For those of you ready to add a little permaculture into your lives, we recommend planting a fruit tree guild. A fruit tree guild is the building block of an edible forest garden. It can stand alone in your landscape or it can grow over time into an edible forest garden.
You simply begin with a minimum 15 foot by 15 foot area in a sunny location of your yard and plant one semi-dwarf fruit tree along with the plants needed to fill the supportive functions for that tree and ecosystem. You will include fertilizing plants, mulching plants, pest confusing plants, pollinator attracting plants, and - most importantly - food plants for you. One simple fruit tree guild can produce up to 200 pounds of food for you and your family.
A fruit tree guild supplies you with local, organic, nutrient dense food right at your doorstep. By growing a fruit tree guild you are building personal resilience as you gain new knowledge and skills, and develop experience growing edible plants. You are also doing your part to grow community food security.
To learn how to grow a fruit tree guild, sign up for one of our Grow a Fruit Tree Guild classes, typically offered in the spring and fall.
