Looking for the best plants to grow in a temperate food forest or permaculture garden? This essential guide features over 500 carefully selected perennial plants for forest gardening, regenerative agriculture, and carbon farming in temperate climates.

Unlike most books that focus on food forest design, Plants for Your Food Forest puts the spotlight on the plants themselves—their roles, personalities, growing conditions, and what they offer to the ecosystem. Whether you’re creating a backyard food forest, an edible landscape, or a carbon-sequestering permaculture system, this book helps you choose the right plants for your goals.

Plants are grouped by forest layer—Canopy Trees, Smaller Fruit Trees, Shrubs, Groundcovers, Herbaceous Plants, Climbers, Bamboos, and Bulbs—with practical details on each plant’s structure, edible yield, and ecological functions such as:

• Soil building and nutrient cycling

• Windbreak and sun-shade functions

• Living mulch and weed suppression

• Pollinator and wildlife habitat creation

• Pest deterrence and companion planting benefits

You’ll also find a quick-reference plant characteristics table, making it easy to plan your food forest layout or permaculture garden beds. All plants featured are suitable for temperate climates and selected for both productivity and ecosystem support.

This book is perfect for:

• Food forest beginners and advanced designers

• Permaculture gardeners and agroforestry practitioners

• Homesteaders and regenerative farmers

• Anyone seeking edible perennials that support biodiversity and climate resilience

For those in warmer regions, a companion volume for Tropical and Subtropical Plants is available. Our latest book, Food Forest Plants for Mediterranean Conditions, will be released in July 2025.