Polyculture Farming – What Is It and Why Is It Better Than Monoculture?
If you grow some or even most of your own food, you might think you’re doing your part to live more sustainably. However, if you’re not using polyculture farming or …
Permaculture and Self Sufficiency
The Ultimate Checklist for Living Off the Grid [+ 20 Self-Reliance Tips!]
Ask anyone living off the grid – the path to self-reliance is about skills development, perseverance, and savvy planning. Moving away from the conveniences of urban living is both challenging and …
Permaculture Swale Spillways – How, Where, and Why
It’s not unusual to be confused about permaculture swale spillways. It can take a bit to get your head around this concept, especially if you’re doing an online PDC (Permaculture …
Best Plants to Grow In Your Survival Garden, Part 1: The Basics
With feelings of food insecurity on the rise, starting a survival garden may have crossed your mind more than once. Even though we usually have enough food being produced and …
What to Plant In a Plum Tree Guild [Examples, Flowers, and Herbs!]
To make the most of a plum tree guild, it is always important to place it in the right spot and select the best companion plants to help your plum …
10 Essential Things for Any Backyard Permaculture Garden
The perfect permaculture garden is a garden that cares for people and our planet. It is a resilient space that helps you live sustainably and take only your fair share …
How to Create the Perfect Fruit Tree Guild Layout for Permaculture
Fruit tree guilds are a fabulous feature of many permaculture gardens. These guilds are essentially collections of plants that work together to improve the health and productivity of the tree …
5 Must-Grow Vegetables for Warm Climate Self-Sufficient Gardens
You can grow a lot of basic food crops like wheat and sugar yourself, even though not many people grow them in their own gardens. You might be used to …
9 Best Self Sufficient Living Books for Homesteaders and Pioneers
In the Oxford dictionary, the definition of the word “self sufficient” is simple. If you are self-sufficient, then you need no outside help in satisfying your own needs, especially when …
Food Forest Introduction – The Seven Layers of the Forest Garden
In this series of articles, I will walk you through the seven layers of the forest garden or backyard food forest, explaining the purpose and function of each one and some of the …
Layers of a Permaculture Food Forest Part 5: Climbing Plants
There’s a bit of an odd-one-out among the seven layers of the permaculture food forest garden – a group that doesn’t fit into any one particular compartment of the garden …
Layers of a Permaculture Food Forest Part 4: Understory and Canopy Trees
In our exploration of temperate food forest layers, we’ve been taking a closer look at each of the 7 layers; what we can plant there and how to design each …
Layers of a Food Forest: Permaculture Shrubs [Part 3]
So far, in our exploration of the different layers of the permaculture food forest garden, we have covered the underground and herbaceous layers that comprise the smaller plants of the …
The Herbaceous Layer and Edible Ground Covers In a Permaculture Food Forest
Edible ground covers and the herbaceous layer of the permaculture food forest. What makes a food forest garden different from an orchard? One of the distinctions lies in what’s growing …
The Root Layer of a Food Forest (Layer 1 of the 7 Layers)
One of the defining features of forest gardens and food forests is how they utilize space to maximum efficiency by growing crops in several “layers” – just as you’d see …