Regenerative · Perennial · Hopeful
Grow a forest
you can eat.
Food forests turn a patch of ground into a living, layered ecosystem — one that feeds people, heals soil, and mostly tends itself. Come learn how they work, and meet the people already growing them.
The idea
A garden that grows like a woodland
Instead of tidy rows you replant each spring, a food forest layers trees, shrubs, herbs, roots, and vines into one self-supporting community. Diversity does the work that chemicals and tilling do elsewhere — and once it's established, the harvest goes up while the labour goes down.
It's an old idea, drawn from tropical home gardens and Indigenous polycultures, and it's quietly radical: an ecosystem designed to be generous.
Read the introduction- PerennialPlant once, harvest for years.
- LayeredSeven tiers sharing the same ground.
- DiverseA polyculture that's resilient by design.
- Self-sustainingFeeds its own soil and pollinators.
Structure
The seven layers
A food forest fills every level of space, from the canopy overhead to the roots and fungi below. Here's the vertical stack that makes it work.
In the world
People already growing them
From a public food forest in Seattle to a regrown rainforest in Brazil — real places, real harvests, real proof that this works.
Beacon Food Forest
Seattle, Washington
A pioneering public food forest on Seattle's Beacon Hill, where anyone can wander in and harvest for free.
Stewarded by Volunteer community
Ernst Götsch — Syntropic Agriculture
Piraí do Norte, Bahia
The Swiss-born farmer who regrew a rainforest — and its springs — by farming the way a forest grows.
Stewarded by Ernst Götsch
Geoff Lawton — Zaytuna Farm & Greening the Desert
The Channon, New South Wales (and Jordan)
The permaculture teacher who made the desert bloom with nothing but earthworks, mulch, and water harvesting.
Stewarded by Geoff Lawton
The compass
Three ethics beneath it all
Permaculture — the design philosophy food forests grow from — rests on three simple commitments.
Earth Care
Provision for all life systems to continue and thrive — soil, water, forests, and the web of creatures we depend on.
People Care
Provision for people to access the resources they need for a decent, dignified existence — food, shelter, community, meaning.
Fair Share
Set limits to consumption and redistribute surplus — of time, money, and harvest — back into caring for the earth and people.
Learn
Start with the basics
Short, friendly reads to get you from curious to planting.
What Is a Food Forest?
A gentle introduction to edible forests — perennial, layered, and designed to mostly look after themselves.
The Ethics & Principles of Permaculture
Three ethics and twelve design principles that turn "work with nature" into something you can actually do.
Guilds & Companion Planting
How a handful of well-chosen plants can support a fruit tree — and each other — so the whole group nearly tends itself.
Your forest starts with one tree.
You don't need land or a grand plan — just a corner, a little patience, and one guild to begin. We'll show you how.
Plant your first guild