Plants for a Future

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Plants For A Future (PFAF) is an online not for profit resource for those interested in edible and useful plants, with a focus on temperate regions. Named after the phrase "plans for a future" as wordplay, the organization's emphasis is on perennial plants.

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PFAF is a registered educational charity with the following objectives: [1]

The Charity’s objectives are to advance the education of the public by the promotion of all aspects of ecologically sustainable vegan-organic horticulture and agriculture with an emphasis on tree, shrub and other perennial species; and the undertaking of research into such horticulture and agriculture, and dissemination of the results of such research. [2]

The website contains an online database of over 8000 plants: 7000 that can be grown in temperate regions including in the UK, and 1000 plants for tropical situations.

The database was originally set up by Ken Fern to include 1,500 plants which he had grown on his 28 acre research site in the South West of England.

Since 2008, the database has been maintained by the database administrator employed by the Plants For A Future Charity.

The organization participates in public discussion by publishing books. Members have participated in various conferences [3] and are also participants in the International Permaculture Research Project. [4] [5]

Publications

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Permaculture</span> Approach to agriculture and land management

Permaculture is an approach to land management and settlement design that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. It includes a set of design principles derived using whole-systems thinking. It applies these principles in fields such as regenerative agriculture, town planning, rewilding, and community resilience. Permaculture originally came from "permanent agriculture", but was later adjusted to mean "permanent culture", incorporating social aspects. The term was coined in 1978 by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, who formulated the concept in opposition to modern industrialized methods instead adopting a more traditional or "natural" approach to agriculture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest gardening</span> Agroforestry food production system modeled on woodland ecosystems

Forest gardening is a low-maintenance, sustainable, plant-based food production and agroforestry system based on woodland ecosystems, incorporating fruit and nut trees, shrubs, herbs, vines and perennial vegetables which have yields directly useful to humans. Making use of companion planting, these can be intermixed to grow in a succession of layers to build a woodland habitat. Forest gardening is a prehistoric method of securing food in tropical areas. In the 1980s, Robert Hart coined the term "forest gardening" after adapting the principles and applying them to temperate climates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Hart (horticulturist)</span> British gardener

Robert Adrian de Jauralde Hart was an English pioneer of forest gardening in temperate zones. He created a model forest garden from a 0.12 acre (500 m²) orchard on his farm. He credits the inspiration for his work to an article by James Sholto Douglas, which was in turn inspired by the work of Toyohiko Kagawa.(page 41)

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to sustainable agriculture:

Vegan organicagriculture is the organic production of food and other crops with minimal animal inputs. Vegan organic agriculture is the organic form of animal-free agriculture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perennial plant</span> Plant that lives for more than two years

A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also widely used to distinguish plants with little or no woody growth from trees and shrubs, which are also technically perennials.

<i>Abutilon pictum</i> Species of flowering plant

Abutilon pictum, syn. Abutilon striatum (disputed), is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae. It is native to southern Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The plant has become naturalised in Central America, and is used in horticulture. Common names include redvein abutilon, red vein Indian mallow, redvein flowering maple, Chinese-lantern and red vein Chinese lanterns.

Forest farming is the cultivation of high-value specialty crops under a forest canopy that is intentionally modified or maintained to provide shade levels and habitat that favor growth and enhance production levels. Forest farming encompasses a range of cultivated systems from introducing plants into the understory of a timber stand to modifying forest stands to enhance the marketability and sustainable production of existing plants.

Perennial vegetables are vegetables that can live for more than two years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Auckland Botanic Gardens</span>

Auckland Botanic Gardens is a botanical garden in the New Zealand city of Auckland. It is located in the suburb of Manurewa, in the Manurewa Local Board Area. The gardens cover 64 hectares, and holds more than 10,000 plants.

<i>Hydrangea hirta</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Hydrangeaceae

Hydrangea hirta, also known as the "nettle-leaved hydrangea", is a species of flowering plant in the family Hydrangeaceae that is native to East Asia. Due to the beauty and sturdiness of the species' flowers it can be found outside of its range being used for horticultural and landscaping purposes, and is found in gardens in countries including the United Kingdom and the United States.

The Agroforestry Research Trust (ART) is a British charitable incorporated organisation that researches temperate agroforestry and all aspects of plant cropping and uses, with a focus on tree, shrub and perennial crops. It produces several publications and a quarterly journal, and sells plants and seeds from its forest gardens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bluebell Arboretum</span>

Bluebell Arboretum is an arboretum and associated plant nursery near the village of Smisby in South Derbyshire, England. It is a Royal Horticultural Society recommended garden, comprising a large selection of rare trees, shrubs and climbers growing in a woodland garden. Planting was started by the owners, Suzette and Robert Vernon in 1992 on what was then a six acre meadow, just under 500 feet above sea level. The arboretum was officially opened by Roy Lancaster, OBE VMH in 1997, and has since been expanded and is now open to the public throughgout the year, excluding Sundays during the winter months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hügelkultur</span> Mounded gardening technique

Hügelkultur, literally mound bed or mound culture is a horticultural technique where a mound constructed from decaying wood debris and other compostable biomass plant materials is later planted as a raised bed. Adopted by permaculture advocates, it is suggested the technique helps to improve soil fertility, water retention, and soil warming, thus benefitting plants grown on or near such mounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Climate-friendly gardening</span>

Climate-friendly gardening is a form of gardening that can reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from gardens and encourage the absorption of carbon dioxide by soils and plants in order to aid the reduction of global warming. To be a climate-friendly gardener means considering both what happens in a garden and the materials brought into it and the impact they have on land use and climate. It can also include garden features or activities in the garden that help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions elsewhere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community orchard</span>

A community orchard is a collection of fruit trees shared by communities and growing in publicly accessible areas such as public greenspaces, parks, schools, churchyards, allotments or, in the US, abandoned lots. Such orchards are a shared resource and not managed for personal or business profit. Income may be generated to sustain the orchard as a charity, community interest company, or other non-profit structure. What they have in common is that they are cared for by a community of people.

<i>Rubus tricolor</i> Species of evergreen prostrate shrub native to southwestern China

Rubus tricolor is an evergreen prostrate shrub, native to southwestern China. Leaves are dark green above, pale green below, and stems have red bristles. It has white flowers in summer and edible red fruit. It grows approximately 0.3 m (0.98 ft) high and usually forming a vigorously spreading, dense mat. In cultivation, it is mainly used as groundcover. Common names include Chinese bramble, groundcover bramble, creeping bramble, Korean raspberry, Himalayan bramble, and groundcover raspberry. In Chinese, it is called 三色莓.

<i>Vaccinium praestans</i> Species of shrub

Vaccinium praestans, the Kamchatka bilberry, is a perennial shrub in the family Ericaceae, which includes species like cranberries, blueberries, and huckleberries. In Russia this plant is known as the Klopovka, or stink-bug berry, due to its distinct, potent scent, resembling that of a secretion produced by bugs of Heteroptera genus. The plant is native to Kamchatka but can be found in North America to Eastern Asia. Mostly growing in the wild, it is also enjoyed as an ornamental plant, most commonly in Japan, where it is used to decorate home gardens. Like many other species in the family Ericaceae, its berries are edible.

Abutilon × milleri, also known as Miller abutilon, is a hybrid species, the result of cross of A. megapotamicum and possibly A. pictum, in the family Malvaceae. It is an evergreen species of flowering plant. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit as an ornamental.

<i>Ardisia crispa</i> Species of plant in the family Primulaceae

Ardisia crispa, the Japanese holly, is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae. It is found in the eastern Himalayas, Assam, southern China, Indochina, Taiwan, Korea, the Ryukyu Islands, and Japan, and has been introduced to Queensland, Australia, and the Windward Islands in the Caribbean. An evergreen perennial shrub reaching at most 1.5 m (5 ft), it is often sold as an ornamental for its dark green leaves and long‑lasting red berries, much like Ardisia crenata, the Christmas berry or coralberry.

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Further reading