects Michelle has led include the Borland Green garden and various residential designs.

In addition to being a permaculturist, Michelle is the owner of Violet Herbs as an herbalist and herbal medicine and skin care creator. Through intensive self-directed and formal study, Michelle’s scope of experience encompasses plant identification, botany, ecology, chemistry, metaphysics, Earth-based spirituality and natural cosmetics. She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science with a Minor in Chemistry.

Hazelwood Food Forest, detailed design

 

Fruit Tree Polyculture, close up

 

Borland Green Community Food Forest

Front Yard Persimmon Polyculture

pittsburghpermaculture.org/residential

pittsburghpermaculture.org/forum/

pittsburghpermaculture.org/blog

info@pittsburghpermaculture.org

Permaculture Artisans

permacultureartisans.com

Offers a wide range of services in designing and building regenerative landscapes, farms, and neighborhoods. Our goal as an Ecological Landscape and Farm company is to create natural systems that support the health of the surrounding ecosystems by building soil, supporting wildlife, catching rainwater, installing appropriate plant species, and building beneficial human relationships throughout the landscape.

While striving to meet our clients’ goals, our designs mimic regenerative ecological systems and patterns. All of our landscapes work with natural energy flows such as air movement, water flows, existing animal paths, fire corridors, view sectors, soil types, human access needs, and more.

Through years of experience, Permaculture Artisans can build in nearly any type of ecosystem. Whether it is a wetland, dryland, steep slope, or heavily forested system – whatever the characteristics of the site may be – we work to heal and regenerate it. We offer our services for commercial or residential sites and are willing to work with municipalities and non-profit organizations.

We are committed to the three ethics below:

Care of Earth

We are an ecological landscape and farm design and build company. This means that we use organic and natural fertilizers, amendments, and pest control instead of chemicals. We work with the natural patterns, resources and limitations of the land.

We have the utmost care for the health, beauty and functionality of your land and in helping to accomplish your goals.

Care of People

We create a productive and positive work environment and strive to take good care of our workers, clients, sub-contractors, and project related persons. We communicate with respect and collaboration in these relationships.

Re-invest Surplus

In order to accomplish the above ethics, we invest surplus resources into refining our business model in order to provide our ecological design services in a broader way and take the best care of the people and the Earth. .

Permaculture Artisans’ Designs

Permaculture Artisans’ resourceful designs are not only beautiful but also save energy, and grow food, fiber, medicine, and soil. Additionally, they conserve and store water, and provide habitat for beneficial insects and wildlife.

We custom design and build according to a client’s needs and goals, and their land’s specific climate, soil, water, slope, plants, and other characteristics related to the site. Our services are versatile to meet the needs of any core issues like erosion, high wind, fire danger, or flooding.

We provide everything from hardscapes and water features to large farms and gardens. Check out our services panel to see the variety of systems we design.

permacultureartisans.com

permacultureartisans.com/permaculture.html

See more videos, or newspaper articles and audio on our press page
or check out our You Tube Channel

Living Mandala

livingmandala.com/Living_Mandala/Community_Projects.html

The mission of  livingmandala is to increase awareness, to create educational opportunities, and to catalyze project activities that implement ecologically and socially regenerative practices of human beings living in harmony with each other and their environment. Living Mandala designs, facilitates and produces courses, workshops and events as well as offers consultation services that implement ecologically and socially regenerative practices within a diverse set of fields.

Food Forests Across America!

In an uncertain economy and changing world, local food security is an essential element to becoming sustainable in this emerging Green Economy. Food Forests Across America is a loosely affiliated group of permaculture designers organizing around the initiative to transform lawns, parks, gardens, and empty spaces into thriving edible landscapes that are beautiful, regenerative, and produce an abundance of delicious, locally grown food! Food Forests Across America appeared on Visionary Culture Radio in April 2009, at Harmony Festival in June of 2009 showcasing a demonstration food forest garden, giving interactive tours, and hosting a panel discussion of permaculture designers. Food Forests Across America will also be at Earthdance on September 25-27 2009. Members of this group or permaculture designers are actively organizing workshops, projects, and initiatives installing food forest gardens around the country. We are seeking to raise money to build a website to more closely link together our work and the work of other permaculture designers and food foresters around the country, to showcase and promote food forests workshops and projects, and to powerfully inoculate this initiative into the culture at large. For more information on the campaign contact: forestgarden@livingmandala.com

What is a Food Forest Garden?

Food forests are diverse gardens modeled after natural ecosystems designed to mimic the way a forest thrives and regenerates. A forest continuously nourishing all elements in the system and produce a vast diversity of outputs, but requires little or no inputs to sustain itself. By recognizing the self-supporting, mutually beneficial relationships of the elements in a forest – from tall trees, smaller trees, shrubs, herbs, ground covers, vines, nitrogen fixers, insectaries, fungi, animals, and more, the food forest garden designs a similar system but replaces the components that are in a common forest with species that are preferred edibles and more useful for humans. The forest then becomes a Garden of Eden, in which edible or useful plants are found from head to toe, where something in season is always ready to eat, and the system requires little or no maintenance to sustain and regenerate.

Food Forests Across America on Visionary Culture Radio

On Monday, April 6th, 2009 the Food Forests Across America campaign went live with 6 permaculture designers from bioregions representing the east to west coasts of the U.S. appearing on Visionary Culture Radio.

Guests Included:

Erik Ohlsen – Founder & Director – Permaculture Earth Artisans

Ethan Roland – Founder & Director – AppleSeed Permaculture

Marisha Auerbach – Founder & Director – Herb ‘n Wisdom

Max Meyers – Director – Mendocino Ecological Learning Center

Jay Ma – Co-Founder, Director of Programs and Development – Living Mandala

John Valenzuela – Veteran Permaculture Designer, Educator & Consultant

 

 

 

 

ediblelandscaping.com

Edible Forest Gardens.com is dedicated to offering inspiring and practical information on the vision, ecology, design, and stewardship of perennial polycultures of multipurpose plants in small-scale settings. We intend this website to grow into an information and networking resource for newcomers, amateurs, students, and serious practitioners and researchers alike.

Also offering Permaculture design courses;

 2-WEEK PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE

http://www.eomega.org/workshops/permaculture-design-certification

This comprehensive, internationally recognized permaculture design certification training offers you a thorough understanding of how to assess a landscape for ecological design and how to design a more productive and ecologically balanced living environment.

As the health and well-being of our precious planet and all that lives on it faces increasing deterioration, the emerging field of permaculture offers real, sustainable solutions to our most pressing ecological, political, economic, and social problems.

Permaculture aims to design human systems that mimic and regenerate natural ecosystems. During this training, you learn about enhancing the ecology of your own backyard, find out how to mimic natural systems by linking elements into functional networks, and explore how to create and improve thriving ecosystems that nourish the natural landscape, feed the human spirit, and strengthen our communities.

Guided by leading educators and permaculture specialists, Kay Cafasso and Dave Jacke, along with local experts, this training is open to beginners as well as those with some experience in permaculture. Through experiential activities, design exercises, lectures, multimedia presentations, discussions, meditation sessions, writing, observation walks, visioning, and tours, you:

• Obtain a thorough grounding in ecological design practice
• Review global permaculture case studies and strategies
• Explore urban agriculture
• Learn how to turn lawns into gardens
• Study natural building techniques
• Gain knowledge about habitat restoration and wildlife tracking

14 Aug 2010 — Presentations from the Edible Forest Garden Intensive class with Dave Jacke as head instructor. WIth 4 teams of 4-5 per team, each team was given one of 4 different goals to design a portion of our host site (a portion of about 2 acres) into an edible forest garden. The four goals were:

1) Single Family Forest Garden, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhV_JMEDR2g Presentation 1 Q&A: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSQIwPUUefQ

2) Two Family Forest Garden,

3) Forest Garden Nursery (with natives & other plants that are especially good, but not common in the area), and

4) The Hustead Hub (the place to go in their locale for all things sustainable)

The last half of the video is footage of the property as I walked around, mostly silently….

 

• Edible Ecosystems Emerging; a 9-Day forest Garden Design Intensive

• Laying Groundwork: A 9-Day Advanced Farm-Scale Permaculture Design Course

Lay the groundwork for your deepening practice of permaculture design for the establishment of a permaculture training and demonstration center at Brook’s Bend Farm. This Advanced Permaculture Design Course (APDC) offers you direct experience designing permaculture systems that will build your design skills, your confidence and your portfolio, and spur you to deepen your self-study of the field. At the same time, you will help plan the transformation of Brook’s Bend Farm into a thriving multi-dimensional permaculture and nature awareness training and demonstration facility.

Event updates here;

edibleforestgardens.com/events

This is also the site of David Jacke and Eric Toensmeier authors of the excellent Forest Garden volumns Edible Forest Gardens.  Available here; http://www.forestgardening.net/forest_gardening_books/

 

 

The Fukuoka Farming website

urban-permaculture.blogspot.com/2008/06/fukuoka-farming-website.html

Masanobu Fukuoka was a Japanese farmer who developed what many consider to be a revolutionary method of sustainable agriculture. He is also the author of “The One-Straw Revolution” and several other books examining both his philosophy and his method of farming.

This website is an outgrowth and extension of The Fukuoka Farming Mailing List. Both were created as a place where people interested in Fukuoka’s method can network and share resources and experiences.

INFORMATION ON:

• Identifying and using plants
• Trees, forest gardens, and agroforestry
• Bioremediation
• Using plants to detoxify soils and water
• Edible wild foods
• Foraging, growing, and using wild plants
• Making and using seedballs

 

 

perennialsolutions.org

Perennial and regenerative food production systems have tremendous potential to help stabilize global climate and provide fair access to food. These revolutionary techniques and species are unfortunately little known. Perennialsolutions.org is my effort to present the “fruit” my own and others’ research and experience. This approach is based in permaculture, a design system for meeting human needs while improving ecosystem health.

Eric Toensmeier, of Perennial Solutions, has spent twenty years exploring edible and useful plants of the world and their use in perennial agroecosystems. He is the author of Perennial Vegetables and co-author of Edible Forest Gardens with Dave Jacke. Both books have received multiple awards, including the American Horticultural Society Garden Book of the Year and ForeWord Magazine Home and Garden Gold Medal Book of the Year Award, Garden Writer’s Association Silver Medal and American Library Association Choice Magazine Outstanding Academic Title. Learn more about Eric’s permaculture books and articles.

Permaculture food production and land management systems can:

• build soils and restore degraded lands
• provide essential ecosystem services like habitat and rainwater infiltration
• stabilize global climate through carbon sequestration
• contribute to a just food system and self-determination for communities.

Perennialsolutions.org is a home for the best resources I have found or created, from my own original writing and videos, to reports on my eight-year-old home edible forest garden and edible landscape, to links to the amazing online books and databases that I use most often.

His current project is promoting perennial farming systems, including agroforestry and perennial staple crops, as a strategy to sequester carbon while restoring degraded lands, and providing food, fuel and income, and ecosystem services. He presents on perennial food production systems to groups ranging from Mexican agronomists, Maya villagers, seed bank directors, urban farmers, and aspiring permaculture entrepreneurs. He teaches in English, Spanish, and Botanical Latin. Learn more about Eric’s presentations and workshops.

Eric is a founding Board member of the Apios Institute for Regenerative Perennial Agriculture and recently founded the Bosque Comestible project, an online Spanish-language user-generated database of useful perennials for Mesoamerica and the Caribbean, with an international team.

Eric ran an urban farm project for Nuestras Raíces in Holyoke Massachusetts, providing access to land and startup assistance for Latino and refugee beginning farmers. He implemented a bilingual participatory design process with farmers, youth, and board members to develop the 30-acre farm site as a cultural agri-tourism destination. As project director he realized the community vision with 25 leasehold farm enterprises, farm store, equestrian business, and cultural events.

His urban garden is a model of how to apply permaculture to a small space with poor soils, featuring over 200 useful perennial and self-seeding species on 1/10 of an acre.

Learn more about my bio and resume, award-winning books and articles, workshops and presentations, and consulting practice.

 

My blog features my latest thoughts on permaculture as a strategy for addressing global problems, reports on visits to cutting-edge demonstration sites, and updates from my own garden. View my videos, podcasts, andphotos of permaculture plants and practices being used by communities around the world.

You can also view content on perennial crops and techniques that stabilize the climate and build soils, North American indigenous land management techniques which provide a model for permaculture on a vast scale, and examples of ornamental and ecological edible landscaping for homes and institutions.

The website features profiles of useful plants including links to online plant books and databases, andsources of plants and seeds.

Check out permaculture solutions in practice including profiles of commercial permaculture farms, successes with urban permaculture, and financial permaculture: regenerative enterprise design and economic development through municipal scale permaculture design.

Eric also provides consulting services on various aspects of useful plants, edible landscaping, food forestry enterprises, farm business start-up, perennial polycultures, and the application of permaculture design to economic development.

Contact toensmeier (AT) gmail.com for Eric Toensmeier’s short-form resume or curriculum vitae.

 

 

 

thelivingcentre.com/cms/forest-gardening-home-page

the living center; an eco-spiritual education sancutatry

Forest Gardening:

An Ecological Vision & Practical Application to a Regenerative Future

We are offering numerous pathways to be Educated, Inspired and hopefully Activated in creating ecological forest garden sanctuaries of sustainability.
Forest Gardening: A Call to Action e-Manual

This is a how-to-manual. Discover the simple 7-step approach to establishing a flourishing forest garden for your bioregion. Packed full of practical wisdom that will make your transition to an ecological garden that will sustain and nourish you physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Enjoy the regenerative journey! Forest Gardening: A Call to Action e-Manual

Forest Garden Tours

The garden tours give you an opportunity to see the array of learning opportunities of edible forest gardening practices and plants that thrive here in Carolinian Canada through the various seasons. The garden tours begin after Earth Day in April and end in October. Forest Garden Tours

Forest Garden Walk-Abouts

A Forest Garden Walk-A-bout is an exploration with the property owner(s) on how to take advantage of the abundant natural resources surrounding their property such as the sun, rain, wind, climate and soil. An informative and inspiring assessment of the potential of the landscape. An exploration of what elements would be most beneficial by implementing a forest gardening design for the property. Call or email for more details

Workshops/Trainings

Learn how to apply practical Forest Gardening design practices to a diversity of landscapes with a focus on dense urban environments. Create and grow your own food no matter how big or small your backyard. Design your own property to ‘be a part of the solution’ in regenerating the landscape using forest gardening principles to establish a sanctuary to rejuvenate your whole being. Forest Gardening Workshops/Training

Correspondence/Mentorship

This is not your ordinary home-study course. This course is created to be an interactive form of educational and experiential learning providing a comprehensive introduction and practical application of Forest Gardening, allowing students to apply the principles in every aspect of their own lives. Forest Gardening Correspondence/Mentorship

Internship Program

Deep Ecological Action Training for Positive Systemic World-Change In a Nutshell. A two to three-month internships in a Forest Gardening Program, a cutting edge regenerative educational centre in the middle of Carolinian Canada. Forest Gardening Internship Program

Teacher Training

This teacher training course is for those who desire to study in-depth and share this with others as forest garden educators. Forest Gardening is an unique course combining the ancient wisdom of Ecological Design, Deep Ecology and Forest Gardening with the application Regenerative Practices. Forest Gardening Teacher Training

 

 

 

southwoodsforestgardens.blogspot.com

Excellent long standing informative blog/vlog on food forest production and design, current workshops, courses and events, resources and Q and A. Shock full of information, ideas, resources and whats happening on the edible landscaping front.

                            

 

 

 

 

 

Useful Plants.org                                

Useful Plants Nursery is a small, permaculture-based nursery specializing in useful, phytonutritional, food, and medicine plants well-adapted to our Southern Appalachian mountains and surrounding bioregions. Our plants are grown without the use of synthetic pesticides at our nursery located at Earthaven Ecovillage. I believe that growing your own food and medicine plants is a vitally important strategy and practice for regaining control over our collective and personal lives, our health, and our individual and bioregional economic well being. Our nursery is dedicated to putting those beliefs into practice and truly creating “Liberation through Abundance” as we serve your needs for healthy, useful landscape plants, and work together to reweave the web of life.

    –Chuck Marsh, nurseryperson, permaculture designer, bioregional inhabitant

Living Systems Design offers consulting and design services for creating regenerative human habitats. Services include:

• Permaculture/ecological design and consulting

 

• Edible landscaping design

 

• Installation services

 

• Sitemapping and drawings

 

• Energy and water conserving design.

Services are offered by Chuck Marsh and friends. Chuck also offers workshops at your site or at Useful Plants Nursery at Earthaven Ecovillage, near Black Mountain, NC.

Also offering Online plant lists and planting tips;

http://www.usefulplants.org/plants.php

http://www.usefulplants.org/2008-upn.pdf

http://www.usefulplants.org/instructions.php

Materials from Organic Growers School

Here are materials from Chuck’s and Debbie’s presentations at the 2012 Organic Growers School. For more information about Organic Growers School or to find handouts from other presentations, see the OGS website.

The Backyard Mountain Orchard

• Slides
• Handout

Permaculture and Human Nutrition

• Slides

Plant Jam DVD!  Now you can have all of our instructional videos on a DVD. These are the same videos as on our website, but with the DVD you can watch them on a DVD player or on a computer that doesn’t have high-speed Internet.

The DVD is only $10 plus $2 to cover sales tax and postage. Order yours here:

The DVD contains:

• Planting a shrub or fruit tree with Chuck Marsh and a Nanking cherry
• Planting a blueberry bush with Chuck Marsh and a blueberry plant
• Pruning young fruit trees with Chuck Marsh and a couple apple trees
• Pruning trees into bushes with Debbie Lienhart and some mulberry trees/shrubs
• Pruning young blueberry bushes with Troy Swift and a blueberry plant
• Pruning mature blueberries
• Pinch pruning with Chuck Marsh and a whole cast of plants
• Pruning muscadine grapes
• Taking care of blackberries with Chuck Marsh in Marjorie’s blackberry patch
• A shorter version of taking care of blackberries with Chuck
• Taking care of blackberries (follow up)
• Tuck your figs in for the winter with Chuck Marsh and a couple fig trees
• Winter protection for small figs with Chuck Marsh and some smaller fig plants
• Untucking figs after winter - see which protection methods worked the best

 

 

rareplantnursery.net

Paradise garden Rare Plant Nursery is a small nursery & farm in north Idaho specializing in fragrant and lesser known ornamental, edible & useful plants for northern climates, plus herbal necessities using herbs and flowers from our gardens, woods and fields.   

Scented flowers & foliage, night-blooming plants, a vase of amazing cut flowers for the window sill; we offer all these plants & more, with a special yen for the unusual, the far-flung and the hard-to-find.   Cottage garden plants, alpine lovelies, herbs from around the world, exotic fruits all find a place here.  Plus, of course, anything blue.
We grow a wide range of fragrant herbs, Primula, species Peonies, Penstemons, species & heirloom Roses, culinary, medicinal, dyers’ and perfumers’ plants, Western native plants and more.

Check out our recipes, lore, reading and how-to pages for ideas and tips on cooking with, using and gardening with herbs and fragrant plants.  Visit our blog In Paradise, where we chat about gardening & farming, soapmaking, cooking, etc.

 

                   

rareplantnursery.net

 

 

menziesnatives.com

Menzies’ Natives Nursery is dedicated to producing and selling native trees and shrubs.The nursery is a homegrown family owned small business devoted to the gathering and preparation of indigenous species seedlings, and cuttings of the Northwest Pacific Bio-Region under indigenous nursery conditions.

NativeSpeciesAvailable
Menzies’ Natives Nursery has over 300 varieties of native plant species at the Nursery – all indigenous to the Northwest Pacific Area. Over 700 varieties have been or are being grown at any one of several satellite locations.

Services offered;

Botanical Consultations

Landscaping
Design & Implementation
Home
Companies
Ranches
Industrial sites
New Vegetative Management

Recommendations
Plants
Planting & site arrangement
Planting seasons
Site selection

Selection
Native trees
Native shrubs
Soils & Other materials
Fertilizers

Restoration
Re-vegetation
Habitat restoration
Riparian restoration
Vegetative Management
Pruning & Procedures
Herbology Classes

Herbology

Consulting

Landscaping

Northwest Pacific native plant list; menziesnatives.com/natives.html

Impeccably credentialed horticulturist, Robert Menzies is the grandson of Robert H. Menzies, nephew of Arthur Menzies (of Strybing Arboretum fame), and a distant relative of Archibald Menzies (pioneer plant explorer). With an educational background as varied as: a BA from the University of Pacific; Studies in Viticulture at the University of California, Davis; Shamanistic Ethnobotony at Harvard; Ethnobotony/Nitra Humas Exchange at the Puson University in Korea; Universidad de San Antonio de Cusco in Peru and some business courses during his military stint at the University of Pennsylvania.

After traveling the world studying ethno-botany, sustainable agricultural commodities exchange and psycho-pharmodynamics, he decided to start a native nursery to put to practical use all the knowledge he had acquired. He started his first nursery in Mill Valley, California in 1970 and founded, along with others, several well known herbal companies.

Over the years, the nursery has had many homes, finally settling in 1980 on a beautiful 5 acre piece of land in Weed, California partially nestled in a grove of large, old growth conifers, with a creek and spring-fed pond. A remote Menzies’ ranch is used to grow native conifers, dogwoods, madrones, and many other native plants.

Menzies’ love of native plants and affinity for Siskiyou County and the Northwest Pacific, has given him a unique position in the nursery industry. Called upon to speak to various horticultural groups, landscape professionals and other interested parties, he imparts his vast knowledge with wit, humor and a unique intensity.

Robert’s personal vision is to align his plantings and his created habitats with the ebb and flow of Mother Nature. This commitment toward this goal is one of the things that makes Menzies’ Natives Nursery such a unique place.

 

 

~~ Our Nursery Supervisor inspecting tree quality on our young fruit tree varieties ~~

 

 

sln.potsdam.ny.us

St Lawrence Nurseries is a family farm and the Potsdam, New York homestead of Bill, Diana, Nova and Bali MacKentley. Although we ship trees only in April/May or late Oct/early November, you are welcome to come any time of year to visit, see the various trees and edible shrubs that we grow, ask questions and give us your ideas.

During the months of May through October, we are outdoors doing fieldwork or chores for most of the daylight hours. During this off-season, we may sometimes get behind on emails or phone messages…but never fear! We will get back to you eventually.

If you plan to stop by to visit us, call at (315) 265-6739 and leave a message.

We will return your call in the evening.

Specializing in cold hardy fruit and nut bearing trees

sln.potsdam.ny.us/gplums.html

trees@sln.potsdam.ny.us

 

permaculturenursery.com

We specialize in plants for perennial landscapes including: permaculture gardens, edible forest gardens, food forests, edible landscaping and unique additions to any garden.

For a little history about our work. Jonathan Bates started this nursery after many years of learning with and being inspired by Eric Toensmeier of Perennial Vegetables fame.

Much of the seed and plant stock for the nursery come from the Holyoke Edible Forest Garden, a case study highlighted in the book Edible Forest Gardens.

Design Consulting Garden Landscape and Site Assessments… At the beginning, a perfect place to start creating your dream landscape. We can provide the experience necessary to help you envision a design that is right for your place. Plant, Polyculture and Guild Design… Knowing your site can inform how and which plants fit into your landscape design. We will be there with you when you are choosing the plants. Garden, Farm and Landscape Installations… Once the design has been finalized, and plants are known, it’s time to put them in the ground. Our knowledgeable team at Food Forest Farm will insure the plants are placed safely in their new home. See the Holyoke Edible Forest Garden via video, co-designed with Eric Toensmeier.

Workshops and Skillshares Edible Forest Garden Training… Interested in more then what you can read in a book? At Food Forest Farm there is an opportunity to learn by doing. We have half day, full day, weekend, and week long workshops available throughout the year. Contact us for our scheduled program, or if you would like a custom training in your community. Video from the 2009 Fall Workshop. Growing Gourmet Mushrooms… Delicious mushrooms can be grown by anyone, in the garden, on logs, or in a bag. We can come to your location, or you can attended many preplanned events. Contact us today. Food Forest Farm

Edible Forest Gardens: Growing a Food Paradise… The presentation (.pdf file). Check out this presention of Food Forest Farm’s history, design process, and the perennial food we grow. Scheduled public workshops: NOFA MA winter and summer conferences, and other great events.

Botanical Garden Tours… The Permaculture Nursery at Food Forest Farm is our most popular attraction. Come take a tour and see an Edible Forest Garden in its full glory. Step into a modern day Garden of Eden! We welcome your interest, to visit the Farm, please contact us to make an appointment.

Plant Use and Identification… Hands on experience is the best way to get to know, successfully grow, and use the plants from our farm. We would love to have you come to the farm and ask questions, and see the plants growing in well established gardens. When you by that potted plant, you never really know what it will look like as an adult… come see them in real life!

If you would like to work with us or visit the farm please CLICK HERE.

Wild Mushroom and Plant Walks… Ever wondered what those colorful fungi are that pop above the forest floor (some are edible)… How about where to find wild asparagus or wild leeks? Well let’s take a walk and find out. Contact us for a planned walk or schedule your own.

Reading the Landscape Walks… The landscape around our homes and communities can tell us many things. While walking through the forest, one can see into the past, or gain useful knowledge to predict the future. Fun for young and old alike. Contact us for more information.

For our Forest Garden Plant Nursery list please visit; permaculturenursery.com/plantlist.html

 

raintreenursery.com/home.php

Since 1972, Raintree has been supplying flavorful, disease resistant fruit varieties to backyard gardeners like you.

Raintree selects fruit varieties for flavor and ease of growing, with you the backyard gardener in mind. We have searched the world to collect the best backyard fruit varieties for you, the American gardener, as you will see as you enjoy our catalog. Check our Growers Guide for a guide to the best choices for your region.

Most mail order fruit nurseries choose their varieties for the commercial grower and since they grow many thousands of each variety, they then offer those same varieties to you.

Commercial fruit varieties, the same ones you find in the supermarkets, are grown for their uniformity of shape and color, their ability to keep in controlled storage and their high production. We frankly don’t care how bright and shiny the fruit is or how well it can ship across the country. We care about how flavorful the fruit is and how easy it is for you, the backyard grower to grow.

Raintree selects fruit varieties for flavor and ease of growing with over 800 cultivars for the American Gardener, shipped directly to your home since 1972! Please browse through our categories on the left to see our great selection of fruit trees, nuts, berries, ornamentals, and more.

 

Along with edible plants and planting and growing information they offer;

Workshops

Book and supply store

Newsletters

Plant lists

Recipes , growing tips

Extensive plant Catalogue

Plant hardiness, ripening and pollination charts and guides

Specific regional appropriate plant varieties

Gift certificates

A 16 page PDF Plant Owner’s Guide

Ongoing plant restoration projects

raintreenursery.com/Garden_Center.html    

For questions, please call us;   1-800-391-8892

 

 

bountifulgardens.org

Bountiful Gardens sells untreated open-pollinated non-GMO seed of heirloom quality for vegetables, herbs, flowers, grains, green manures, compost and carbon crops. We are able to offer many varieties as Certified Organic, Natural, Biointensive or Grow BiointensiveTM sustainable seed. CCOF Certified Organic Handler.

Specialties: Rare and unusual varieties. Medicinal herbs. Super-nutrition varieties.

Biointensive books/videos for growing soil sustainably using mini-farming techniques such as double-digging, intensive spacing,and companion planting.

Fine tools, basic organic gardening supplies, and non-toxic insect controls. Our retail storefront is in Willits;  bountiful@sonic.net

You may be interested to know that Bountiful Gardens is a non-profit organization and a project of Ecology Action of the Mid-Peninsula which does garden research and publishes many books, information sheets, and research papers, some in other languages. Ecology Action operates a research mini-farm in Willits, CA and promotes the GROW BIOINTENSIVE(TM) method of food production which teaches people in 130 countries around the world to grow food and build soil with less work, water, and energy by natural methods. Workshops and tours of the research garden are available throughout the year as well as apprenticeship & internship opportunities. Find out more at growbiointensive.org

Offering;

Unusual Hot-Weather Heirlooms

Summer Grains

Vegetables

Mushroom Kits

Seed Mixes

Seed Collections

Compost Crops

Grains, Fibers and Oil Crops

Flowers

Herbs

Trees, Shrubs, and Berries

Fungal and Bacterial Inoculants

Tools and Supplies

Books

DVDs and Videos

 

 

 

 

 

 

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

southernexposure.com

Heirloom, organic, open-pollinated garden seeds from the mid-Atlantic and Southeast. Saving seeds, saving heritage.

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange offers more than 700 varieties of vegetable, flower, herb, grain and cover crop seeds. We emphasize varieties that perform well in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast, although gardeners and farmers from all over the country grow our seeds. We do extensive germination and purity testing to ensure that we always provide the highest quality possible.

Read in our resource library about why we specialize in heirloom seeds and primarily offeropen-pollinated (non-hybrid) seeds.

You may order seasonal items for later shipment when placing your full seed order. Gourmet, heirloom garlic and perennial multiplier onion bulbs are amongst our specialties (shipped beginning in September for fall planting). We also offer ginseng and goldensealfor fall shipment. When you plant these endangered woodland medicinals, you help ensure their survival for future generations. In the spring, we ship a variety of unusual and heirloom potatoes.

As part of our mission to promote seed saving and traditional plant breeding, we provide a variety of seed saving equipment in quantities appropriate to home seed savers (in ourSupplies), as well as seed saving resources in our Books & DVDs. Our catalog would not be possible without the efforts of the seed savers who created, refined and maintained these heirlooms.

Some of our seed growers have opted not to become Certified Organic, although they do use natural, ecological methods. We indicate these seeds with an “e” symbol. Since certified organic farmers must plant certified organic seeds when available, we prioritize offering USDA certified organic seed for varieties that are particularly well-suited to market gardeners. Rare seeds that are best suited to home gardeners may be contracted to our non-certified but philosophically sustainable growers.

We offer many unusual, Southern heirlooms, such as peanuts, southern peas, naturally colored cotton, collards, okra, turnip greens, corns for roasting and meal, and butterbeans. Customers are often surprised by the diversity of our heirlooms, especially our tomatoes, peppers, and melons.

 

aftaweb.org

Association for Temperate Agroforestry

The mission of AFTA is to promote the wider adoption of agroforestry by landowners in temperate regions of North America. Formed in 1991, the Association for Temperate Agroforestry Inc. (AFTA) is a private, non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization based at the University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry at Columbia.

With members in the US, Canada and overseas, AFTA pursues its mission through activities such as networking, information exchange, public education, and policy development. Our intended audience includes university researchers, educators and extensionists, private farm and forestry groups, public policy makers, and private landowners. AFTA has received financial support through dues and contributions from its members and the public, sponsorships from public agencies and private corporations,  contracts with USDA, and foundation grants, notably the Allen and Josephine Green Foundation.

AFTA is primarily a voluntary organization. Many individuals from universities, public agencies, private organizations and businesses donate their time and agroforestry-related expertise to help AFTA conduct its educational programs. The affairs of AFTA are overseen by a voluntary Board of Directors elected by its members.

What We Do

AFTA’s educational programs are aimed at facilitating the exchange of scientific and practical information about  temperate agroforestry, primarily in North America. Our major programs include:

• North American Agroforestry Conference: Since 1989, we have co-sponsored the biennial North American Agroforestry Conference series – a major scientific forum for those involved in agroforestry research, extension and application in the US, Canada and overseas.
• Newsletters: Our quarterly newsletter, The Temperate Agroforester, contains reports o­n research and demonstration trials, landowner success stories, conference reports, book reviews, links to information sources in print and o­nline, and a calendar of agroforestry-related events. The email newsletter Agroforestry Newsline alerts subscribers to news that’s relevant to agroforestry.
• Website: Our aim is to make the AFTA website serve as a comprehensive source of news and information about agroforestry, including info o­n agroforestry practices, searchable databases of agroforestry education and research, and links to other information sources.

• Technical and Policy Publications: Our reports o­n agroforestry development and policy are available for o­nline viewing.

AFTA – Your Temperate Agroforestry Information Resource

Part of the mission of AFTA is to inform landowners, resource professionals, researchers and educators about temperate agroforestry. With a primary focus o­n North America, we will strive to keep you up-to-date o­n the science and practice of agroforestry and the related fields of sustainable agriculture and non-industrial private forestry. This information will be expanded and updated o­n a regular basis so we invite you to check back frequently.

Agroforestry Newsline

Subscribe	The Agroforestry Newsline is sent by email to subscribers at least monthly. It contains news of developments related to agroforestry, including meetings, new publications, new and updated websites, etc.
Read latest or back issues

The Temperate Agroforester

Read latest issue	Published by AFTA since 1995, the Temperate Agroforester is our quarterly newsletter. It contains in-depth articles o­n agroforestry research, education and practice, e.g., practitioner profiles and book reviews.

Agroforestry Activities Database

Search the database	Search a database of agroforestry research, demonstration, teaching and practice in the USA and Canada, both in English and French. Use it, for example, to find out who is knowledgeable about a particular agroforestry practice in your state or province.
Add or Update Information

Annotated Bibliography

Search the database	With an emphasis o­n North America, this annotated bibliography lists selected books and journal articles that are related to temperate agroforestry. Currently limited to English language publications.

General Internet Sites

View site links

Information about agroforestry is also available from universities, government agencies and other organizations. For your use, we maintain a listing of useful websites.

AFTA Publications

View / order publications

AFTA publishes several reports, white papers and policy statements related to agroforestry. Many of them are available for viewing o­nline. Printed copies of some reports are also available for purchase.

Correspondents Network

Suggest new information	If you know of agroforestry information that should be added to our website, AFTA welcomes your suggestions and comments. We also invite you to consider joining the voluntary Correspondents Network, a group of dedicated volunteers who help make this website a valuable source of up-to-date information.

 

 

 

 

 

unitedplantsavers.org

United Plant Savers

United Plant Savers mission is to protect native medicinal plants of the United States and Canada and their native habitat while ensuring an abundant renewable supply of medicinal plants for generations to come.

These Are Exciting Times for Herbalists. We are witnessing the art of herbalism rapidly regaining its rightful place in the American tradition of health and healing. However, as herbalism flourishes and winds its way into the “main stream” of America, it is eliciting a unique set of problems and concerns. Where once only a small handful of people wildcrafted plants in the wild, ever increasing numbers are now heading to the hills.

Where once herbal enterprises were few and far between, now the competition often forces one to focus on the need for larger production and greater diversity of herbal products, thus utilizing more plant resources. Furthermore, other countries with an uninterrupted tradition of herbal healing are experiencing a severe shortage of medicinal plants and look to the North American continent for supplying these herbs. This increased usage along with habitat destruction is causing an ever-increasing shortage of plant resources, including some of our most treasured medicinal species.

Our work, the work of United Plant Savers, is to research, educate and protect in the interests of our plants and their habitats. We hope that you will join us in this worthwhile and important mission. UpS is a 501 (C)3 non-profit organization.

Species At-Risk

For the benefit of the plant communities, wild animals, harvesters, farmers, consumers, manufacturers, retailers and practitioners, we offer this list of wild medicinal plants which we feel are currently most sensitive to the impact of human activities. Our intent is to assure the increasing abundance of the medicinal plants which are currently in decline due to expanding popularity and shrinking habitat and range. UpS is not asking for a moratorium on the use of these herbs. Rather, we are initiating programs designed to preserve these important wild medicinal plants.

“At-Risk” List 
American Ginseng – Panax quinquefolius
Black Cohosh – Actaea racemosa (Cimicifuga)
Bloodroot – Sanguinaria canadensis
Blue Cohosh – Caulophyllum thalictroides
Echinacea – Echinacea spp.
Eyebright – Euphrasia spp.
False Unicorn Root – Chamaelirium luteum
Goldenseal – Hydrastis canadensis
Lady’s Slipper Orchid – Cypripedium spp.
Lomatium – Lomatium dissectum
Osha – Ligusticum porteri, L. spp.
Peyote – Lophophora williamsii
Sandalwood – Santalum spp. (Hawaii only)
Slippery Elm – Ulmus rubra
Sundew – Drosera spp.
Trillium, Beth Root -Trillium spp.
True Unicorn – Aletris farinosa
Venus’ Fly Trap – Dionaea muscipula
Virginina Snakeroot – Aristolochia serpentaria
Wild Yam – Dioscorea villosa, D. spp.

“To-Watch” List
Arnica – Arnica spp.
Butterfly Weed – Asclepias tuberosa
Cascara Sagrada – Frangula purshiana (Rhamnus)
Chaparro – Casatela emoryi
Elephant Tree – Bursera microphylla
Gentian – Gentiana spp.
Goldthread – Coptis spp.
Kava Kava – Piper methysticum (Hawaii only)
Lobelia – Lobelia spp.
Maidenhair Fern – Adiantum pendatum
Mayapple – Podophyllum peltatum
Oregon Grape – Mahonia spp.
Partridge Berry – Mitchella repens
Pink Root – Spigelia marilandica
Pipsissewa – Chimaphila umbellata
Spikenard – Aralia racemosa, A. californica
Stone Root – Collinsonia canadensis
Stream Orchid – Epipactis gigantea
Turkey Corn – Dicentra canadensis
White Sage – Salvia apiana
Wild Indigo – Baptisia tinctoria
Yerba Mansa – Anemopsis californica

Botanical Sanctuary Network Application

Apply to join the BSN network of over 90 Botanical Sanctuaries across the country. 

The mission of United Plant Savers is to preserve, conserve and restore native medicinal plants and their habitats of the US and Canada, while ensuring their abundant, renewable supply for future generations. To this end, United Plant Savers established …

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UpS Internship Program

Herb Study ~ Intern Opportunity ~ Spring & Fall 2012

Spring Session: Spring session will run April 30 through June 22, 2012 (application deadline April 15th) The Spring Session will be split into two 4-week sessions. You can apply for the first 4-week session or the second 4-week session or the full 8-weeks.

Fall Session: Fall session will run for 6-weeks, from September …

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Partners in Education

One Seed at a Time – Herb Schools embrace UpS
We are offering a special student membership of $20 per student for all herbal schools, apprentice programs, and training courses that enroll their students as a group.

When your school/program joins Partners in Education, your students will have access to all UpS publications on the member resource page, and your school/program …

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Goldenseal Sanctuary

The United Plant Savers 360-acre Botanical Sanctuary sits in the Appalachian Foothills of Southeastern Ohio. Thanks to optimal soil conditions and unique topography, the Sanctuary is a refuge for wild medicinal plants which occur in abundance throughout the property. Historically known as “Paynes Woods”, what is today the UpS Sanctuary was known by many, who lived near to it at the turn of the century, …

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Navdanya.org

 

Navdanya is a network of seed keepers and organic producers spread across 16 states in India.

Navdanya has helped set up 65 community seed banks across the country, trained over 5,00,000 farmers in seed sovereignty, food sovereignty and sustainable agriculture over the past two decades, and helped setup the largest direct marketing, fair trade organic network in the country.

Navdanya has also set up a learning center, Bija Vidyapeeth (School of the Seed) on its biodiversity conservation and organic farm in Doon Valley, Uttarakhand, North India. Navdanya is also actively involved in the rejuvenation of indigenous knowledge and culture. It has created awareness on the hazards of genetic engineering, defended people’s knowledge from biopiracy and food rights in the face of globalisation andclimate change.

Navdanya is a women centred movement for the protection of biological and cultural diversity.

Recent Books

Making Peace with the Earth Wars in the 21st century are wars against the earth; against natural resources like water, soil, forests, minerals, seeds. The global corporate economy based on the idea of limitless growth has become a war economy and the means it uses are instruments of war. Trade wars. Water wars. Food wars. The GMO Emperor Has No Clothes Dedicated to the peasants of India who led the first movement of freedom 150 years ago and are rising once again to A global citizens report that documents the false promises and failed genetic engineering technologies in agriculture. Download pdf

 

The Food Forest       Permaculture Farm                                           and                                  Learning Centre

Public events program & Short Courses CHOOK TRACTOR  – They lay faster! Buy our food at the Adelaide  Showground Farmers Market      FOOD FOREST TV  LAUNCHED ON YOU TUBE Homepage The Food Forest Maps..how to get to The Food Forest       Permaculture Short Courses  Building with Strawbales        Consultancy Tours Education ServiceFact Sheets & Info  Food for Sale  Composting toilet and reedbed systems  The Energy Efficient Home       To contact us

The Food Forest is a permaculture farm producing 160 varieties of organically certified food; it is a busy centre for people interested in learning skills for a sustainable way of life through short courses and it is the base for a consultancy service specialising in the design of ecologically sustainable properties CONTACT

Nutcrackers for every purpose - macadamia, almond, walnut, pecan and more ———————————————————————- Manfred has babies!  The bizarre story of a male goose who had ten goslings

The Food Forest is being developed by Annemarie and Graham Brookman and their children Tom and Nikki, to demonstrate  how an ordinary family, with a typical Australian income can grow its own food and create a productive and diverse landscape.
We are committed to the sharing of information through our courses and field days and at this website you will find some of the technical  information that we have learned in 15 years of sustainable gardening, farming and building. 

 

Our wine invited to the Hilton

‘Design For Life’ -the permaculture movie

Order  DESIGN FOR LIFE  THE DVD

Food Forest stars on Gardening Australia

The Food Forest on film
ABC TV’s Landline

 

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