The Food Forest Handbook

Create abundance through this unique approach to low-maintenance, high-yield, sustainable food production

A food forest is a productive landscape developed around a mix of trees and perennials. Rooted in permaculture principles, this integrated approach to gardening incorporates a variety of plants such as fruit and nut trees, shrubs, vines, and perennial herbs and vegetables. Food forests can help increase biodiversity, protect valuable habitat for beneficial insects, and promote food security and resilience, all while providing an abundant harvest.

The Food Forest Handbook is a practical manual for the design and management of a home-scale perennial polyculture garden. Simple, straightforward instructions guide the reader through:

Getting started - site assessment and planning Tending the forest garden – maintaining soil health, succession planning, , mulching, pruning and more The fruits of your labor – crop profiles, harvest, storage, nutrition and recipes.

This timely book makes the concept of food forests accessible to everyone. Focusing on the potential of perennial polyculture to enhance local food systems, The Food Forest Handbook shows the reader how to mix and match plants in unique combinations to establish bountiful landscapes and create genuine self-reliance in years to come.

Darrell Frey is the owner and manager of Three Sisters Farm, a five-acre permaculture farm, solar greenhouse and market garden located in Western Pennsylvania. He has been permaculture teacher for thirty years, and is the author of Bioshelter Market Garden: A Permaculture Farm .

Michelle Czolba is co-owner of Pittsburgh Permaculture and co-founded the Hazelwood Food Forest. She has extensive experience in the design and maintenance of perennial polyculture.

The Food Forest Handbook is a comprehensive guide to creating abundance though low-maintenance, high-yield, sustainable food production based on perennial polyculture management.

Create abundance through this unique approach to low-maintenance, high-yield, sustainable food production

A food forest is a productive landscape developed around a mix of trees and perennials. Rooted in permaculture principles, this integrated approach to gardening incorporates a variety of plants such as fruit and nut trees, shrubs, vines, and perennial herbs and vegetables. Food forests can help increase biodiversity, protect valuable habitat for beneficial insects, and promote food security and resilience, all while providing an abundant harvest.

The Food Forest Handbook is a practical manual for the design and management of a home-scale perennial polyculture garden. Simple, straightforward instructions guide the reader through:

Getting started - site assessment and planning Tending the forest garden – maintaining soil health, succession planning, , mulching, pruning and more The fruits of your labor – crop profiles, harvest, storage, nutrition and recipes.

This timely book makes the concept of food forests accessible to everyone. Focusing on the potential of perennial polyculture to enhance local food systems, The Food Forest Handbook shows the reader how to mix and match plants in unique combinations to establish bountiful landscapes and create genuine self-reliance in years to come.

Darrell Frey is the owner and manager of Three Sisters Farm, a five-acre permaculture farm, solar greenhouse and market garden located in Western Pennsylvania. He has been permaculture teacher for thirty years, and is the author of Bioshelter Market Garden: A Permaculture Farm .

Michelle Czolba is co-owner of Pittsburgh Permaculture and co-founded the Hazelwood Food Forest. She has extensive experience in the design and maintenance of perennial polyculture.

Acknowledgments
Introduction

1. Perennial Polycultures: Past, Present, and Future
Forest Ecology
More About Ecology
Perennial Polycultures
Agroforestry
Food Forests Through Time and Around the World
Food Forest Developments in the 20th Century
Food Forests in the 21st Century: The New Cottage Garden

2. Food Forest Design and Planning
Permaculture Design and the Food Forest
Permaculture Concepts
The Design Process
Site Analysis
Bringing It All Together
Creating a Sector Map
The Design Concept Map
Possibilities Abound: Microniches on Your Land
Plant Research
Plant Selection
Fruit Tree Polyculture

3. Food Forest Design: From Concept Sketch to Detailed Designs
Concept Sketch
Food Forest Pros and Cons
Patterns of Design
Some Other Multifunctional Arrangements
Urban Considerations
Seed Resources

4. A Food Forest Feast: Selecting Plants for Your Food Forest
Why We Eat Fruit
Nuts
Herbs
Greens
Edible Flowers
Roots
Wild Edible Plants
Fungi
Medicinal Plants
Uncommon Fruits
Soil-conditioning Plants
Nutrient-cycling Plants
Habitat Plants and Ecological Niches: The Birds and the Bees
Creating Your Food Forest Guild
Species Palettes
Choosing Your Plant Varieties

5 Tending and Growing a Forest Garden
Initial Site Preparation
Diverse Plant Life Spans
Three Steps to Creating a Dynamic Mineral-rich Ecosystem
Perennials and Biennials
Fungi
Space for Annuals
Soil Fertility Ideas
Maintaining Plant Health: The Power of Observation
Managing the Food Forest Ecosystem
Managing Cedar Apple Rust ( Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginiana )
Plan for Abundance
Planting a Tree
Pruning Techniques
Harvest
Fruit Tree Care
Maintenance Schedule

6. Propagating Your Food Forest Garden
Buying Plants
Growing Your Own: Tools and Methods
Heirloom Fruit
A Nursery Business!

7. A Tour of Food Forests in Various Climates
Drylands
Central Mexico Food Forest: El Huizachal
Food Forest Around Luis and Carla Hurtado's House
Temperate Continental Climate: Perennial Polycultures at Three Sisters Farm
For the Bees: A Bee Yard Design
Some Food Forests in Pennsylvania
Subtropical America: South Florida Food Forests
Mid-Atlantic Food Forest
Suzi's Natural Food Forest and Permaculture Gardening — Texas Style
Pacific Northwest: Beacon Food Forest
Hazelwood Food Forest Revisited: Where Is It Now?
Food Forests in the Sustainable, Regenerative Society
Closing Thoughts

Appendix: Compost Remediation for Lead Contamination
Index
About the Authors
About the Publisher