FOOD FOREST GARDENS PLANTING GUIDE

September 17, 2013 33 Comments

Here is where you’ll find a constantly updating list of Warm Temperate Food Forest Plants. I will add links to detailed descriptions of each as I post them including the most resilient of the lot as observed from our own food forest garden and those we have designed. It’s exciting to see some subtropical plants not only surviving but thriving in this climate if you choose the right microclimate (e.g. against a brick wall or mulch pit with grey water)

The realisation dawned with an artichoke flower bud, this gourmet delight that had not only survived but multiplied under my utter neglect. It had been a dizzying summer in our new garden started too late to harness the mild flush of spring.

Our annuals had struggled under baking sun and then a dreary winter had snuffed out hope of even mild self-sufficiency until the following spring, 3pm the dreaded time that the flats next door snuffed out our sun each day. A year later our annual beds bloomed and tomatoes swayed seductively, it looked great and tasted better but it had been a slog against sun, wind and snail.

We finally turned our attention to our little attempt at a food forest, planted and then forgotten for almost a year. But to our surprise and delight it was not a tangle of weeds or barren earth that the annual bed seems to revert to when your trowel wavers for a moment, the opposite: parsley gone mad, banana plants soaring skyward, almond blossoming, Babaco at almost 45 degrees under its weight of fruit (despite being in full shade all winter) and green manure leaving soil moist and soft. Of course with a little more intervention it could have been more productive, but it had reached a state of balance on its own that meant I didn’t have to fret if I went on holidays, or empty a water tank to quench its thirst. Although a far cry from a true forest, our little “low maintenance” perennial garden was working.

From that moment I changed my design strategy: easy, low maintenance, productive and beautiful… a Food Forest Garden.

Now we have an exciting project on the horizon, a Forest Garden for the Flemington Community Garden. Stay tuned for more!

nasturtium-spring-bulb-growing-under-tree

7 Layers of a Temperate Forest Garden

The 7 layer classification system was developed by Robert Hart from Prehistoric tropical garden methods in the 60s for more temperate climates. It provides a structure similar to that of a real forest that can be adapted from a large scale farm to that of a modest backyard. The architecture of a successful food forest considers not only light requirements of the plants, but water, shelter, root depths and other companion planting principles.

1. Canopy Layer

9m+ high nut, fruit and nitrogen fixing trees (Only larger FFGs)

2. Low-tree Layer

4m high, Dwarf Fruit / Nut Trees
Nitrogen Fixers & smaller trees
Shade tolerant trees
Pruned into open form for light

3. Shrub Layer

Woody perennial plants
Flowering, fruiting, wildlife attracting

4. Herbacious Layer

Perennial vegetables
Self seeding annuals
Bee & poultry forage
Mulch & soil builders, cover crops

5. Groundcover Layer

Less than 30cm high
Low, prostrate, creeping plants
Forms a living mulch – retain, suppress weed growth

6. Rhizosphere (Root) Layer

Edible roots & tubers
Shallow rooted, easy to dig
Longer rooted left to flower for beneficial insects

7. Vertical Layer

Climbers, creepers, vines
Twine around trunks or up fences, trellises, etc.
Habitat and food
Only in established Forest Garden, can strangle young trees

1. Canopy Layer

avocado-canopy-layer-temperate-forest-garden

Alder	Alnus
American Persimmon	Diospyros virginiana
Apple	Malus sylvestris
Arazole / Mediterranean Medlar	Crataegus azarolus
Black locust	Robinia pseudoacacia
Carob	Ceratonia siliqua
Cherry	Prunus avium
Chestnut	Castanea dentata
Chinese Chestnut	Castanea mollissima
Cornelian cherries	Cornus mas
European Plum (Myrobalan)	Prunus domestica
Hawthorn	Crataegus spp.
Highbush cranberries	Viburnum trilobum
Honey locusts	Gleditsia triacanthos
Japanese Walnut (Heartnut)	Juglans ailantifolia
Korean Stone Pine	Pinus koraiensis
Northern Pecan	Carya illinoinensis
Pear	Pyrus communis
Siberian Pea Tree	Caragana arborescens
Stone pine	Pinus pinea
Tagasaste/ tree Lucerne	Cytisus proliferus
Walnut	Juglans
Hawthorns	Crataegus monogyna
Medlar	Mespilus germanica
Mulberry	Morus spp.
Quince	Cydonia oblonga

2. Low-Tree Layer

Almond dwarf	Prunus dulcis
Apple Dwarf	Malus domestica
Apricot	Prunus armeniaca
Australian Round Lime	Citrus australis
Banana (Lady Finger)	Musa acuminata
Beech	Fagus sylvatica
Cherry Dwarf	Prunus avium
Citrus Dwarf	Citrus spp.
Crab Apple	Malus sp.
Date-plum	Diospyros lotus
Dogwood	Cornus
Elderberry	Sambucus nigra
Japanese peppers	Zanthoxylum spp.
Fruit Salad Plant	Monstera deliciosa
Nectarine	Prunus persica v. nectarina
Olive	Olea europaea
Pawpaw, Papaya	Carica papaya
Peach Dwarf	Prunus persica
Pear Dwarf	Pyrus communis
Persimmon Dwarf	Diospyros spp.
Plum Dwarf	Prunus domestica
Service Tree	Sorbus domestica
Tamarillo, Tree Tomato	Cyphomandra betacea
Tree mugwort	Artemisia arborescens
Bamboo ‘Gracilis’	Bambusa textilis ‘Gracilis’
Serviceberry	Amelanchier spp.
Silverberry	Elaeagnus
Acacia/Wattles	Acacia spp.

3. Shrub Layer

Acacia/Wattle	Acacia spp.
Austral Indigo	Indigofera australis
Blackberry	Rubus fruticosus
Blueberry	Vaccinium spp.
Cape Gooseberry	Physalis peruviana
Currants	Ribes spp
Curry Plant	Helichrysum italicum
Edible Savlias	Salvia spp.
Goji berries	Lycium barbarum
Gooseberry	Ribes Uva-crispa
Guavas	Myrtus spp.
Jostaberry	Ribes x culverwellii
Large Kangaroo Apple	Solanum laciniatum
lavender	lavandula angustifolia
Lemon Verbena	Aloysia triphylla
Mountain Marigold	Tagetes lemmonii
Nodding Saltbush	Einadia wutans
Perennial Basil	Ocimum gratissimum
Perennial Chilli, Rocoto Chilli	Capsicum pubescens
Raspberry	Rubus spp.
River Mint	Mentha australis
Rose	Rosa
Rosemary	Rosmarinus officinalis
Scented Geraniums	Pelargonium graveolens
Southernwood	Artemisia abrotanum
Tomatillo	Physalis philadelphica
Wormwood	Artemisia absinthium

4. Herbacious Layer

Asparagus	Asparagus officinalis
Balm	Melissa officinalis
Borage	Borago officinalis
Broad bean	Vicia faba
Buckwheat	Fagopyrum esculentum
Calendula	Calendula officinalis
Comfrey, Knitbone	Symphytum officinale
Dill	Anethum graveolens
Fennel	Foeniculum vulgare
French Sorrel	Rumex scutatus
Garden Mint	Mentha sachalinensis
Garlic Chives	Allium tuberosum
Globe Artichoke	Cynara scolymus
Hyssop	Cynara cardunculus
Lemongrass	Cymbopogon spp
Lovage	Levisticum officinale
Marigold	Tagetes
Mint	Mentha spp.
Oregano	Origanum vulgare
Parsley	Petroselinum spp.
Pepino, Pepino Dulce, Melon Pear	Solanum muricatum
Perpetual/Perennial Spinach	Beta vulgaris var. cicla
Phacelia	Phacelia Tanacetifolia
Rhubarb	Rheum rhabarbarum
Sorrel	Rumex acetosa
Stevia	Stevia rebaudiana
Tansy	Tanacetum vulgare
Yarrow	Achillea millefolium

5. Groundcover Layer

groundcover-layer-clover-mustard-cover-crop

Alpine Strawberries	Fragaria x vesca
Sweet Alyssum	Lobularia maritima
Basil Thyme	Acinos arvensi
Black Cumin	Nigella Sativa
Clover	Trifolium
Coral Pea	Hardenbergia violacea
Corsican Mint	Mentha requienii
Cranberry	Vaccinium Oxycoccus spp.
Creeping Oregon Grape	Mahonia aquifolium
Creeping Snowberry	Gaultheria hispidula
Creeping Thyme	Thymus serpyllum
Fat hen	Chenopodium album
Ground Elder	Aegopodium podagraria
Kamchatka Bilberry	Vaccinium praestans
Lingonberries	Vaccinium vitis-idaea
Lowbush Blueberries	Vaccinium angustifolium
Marshmallow	Althaea officinalis
Miner’s Lettuce	Claytonia perfoliata
Nasturtium	Tropaeolum majus
Pigface	Carpobrotus modestus
Prostrate Rosemary	Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Prostratus’ or ‘Huntington Carpet’
Roman Chamomile	Chamaemelum nobile
Running Postman	Kennedia spp.
Sweet Violets	Viola odorata
Vervain	Verbena officinali
Warrigal Greens	Tetragonia tetragonoides
Wintergreen	Gaultheria procumbens

6. Rhizosphere Layer

Arrowroot	Maranta arundinacea
Beetroot	Beta vulgaris
Carrot	Daucus carota sativus
Cassava (Tapioca)	Manihot esculenta
Chicory	Cichorium intybus
Chives	Allium schoenoprasum
Daikon	Raphanus sativus L.
Daylilly	Hemerocallis fulva
Echinacea	Echinacea angustifolia
Garlic	Allium sativum
Ginger	Zingiber officinale
Ginseng	Panax spp.
Groundnut	Apios americana
Horseradish	Armoracia rusticana
Jerusalem artichoke	Helianthus tuberosum
Liquorice	Glycyrrhiza spp.
Native ginger	Hornstedtia scottiana
Oca, New Zealand Yam	Oxalis tuberosa
Onion	Allium cepa
Parsnip	Pastinaca sativa
Potato	Solanum tuberosum
Salsify	Tragopogon spp.
Sweet Potato	Ipomoea batatas
Tree/Egyptian Walking Onions	Allium cepa var. proliferum
Welsh onion	Allium fistulosum
Yacon	Smallanthus sonchifolius
Yam Daisy	Microseris scapigera

7. Vertical Layer

Cantaloupe	Cucumis melo reticulatus
Chokos	Sechium edule
Climbing peas	Pisum sativum
Coral Pea	Hardenbergia violacea
Cucumbers	Cucumis sativus
Grape -Sultana	Vitis vinifera
Grapes	Vitis spp
Honeydew Melon	Cucumis melo inodorus
Honeysuckle (Blue-berried)	Lonicera caerulea
Hops	Humulus lupulus
Kiwi Berry / Hardy Kiwifruit	Actinidia arguta
Kiwi fruit	Actinidia spp
Malabar Spinach	Basella alba ‘Rubra’
Maypop	Passiflora incarnata
Nasturtium (Climbing)	Tropaeolum majus
Passionfruit	Passiflora edulis
Perennial bean (scarlet runner bean)	Phaseolus coccineus
Pumpkin	Cucurbita pepo
Soybean	Glycine max
Squash	Cucurbita
Sweet Potato (‘Bush Porto Rico’/’Centennial’)	Ipomoea batatas
Watermelon	Citrullus lanatus
Wild grape	Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris
Zucchini	Cucurbita pepo

Garden

PLANTING OUT TOMATOES

August 1, 2013 7 Comments

transplanting solanaceae and other warm weather crops
growing tomatoes in a temperate climate

garden-planting-out-plan-solanaceae-companions

After months of waiting, it’s finally here, that tiny window where you can plant out your hot weather crops! Blink and it’s gone, a month before it was too cool and a month later too hot, without enough time for the fruit to mature before autumns chill prevents fruit ripening. In Melbourne this magical month is November, when the minimum temperature doesn’t dip below 10C, but the rain has not yet dried up and those scorching 30C plus days are few and far between. In the Northern Hemisphere this would be May.

Spring’s warm weather companions have been flourishing, beans twisting around stakes and lettuces feathering over the earth to protect your delicate young seedlings from the worst of sun and wind. The rest of your hot weather lovers such as basil can go in now with your tomatoes, capsicums, chillis and eggplants. There was room for a cucumber too in the corner of my garden bed, to twirl up and over an arbour.

A month of work paves the way for two months of rest

After you slog this month out you will have earned that beach vacation and the garden should be fairly self sufficient. Remember don’t spoil your plants and they won’t throw a tantrum when you’re not there.

►
My garden bed plan for the warmer months. Tomatoes in the centre of each triangle, supported by string thread around stakes. Lettuces suceeded by basil, marigolds, amaranth
Stage 1: September – November
Stage 2: December – March

Grow plants densely in hot weather to protect them form sunburn, otherwise put up a shadecloth.

plastic-bottle-greenhouse-tomato-seedling-propagation

Tips for planting out tomatoes

In warmer months plant in the evening to allow transplants to recover overnight. The opposite is true in cold weather, where the plants need the warm day to prepare for the cold night, to reduce the likelihood of rot.

Tomatoes are nutrient hungry, but if your soil is too rich they will produce a lot of leaves an no fruit. Dig a hole twice as deep as your seedling’s pot and place poultry manure in the bottom, cover this with soil and plant seedling on top. The plant will grow deeps roots, and reach the manure when it need the extra boost, when covered in fruit.

Avoid overhead watering as this can contribute to sun spot and fungal spores can be splashed onto foliage from other plants.

Plant hot weather crops when the minimum temperature is consistently over 10C

Plant tomato seedlings deeper than they were in their pot so the roots are nice and deep to protect them from drying out. Like cucurbits and some herbs, tomatoes form roots on their stems when in contact with soil.

There is no need to prune. Studies have shown yield is actually reduced when plants are pruned.Wounds on plants increase their risk of disease. If you need to cut them, use secateurs disinfected with mentholated spirits.

Plants can get stressed because they don’t get enough moisture. Water your seedling thoroughly an hour before transplanting and for added benefit use seaweed tea. This helps soil cling to the roots and minimises shock. If it is really dry fill the hole with water and wait for it to drain into the soil before planting.

Mulch thickly around plant to keep soil damp.

watercolour-plastic-bottle-greenhouse-tomato-roots

Tomatoes have delicate stems, be careful when handling not to bruise of bend them. The same goes for the roots, be gentle!

mychorrizal-fungi-roots-seedling-propagation

Add mycorrhiza fungi to the roots of the seedling before transplant. Whilst natural ecosystem such as the forest floor have millions of fungi in the soil, garden beds often require the addition of beneficial fungi to act as agents for nutrient exchange, making nutrients otherwise locked up available.

transplant-tomato-polywicking-bed-chamomile-tea

Water deeply to saturate the soil and make sure it stays moist for the first few days after transplant. Try a chamomile herb tea After that water only once a week, but very deeply. This encourages deep roots, watering too often, and too shallowly causes roots to form near the surface and these are vulnerable to drying out on a hot day. Plants watered too become soft and delicate.

Garden

EDIBLE WEEDS

June 30, 2013 13 Comments

Edible weeks along the Merri Creek, Brunswick, Australia

companions planting was never so easy

A Permaculture garden is the ultimate multicultural society. However, whilst diversity is encouraged in the garden that doesn’t mean Permaculturalist’s are egalitatarian, oh no not all plants are created equal, just start up a conversation about comfrey or conversely kikuyu grass and you’ll see. But a plant’s indigenous lineage doesn’t guarantee it spot in the veggie path, especially in Australia where the natives are quite mean with their nutrients, the eucalypt tree even has a nasty trick where it drops its toxic leaves on the ground to discourage competition. So in a community garden it’s not great, but as a woodchip path it is quite a good grass suppressant.

Foreign plants do quite well here, they appear here there and everywhere without you having to spread a single seed and they are very hardy. Any other gardener looks on these “weeds” with bored cynacism and reaches for the round-up.

Don’t judge them on those nasty rumours that Monsanto spins, they can be useful and some are edible too.

DANDELION

Native to Europe and Asia, can use to loosen overgrazed, compacted pastoral soils as well as in the humblke veggie patch.

Dandelion companion planting

Their long deep tap roots break up hard soil and bring nutrients up from deep down to benefit shallower rooted annuals without competing for surface nutrients. They also release ethylene gas which aids in fruit ripening, so a patch of dandelions around your late green tomatoes might be a good idea. Their bright yellow flowers attract beneficial insects such as bees to pollinate your garden.

Most intriguing of all is their power to combat fusarium wilt, a soil-borne fungal disease that effects tomatoes grown in the same soil year after year. This disease reduces health and yield of tomatoes, but dandelion roots produce an acid that starves the disease of iron.

We harvest the root, peel it and use it in stirfries for a potatoey/parsnipy substitute.

Used as a nutritious salad green, benefits of dandelion include:

high in iron, calcium, vitamin K, B6, E, K thiamin, antioxidants, beta- & alpha-carotene

treatment for liver disease, kidney and spleen complaints, skin conditions, digestive aid

cancer fighting properties

acne remedy

SOW THISTLE

Sow thistle too is said to aid growth, but I’m slightly suss on this particular edible. There was a particularly old and serrated one in my garden bed which I brushed passed. Where it touched my skin I came up in what can only be described as a horribly itchy flea bite like rash. With a reaction that extreme I’m loathed to put it in my mouth, no matter how nutritious it is. Turns out I’m one of those unlucky people with an allergy to the old Sow!

So this a lesson to everyone before eating any new food whether it be a weed or just an exotic fruit, test a little bit first don’t go swallowing a whole green smoothie full of it! One day I will try cooking it then doing a patch test on my wrist first, but until then I think I will just stick to the nettles and dandelions until I’m REALLY HUNGRY!

NETTLES

Native to Europe and Northern Africa, be heartened that when you feel its sweet sting at your ankles and merrily hop in pain that it is an indicator that your soils is oh so fertile, pop a tomato next door for optimum results.

This was one of the Permaculture lessons that blew my mind, Peak Oil aside, could that horrible stinging nettle that I had long called weed be a friend?

Nettle in companion planting
Nettles are said to increase disease resistance and resilience to insect attacks. People even go so far to say it improves the flavour of its neighbours, increasing their production of aromatic oils. As a tomato companion they improve their keeping quality by slowing down the fermentation process and for eggplants they are the ladybird’s preferred breeding ground so bad news for the resident aphids. And remember why nettles make a good mulch?

I recommend you pick up a copy of Adam Grubb’s Weed Forager’s Handbook to learn more, it’s really fascinating.

Nettles as edible
Eat the tender young leaves dried, blended or cooked for these benefits:

high in antioxidants

40% protein by dried weight

dense in mineral, especially calcium (for the vegan’s out there you onlyneed 150g to get your recommended daily intake)

reduces pain of arthritis

anti-dandruff properties

mild hayfever remedy

eczema remedy

diuretic & hypotensive – reduces blood pressure

astringent for nosebleeds and internal hemorrhaging

detoxifying blood tonic

reduces benign enlargement of the prostate

add dried to chook feed, helps to protect against disease

So next time you feel tempted to pull that weed, maybe rethink the definition and pull the ornamental taking up valuable tomato space instead.

Nettles are a protected place for caterpillars to transform into beautiful butterflies.

Sometimes confused (by me at least 😉 ) with RED RIB DANDELION which is actually a chicory, but still a great addition to a salad!

Butterfly metamotphosis photos taken by my clever dad

Garden

CHOP & DROP MULCHING

June 7, 2013 11 Comments

chives-parsley-basil-sage-dandelion-milk-thistle-rosemary-mulch

[mm-insert-title]

high summer preparation
free, easy mulching solutions for the busy gardener to replesh nutrients in their soil and protect their plants form the hot weather.

The seaweed mulch we covered the garden beds with has been decomposing nicely, shrinking away to nothing. adding nutrients to the soil. However the companion plants haven’t grown large enough to cover the bare spots and the cool weather crops are ending. On the otherhand the herb border went wild during the Spring Flush!

What to do… let’s chop & drop!

Herbs accumulate a lot of micro-nutrients in their leaves, especially the perennial ones with deep roots, they’re pretty sneaky and can get hidden nutrients out of even the worst soil. So if you can’t eat them all it makes sense to chop up the leaves and mulch with them, as they decompose they’ll make those nutrients accessible to your annuals. A lot of these are also great compost activators and some plants like legumes actually accumulate nitrogen from the air! I use trimmings of the River Wattle bushes we have in our food forest as it is nice and fine. Always finely chop your herb mulches so they breakdown easily and in the case of nasturtiums don’t start spouting! You can even use leafy kitchen scraps, but don’t let your chooks/worms go hungry! Add crushed eggshells for additional calcium.

Just like us plants need a balanced diet to be disease resistant and healthy. In nature leaves fall to the ground adding nutrients back to the soil, some are eaten by animals and insects, but they too add to the soil in the form of manure. How can we expect the soil to remain healthy when all we do is take and take? A diet of sugarcane mulch alone is just not enough! To avoid problems of malnutrition, spread your herb mulch throughout the garden to evenly distributing a broad specturm of nutrients.

So why waste time and money buying fertilisers and chemical additives?! You just need to follow nature’s example, chop & drop the leaves where you found them! It’s not lazy if it’s smart! Ha!

NOTE: Some herbs have negative allelopathic effects on other plants so should not be used as a mulch. These “anti-companions” release biochemicals that stunt growth, cause plants to bolt or just outright kill them dead. Why would they be so cruel? Perhaps as a defense mechanism to ward off herbivorous animals and insects, but is that really an excuse?

green-mulch-lettuce-seedling-angelica-eggshell-acacia

micro-nutrients found in some common herbs

If you know of anymore please share with us, let’s add to the list!

PERENNIAL HERBS

MARJORAM – calcium, phosphorus, iron, magnesium, trace amounts of manganese

OREGANO – calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, trace amounts of zinc

ANGELICA – potassium

ROSEMARY – phosphorus, potassium, iron, magnesium, zinc, calcium

THYME – potassium, phosphorus, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc

CHAMOMILE – calcium, potassium, phosphorous

COMFREY – nitrogen, calcium, potassium, iron, magnesium, silica

ANNUAL HERBS

PARSLEY – calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, trace amounts of phosphorus

BASIL – calcium, iron

NITROGEN FIXERS

ACACIA – nitrogen

VETCHES – nitrogen, potassium, phosphorous, copper, cobalt

LEGUMES – nitrogen

LUPINS – nitrogen, phosphorous, calcium

WEEDS

THISTLES – potassium

NETTLES – calcium, iron, copper, sodium, sulphur, nitrogen, potassium

DANDELION – iron, copper, potassium, sulphur, manganese

PLANTAIN – calcium

EDIBLE FLOWERS

SUNFLOWERS – potassium

PRIMROSE – magnesium

YARROW – copper, nitrogen, potassium, phosphorous

BORAGE – potassium, calcium, silica, phosphorous

NASTURTIUMS – sodium, fluorine, sulphur, magnesium, calcium, potassium, phosphorous, iron

From that moment I changed my design strategy: easy, low maintenance, productive and beautiful… a Food Forest Garden. Now we have an exciting project on the horizon, a Forest Garden for the Flemington Community Garden. Stay tuned for more!

7 Layers of a Temperate Forest Garden

1. Canopy Layer

2. Low-tree Layer

3. Shrub Layer

4. Herbacious Layer

5. Groundcover Layer

6. Rhizosphere (Root) Layer

7. Vertical Layer

1. Canopy Layer

2. Low-Tree Layer

3. Shrub Layer

4. Herbacious Layer

5. Groundcover Layer

6. Rhizosphere Layer

7. Vertical Layer

A month of work paves the way for two months of rest

Tips for planting out tomatoes

companions planting was never so easy

Don’t judge them on those nasty rumours that Monsanto spins, they can be useful and some are edible too.

DANDELION

SOW THISTLE

NETTLES

Nettles are a protected place for caterpillars to transform into beautiful butterflies.

Butterfly metamotphosis photos taken by my clever dad

high summer preparation free, easy mulching solutions for the busy gardener to replesh nutrients in their soil and protect their plants form the hot weather.

What to do… let’s chop & drop!

micro-nutrients found in some common herbs

PERENNIAL HERBS

ANNUAL HERBS

NITROGEN FIXERS

WEEDS

EDIBLE FLOWERS

From that moment I changed my design strategy: easy, low maintenance, productive and beautiful… a Food Forest Garden.

Now we have an exciting project on the horizon, a Forest Garden for the Flemington Community Garden. Stay tuned for more!

high summer preparation
free, easy mulching solutions for the busy gardener to replesh nutrients in their soil and protect their plants form the hot weather.