Designing a Perennial Food Forest 

Thank you so much, I’m glad you liked it!

Thank you, that’s all great advice! We wound up planting blueberries in another part of the yard without using raised beds (we couldn’t afford that at the time and I’d prefer to use cedar). Otherwise, we may add more blueberries into this food forest area some day and your idea would be a great way to do it. Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts!

No problem! Sometimes it happens when I don’t plan it.

You're welcome, I'm glad it helped!

Where is that flag from? 😊

@@p_roduct9211 I'm from The Bahamas, that's how our flag looks 🇧🇸

That’s great to hear, I’m glad I could help!

I'm so happy to hear that! Thank you so much, I do enjoy sharing what I've learned about growing food. Thank you for subscribing as well!

I agree! I took screenshots of the plans. I need ideas to incorporate into my fairly new yard with professional landscaping. However, I had to get someone to remove 8” of mulch because I had mold toxicity. What a pain. I’m going to start doing living ground covers.

Thank you! I just made another video about food forest layers where I visit a real forest for reference.

Same here! Or any time, really.

Thanks and I appreciate the sub! I’ll have an update on this soon and much more over the summer. Best of luck with your food forest!

That sounds like a great plan! Sunlight is definitely a must have. We cut down the one maple tree mentioned in this video, but the other tree is still casting too much shade. We may also try to get some syrup from it before it has to come down, too.

@@SomeRoomtoGrow it’s unfortunate I have to cut them down, but they shade out prime garden real estate for half the day.

@@Baffi_ I totally understand, and sometimes it just has to be done.

Yes, it is. Somehow I spelled it wrong and I can’t change it now. At least I got it right in my newer videos! Thanks for subscribing!

Thank you and I’m glad it was helpful! I’ll be sure to make more videos like this. 😁🐝

Thank you for the feedback! I will be posting more videos about this as we add on to it this year.

I’ve heard about that, too. We planted two blueberry bushes last fall so we’ll put some strawberries around them ASAP.

@@SomeRoomtoGrow only just watched that one lol. Although no idea how the strawberries will react to the snow. It's not something I have to deal with lol

There are some cold hardy varieties and I know a few people who grow them in our climate.

That's amazing! It sounds like a completely different environment for gardening. It's definitely great exercise and I hope you get some good food out of your garden.

That's great to hear, thank you!

Thank you, that means a lot! We’re in Iowa 5b.

I subscribed and looking forward to all things related to help a novice gardener, like myself, with planning an edible landscape on small home yard.

Yeah I am in SE MI and always used to see us as 5 (not sure which letter), but now see 6.

Thank you so much! I’m really happy to hear that you found it useful for education, too. That’s one of the many reasons I make videos! We did have to cut down one of our trees, but we still have the other one. Thank you for the recommendations, I’ll check that out. Happy gardening!

Thanks, I am too! I need fresh peaches in my life 😂

Awesome, thanks! I did just add some currants to the food forest. I’ll talk about that in a future video.

Thank you, I’m glad you liked it!

Thank you and you're welcome! Check out Edible Acres if you haven't already. They have a beautiful food forest and great videos on many types of guilds. Happy gardening!

You’re welcome and Merry Christmas!

Same here! Thanks for watching!

We would have preferred to do it in that order, but we couldn’t afford the tree removal cost at the time. We did eventually cut down one tree and used it to make hügelkultur beds, path borders and firewood. Now I’m going to make a flower planter in the stump!

Yup, they’re notorious for falling apart!

@@SomeRoomtoGrow Yep, now all I have to deal with are the neighbor's limbs cluttering up my back yard. 😂

We also have an enormous maple tree that has a double stem from 2 meters upwards. We had specialists put in a special 'rope' so the two stems don't break apart. It's pretty far from the house; 25-30 meters, but will probably still hit it. We are probably not allowed to get rid of it. We also have an oak tree of 120 years much closer to the house. But that tree is very stable.

Sounds like a few of our gums here in Australia. One hot day and down come the massive branches

@@matthewfarrell317 Now that you mention it, my 100 y.o. sweet gum dropped a massive branch last summer. They're so old they ALL just need to come down.

Agreed! We did take that tree down a few months after this video, then used much of the wood for hügelkultur beds. When we can afford it, we’ll probably take the other tree down and plant more fruit and nut understory trees.

Excellent! I just ordered some wild strawberry seeds but I’d still like to grow larger, everbearing varieties.

@some room to grow where did you get wild strawberry seeds? I am looking for organic

I ordered them from Prairie Moon Nursery, they have all native seeds.

@@SomeRoomtoGrow thanks so much. What seed companies have you found are the most reliable?

@@CC-lv1ox Baker Creek is always good, but we do also like to save a little money with Seeds 'n Such. Prairie Moon is really great for midwestern native plants.

It’s filling out! We don’t have everything I mentioned here, but we’re getting there.

Haha those wiley rabbits! I also hate seeing so much time and money going into boring grass areas that do nothing for the ecosystem. That sounds like a good idea for your yard, I hope it goes well!

You’re welcome, glad you liked it!

Oh no! I hope it’s doing better now. We got rid of the one tree and hopefully we can do the same with the other soon.

Thanks for the info!

We eventually took this one down and we’re glad we did. Much of it is now hügelkultur!

Thanks for subbing and good luck with your food forest!

@@SomeRoomtoGrow Anytime! Really appreciate all the insights and knowledge of the channel. Any advise or thoughts on planting dwarf trees closely vs in one hole?

I’m glad to hear that! You’ll want to give the trees some space from each other, even with dwarf varieties. You can plant other support species close to the trees, like I showed in this video.

Thanks, I'll check it out! This is just the beginning, but we'd like to have apples, cherries, blueberries and more.

@@SomeRoomtoGrow This is what I love. You can also check Martin Crawford's book Creating a Forest Garden. I think that its a must. A ton of knowledge. Also Grow a Little fruit trees by Ann Ralph is a great book if you want to have more fruit trees in less space. I bet your garden will be a paradise. Keep on going!

Awesome, thank you so much for the recommendations!

They are! We like the violet leaves, too.

@@SomeRoomtoGrow That's a new one for me. I'll investigate. I'm about to take over a lovely garden spot in Zone 10A in Mexico.

Wild Violets grow everywhere up here in 5b. Not to be confused with African Violets, which are definitely NOT edible. Wild Violets do spread easily and can be a nuisance, but they make a great edible ground cover. Congrats on the new garden and have fun with it!

@@SomeRoomtoGrow Thanks! I'm pretty thrilled with this new opportunity.

You’re welcome! I’m thinking about hazelnut, which is more of an understory tree, but that’s fine for our small yard.

That could fill the spot for sure. They're pretty think like a bush usually unless you prune them. A tree like a pecan or something could be pruned open and allow light in. But I don't know the size of your space or your goals. Have fun with it!

Pecan would also be lovely if they’re hardy enough for our region.

Exactly! We have a few in mind.

Thank you! And that’s true. We may plant some apples in the future (Burgundy are our favorite) but we really wanted peaches so I made sure to find varieties hardy to our zone (5b).

Thanks! Yes, I have some newer videos that show this area being planted out. You can find a Food Forest playlist on my channel. Some of the plants have changed but it’s gradually starting to come together. We’ll be able to fill out more this year.

Thank you! I used a combination of Procreate on my iPad and Adobe After Effects on PC. I used a few plant photos for reference and freehanded the rest. Procreate is great to use for copying and pasting layers, moving them around for layout designs. You can draw your own plants or import photos. I use it often for garden planning!

Yes any recommendations for planning apps, sites, books.

¡Gracias! Pronto incluiré subtítulos en español. ¡Gracias por ver!

We’re very excited. The fenced garden is at the south end of the yard where we get the most sun. I’ve been reluctant to expand north into the yard because the silver maples shade out much of the property. But we’ve decided to remove those because they’re very high maintenance.

@@SomeRoomtoGrow Thank you for the quick response - sad that your trees have to come down, but better than having them fall on someone

You’re welcome! We’ll put them to good use after we take them down, and we can find something better to plant toward the north end of the yard.

Awesome, I hope it goes well!

@@SomeRoomtoGrow thanks, me too, I’m afraid that the wind might blow away all of the flowers and I’ll never see fruits 😅

@@amandathurston9915 that’s what windbreaks are for!

I found Comfrey root cuttings on Etsy. There may not be very many for sale at the moment, but I'm sure there will be a lot more soon. The cuttings are easy: just stick one in the ground and you're guaranteed to have a plant within a month or two.

Where are you based? I live in Germany and here it's called Beinwell. Last year I ordered a plant and today I got seeds by mail.

@@jinde75 we’re in Iowa, USA. We got a strain called Bocking 14, which has sterile seeds so you have to propagate it by root pieces.

@@jinde75 I'm in central California.

@@SomeRoomtoGrow Thanks for mentioning that strain! I have seen these for sale, but wondered why I couldn't find seeds. Makes sense now.

I haven’t read about that method so I don’t know how effective/safe it is. This is actually my first time growing fruit trees! I have zero experience with pest control in that field. That being said, I would prefer to find a more natural pest deterrent than Vaseline.

The acidity from the vinegar won't last very long in the soil. I would try using soil acidifier or elemental sulfur.

Thank you! I used Procreate on my iPad to make the design. The flowers are the end are just the dandelions and wild violet that come up in our yard.

That’s something to think about. It’s been a couple years now with this food forest, and I can mostly just let the rain take care of watering. It’s getting very close to a self-sustaining system.

Hello Barry, thanks for subscribing!

Thanks for being.

@@barrylyons9296 😆

They can be a nuisance that close to a house. Otherwise, they’re just trees being trees.

I don’t think it gets that tall, but it’s good to keep pulling leaves off to use for fertilizer mulch.

No, maybe about a foot high. The flower stems get a bit higher.

Thank you for watching! That's a good question but I don't know the answer. Maybe?

@@SomeRoomtoGrow Depending on where you are located and how much land is available : (The more edible Pine tree may not grow in the deep south. There are a number of companion plants that attract beneficials. Some trees have edible bark or the bark can be utilized for making fabrics.) "Eat the Weeds" : ("In the white oak family, the Live Oak’s acorns are among the mildest one can collect. Botanically the Live Oak is Quercus virginiana. Quercus (KWERK-kus ) was the Roman name for the tree and virginiana (ver-jin-ee-AY-nuh) means North America and usually where the species was first noticed, such as Virginia.") ("Acorns are quite nutritious. For example, the nutritional breakdown of acorns from the Q. alba, - the white oak - is 50.4% carbohydrates, 34.7% water, 4.7% fat, 4.4.% protein, 4.2% fiber, 1.6% ash. A pound of shelled acorns provide 1,265 calories, a 100 grams (3.5 ounces) has 500 calories and 30 grams of oil.) "Survive Nature" By Mike Millerson Inedible pines: the Yew Norfolk Island Pine Ponderosa Pines (Western Yellow Ponderosa Pine, Bull Pine, or Black Jack Pine). Edible pines include: Black and Red spruce White Pine Slippery Elm Balsam fir Yellow and Black birch

Thank you for sharing all of this info! I'm not familiar enough with all of the tree species in our area, 5b. I've only seen pine in a few small patches. I'll have to look into that more.

Thank you! I’m in Eastern Iowa. Thanks for your interest, I’ll have a lot more food forest videos this year.

You’re definitely right, and these trees should have some overlap. They were recommended to grow together for cross-pollination.

Excellent question! Sweet potato grows best as a perennial in warmer climates, but it can still be grown as an annual further north. I’m not sure how far north but I know it can be grown where we are in 5b. You have to harvest the tubers before first frost and cure them for storage. Then you can plant new slips next spring. There are a few colder climate RU-vid gardeners who grow them annually.

I just drew the peach trees and other plants in Procreate on my iPad, then layered them on top of the image using Adobe After Effects.

Thank you! I got the peach trees through Burgess and they’re still doing great. We should get our first fruit on them next year.

Thank you! Hascaps, aka Honeyberries, are similar to a blueberry. I’ve never actually eaten one, but I’ve heard they’re delicious. I plan on planting some this year. You could use a raised bed or other large container if you’re dealing with rough soil. Jenna from Growfully is also in OH and she has some great videos about dealing with hard clay soil.

Sorry to hear about your trees! I ordered these trees from Burgess. We’ll have to wait another year or two before they start producing fruit. Stark Brothers is another great nursery, too.

Real Trees is a good source for trees, I'm zone 5b as well. Hope that's helpful! :)

Thanks, I’ll check that out!

@@Irishjay-gu5pb thank you

@@SomeRoomtoGrow thank you

I used an app called Procreate on my iPad.

It looks amazing now! It didn’t turn out exactly as planned, but it’s close. I’ll show more in new videos this summer.

@@SomeRoomtoGrow awesome

I've learned a lot since I made this video over 2 years ago. I'm working on some updates on this food forest for my next couple of videos.

Good question! We don’t have deer coming into our yard so we haven’t had to worry about that. I would suggest researching deer-resistant shrubs or ground cover to deter them or physically block their access. Permaculture literature (or videos) could help with that topic.

I used the Procreate app on my iPad

OK thanks

Yup! I don’t know how I spelled that wrong. At least I got it right when I made a video about building hügelkultur beds.

😂 that’s what happens when they eat your veggies

@@SomeRoomtoGrow dude I love your content

Thanks man! I’m taking a break from videos this winter but I’ll be back in the spring.

You can try chipdrop.com or just call a local tree trimming service and ask for free mulch. They usually have to pay to dump and store it somewhere, so they’re happy to save money and dump it at your house for free.

@@SomeRoomtoGrow So awesome! Thank you! I sub'd ur channel. Looking forward to more content and learning from ur channel. Be blessed❤

You’re welcome and happy gardening!

@@SomeRoomtoGrow TY❣

I don't think it works that way in Germany. We have to get rid of a couple of dead and dying trees (on already.broke and fell in the neighbours yard) and some companies charge less if they can keep the trunk and leave the top&branches.

They can be dangerous, but it’s not their fault the landscapers made a poor choice with them back in the 70s.

Yup, I don’t know how I messed that up in this video. At least I got it right for my actual hügelkultur video. 😂

@@SomeRoomtoGrow Don´t worry.. you would be surprised how many Germans mistreat English words :)

That’s true, it all depends on where you live and the diversity of wildlife that can access your property. Sean from Edible Acres has some good natural methods for dealing with that in New York state.

According to soil biologists like Dr. Elaine Ingham, nitrogen depletion only takes place in the very small area where the wood chips are in contact with the soil. Nitrogen further down around the root zones is not affected by fresh mulch on the soil surface.

That would be amazing! No more turf lawns, all native trees, shrubs and wildflowers.