A new glossary search term called ‘shoots’ was created when we recently added additional tropical plants to the Plants For A Future database. The new glossary item, which is marked on the Plant Pages under Edible Uses, allows you to…
The trustees of the Plants For A Future charity wish all the visitors and users of our website and database a Very Merry Christmas and a productive New Year. We expect that you will be producing more and more edible…
Plants for Your Food Forest: 500 Plants for Temperate Food Forests and Permaculture Gardens. An important new book from PFAF. It focuses on the attributes of plants suitable for food forests, what each can contribute to a food forest ecosystem,…
Chris Marsh and David Gearing have been associated with the Plants For A Future (PFAF) charity for 14 years, Chris as Managing Trustee and Treasurer, with David providing vital support. They have both been involved with permaculture since 1990 and…
Increasing interest in food forests or woodland gardens reflects a growing awareness that permanent mixed plantings are inherently more sustainable than annual monocultures. They can safeguard and enrich soil ecosystems, enable plants to form mutually beneficial combinations, utilise layers both…
Posted to PFAF blog on 19 June 2018, updated with new featured image 11 October 2018. Many would agree that homegardening is going to be an important part of the solution to climate change. Eric Toensmeier has written about temperate…
Plants For A Future and the Transition Movement The Plants For A Future (PFAF) research project and the Transition Network (originally Transition Towns) both came from permaculture (‘permanent culture’ and ‘permanent agriculture’). Ken Fern, who created PFAF in 1989, explained…
A delicious fruit for the autumn. Sorbus domestica is a deciduous tree growing to 15m (50ft) at a medium rate with a trunk up to 1m (3′ 4″) in diameter. On exposed sites it may only grow to be a…
A favourite nut growing on large evergreen trees, Cashew (Anacardium occidentale), grows up to 10-12m tall with a short and usually irregularly-shaped trunk. The dwarf version growing to 6m is preferred for commercial crops. It has spreading branches and a…
Stinging Nettle is a fantastic underused weed with excellent edible, medicinal and other uses. The Young leaves are cooked as a potherb and added to soups etc. They can also be dried for winter use. Nettles are a very valuable…
