Food Forest is inspired by food forests, groupings of native, perennial plants that center around fruit and nut trees. Imitating ecosystems found in nature, food forests feature edible plants that grow at different heights to maximize food production in contained spaces, such as small gardens. Combining sustainability and beauty, food forests consist of vegetation layers of fruits, nuts, flowers, and foliage. These little home orchards are feasts for the eyes and the table.

Writings by journalist Margaret Roach, and permaculture designer, Michael Judd, shed light on ecological design and sustainable gardening, and tilled the creative soil for Food Forest.

The Food Forest collection consists of three patterns:American Persimmon, Buffalo Poppy, and Leaflet. American persimmon trees are ideal fruit trees for food forests, and grow best when they’re accompanied by companion plants, including buffalo poppies and Virginia Strawberries. These two plants are featured in our American Persimmon design and are also the inspiration for our stand-alone patterns Buffalo Poppy and Leaflet.