"Edible Forest Gardens" - important to have?

[wombat]

The two volume set that sells for around $100; think it's worth it if you're permaculturing?

[MidWestHerbalist]

The two volume set that sells for around $100; think it's worth it if you're permaculturing?

Also Check out Edible Landscapes
&
Plants for a Future (7000 plant) Database of Edible Medicinal & Useful Plants for a Healthier World

[digger]

If you live in a temperate forest zone, it's a fantastic book.

What makes these books different is that the focus is on "perennial polyculture." All the theory and practices are for producing food with perennial plants, mimicking the ecology of a forest to maximize production.

The appendix contains a huge database with details about the most useful perennial plants.

Here's the table of contents to Volume 2
http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/edible_forest_gardens_vol_ii:hardcover/table_of_contents

You can get a feel of what the book's like here:
http://www.edibleforestgardens.com/about_gardening

[wombat]

Thanks. I'm in southern Ohio.  Maybe there's a list of what perennials and trees to plant specific to my area?  Black walnuts, persimmons, pawpaws, jerusalem artichoke are all native; I'd like to add to those.

[uberdoomer]

I had a related inquiry here:
http://www.doomers.us/forum2/index.php/topic,38604.0.html

This was about a DVD related to this technique, however, I'd love to have these books as well!

[FilterFeeder]

intensive forest gardening can support 10 people per acre oil free against 5 per acre with massive fossil input - don't know anything about the book in question, but the concept is worth investment

[digger]

You're in a temperate forest zone, so most important for picking plants is your hardiness zone, soil type (sand, clay, loam; wet or well-drained), and PH. pfaf.org has good data. A few of the most interesting plants to me, from the book: Korean Pine Nut, Chinese Chestnut, Anise Hyssop, Sweet Cicely, Siberian Pea Shrub, Guomi. The three you mentioned are in the top 100 list. A lot of the plants listed you've probably heard of, Pear, Cherry, Gooseberries, etc. The nurseries in your area, or in the same hardiness zone, and you'll find more than enough to keep you busy planting. The books are great for theory and practical advice. Personally, being interested solely in forest gardening, I think those books are mostly what I need to get some basic foundation, then I can fill in all the details doing research on the Internet. "Plant Propagation" is a good supplement. Too bad the books are so pricey - I've met the author and he's not getting rich by any means, in fact he has to beg for donation for his work and scholarships for his classes, which are great. He's a worthwhile cause. There's no big money in this yet, if there ever will be. I've found that there isn't anybody locally doing this already, so I'm focusing on getting as much genetic material as possible into my land, and see what grows the best. Very experimental. Trees you have to buy each and get planted soon. Bushes and herbs you can get one or two, then propagate from those by cuttings or seeds. Here's some sites I like: http://www.jlhudsonseeds.net/ http://www.oikostreecrops.com/store/home.asp

[wombat]

Thanks, Digger. Here's what I've started so far: apples, pears, blueberries, filberts, heartnut, currants and jerusalem artichokes. Also Saskatoon blueberry which everybody says grows well here but won't fruit. Oaks, hickories, blackberries and black walnut  came pre-installed with the place. 

[digger]

Sounds great. The filberts and heartnut could produce some serious calories. I've been thinking about what will produce the most calories for the least amount of work. Pinenut and chestnut have potential.

This plant looks really interesting: Evergreen, nitrogen fixing, ok in poor soils, fruit and seed are edible providing carbs, protein and fat. http://www.pfaf.org/leaflets/elaeagns.php

I found the same plants as you on my place, pre-installed, except no walnut. I did find some gooseberry and chokecherry, but they weren't too robust - probably not enough sun. The place is almost all oak forest, so I cut down a 1/3 acre circle in the middle, fenced out the deer, and that's where I plant. It's a pain to remove the oaks, but then you have very little grass and weeds to worry about, and the soil has lots of humus and is unabused by man, at least not recently. I use the logs to make raised beds and line paths. The edges of the forest seem diverse, but inside it is just oak with very little hickory, and little understory. Like a 2nd growth desert.

[wombat]

Which chestnut?  Chinese/Asian?

[digger]

Chinese chestnuts are blight resistant in the Eastern US. I haven't bought from this company yet, but the owner has been friendly and answered my questions via email. They're located in Ohio:
http://www.empirechestnut.com/catalog.htm

[wombat]

Pine nuts - from pinion pine, right?  Think they'd grow in Ohio? They're really good in stuffed grape leaves.

[digger]

I'm growing the Korean Pine Nut in fairly acid, clay soil, z5, starting last year. No idea how they do long term as I know of no one growing in my area,  but they are growing and look healthy. Most pine nuts you get in the stores come from Korea and China grown from the Korean Nut Pine. We import most of it - a pity since it can grow well in the US and Canada. Korean Pine likes well-dained soil. (In clay soil, for Korean Pine (and Russian Cedar), good to dig a 20X16'' hole and mix peat moss in with the clay soil - once established, the roots can get into the clay soil and do well. Also mound it up 5 inches.)

Swiss Stone Pine and Siberian Pine can do well in wet heavy clay. The nuts are a bit smaller, but the shells are thin enough to crack with your fingers (Russian Cedar, too).

Pine nuts go rancid quickly 2-3 weeks after they are removed from the shell. That's the funky smell of pine nuts, most of which have been sitting around for ages in the stores. They keep all winter in the shells. Needless to say I'm pretty excited about this plant. They are 5-7 years old before production starts, have to be patient.

Have a look here:
http://www.nuttrees.com/history_nutgrowing3.htm (got the above info from the owner)
Thus owner grows them successfully in Ontario. Korean Pine Nut and the link above is recommended in the Forest Garden book. All these pines seem fairly adaptable. They're all fine looking trees, also considered ornamental, with bluish needles esp. if you fertilize them a bit in spring.