Mangoes are easily one of the most underrated food forest crops. Mangoes taste delicious and pack ample healthy antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins. We can also show you how to grow mangoes from seed – even if you don’t live in the…
Have you ever had a surplus of lemons and wondered what to do with the seeds? Instead of tossing them, why not grow an outdoor or indoor lemon tree? They make excellent food forest additions. And lemon trees are more straightforward than…
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 gardening, you could be missing out on big ways to…
Arizona gardeners often contend with arid conditions and find ways to beat the heat. However, with the right Arizona backyard ideas, you can create a beautiful and productive space even in the most challenging desert environments. Here are Five Eco-Friendly…
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 species that can be grown there in a temperate climate. …
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 quite so neatly… Like all plants, climbing plants start their…
In our exploration of temperate food forest layers, we’ve been taking a closer look at each of the seven layers, what we can plant there, and how to design each layer for optimum results across the whole garden. So far,…
![Layers of a Food Forest: Permaculture Shrubs [Part 3]](https://69be7209.flyingcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/permaculture-food-forest-seabuckthorn-shrub-with-berries-scaled-768x1151.jpg)
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 ecosystem. Today, we’ll look at permaculture shrubs we can grow in…
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 on the ground… In conventional orchards, the ground is either…
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 in natural woodland. These layers can be roughly divided up…
It was like all my Christmases came at once, when, a couple of months ago, my husband’s grandmother offered to pay for $400 worth of fruit trees. I spent a whole day browsing nursery websites, researching the varieties on offer,…