Post #119 Plant Profile: Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) Oh, rosemary! With its piney-fresh scent and delicate tiny flowers blooming amongst it’s rough, essential oil-rich needles, what a joy to behold! This

Post #101 Plant Profile: Sugarcane Today we devote our post to sugarcane, another fantastic edible perennial favorite of ours. Sugarcane is a ubiquitous crop grown around the world. We’re guessing

Post #100 Plant Profile: Elderberry (Sambucus nigra, ssp. canadensis) A classic edible perennial, various varieties of elderberry are native across the North American and European continents. Though more common in

Post #94 Plant Profile: Cattail (Typha latifolia) A forager’s delight, the humble cattail provides more than just a food source. It’s also harvested for an abundance of other uses, which

Post #91 Plant Profile: Peppergrass (Lepidium virginicum) Much like oxalis, which we covered in our last Plant Profile, peppergrass is a native plant that is considered by and large to

Post #90 Plant Profile: Oxalis (Oxalis spp.) “Wait a minute, isn’t oxalis that weed that took hold of my suburban landscape a few years back and refuses to die?”, you

Post #89 Plant Profile: Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) Beautyberry. Just the name evokes something tantalizing and nutritious. Also called a mulberry bush in certain circles, this plant is foraged in the

Post #87 Plant Profile: Butterfly Pea (Clitoria ternatea) Ah, the butterfly pea! This gorgeous vining pea plant is as much ornamental as it is edible. Its deep purple to cobalt

Post #84 Plant Profile: Roselle and False Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa and Hibiscus acetosella) Roselle and False Roselle. Florida cranberry or cranberry hibiscus? It is easy to get quickly confused when

Post #83 Plant Profile: Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia spp.) An edible, perennial cactus! Now we are getting to the nitty gritty of what can be foraged in our Plant Profile

Post #82 Plant Profile: Chayote (Sechium edule) If you’ve ever tried growing zucchini or summer squash here in South Florida, you know it can be tricky. The weather is not

Post #81 Plant Profile: Water Leaf (Talinum Fruticosum, T. triangulare) Welcome back to our run on tropical leafy greens for the dinner table! This post focuses on a prolific yet

Post #78 Plant Profile: Bird’s Nest Fern (Asplenium nidus & Asplenium australasicum) Today our focus is on an omnipresent South Florida plant, the bird’s nest fern. A versatile plant that

Post #77 Plant Profile: Spanish Needle (Bidens alba) This weedy wonder takes us deeper into the herbal world of edible perennials. As Hippocrates touted, “Let food be thy medicine”. Spanish

Post #76 Plant Profile: Bananas and Plantains (Musa spp.) Bananas are a wonderful fruit that need no introduction. Plantains are a slightly lesser known fruit within the continental United States,

Post #75 Plant Profile: True Yam What is a true yam?  When you go to the grocery store or the farmer’s market, the plethora of baskets filled with multicolored tuber

Post #74 Plant Profile: Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) If you are looking for a vegetable that can outshine the brutal heat of summer, look no further. Okra’s extensive harvest season runs

Post #73 Plant Profile: Mango (Mangifera indica) Oh, the magnificent mangoes of South Florida! We would be remiss if we did not include these gems in our plant profile series.

Post #72 Plant Profile: Pigeon Pea A wonderfully sustainable source of food and kindling, pigeon pea plants are what’s on our radar today. They are true treasures of the forest

Post #71 Plant Profile: Malabar Nut This unique perennial tree earns a place in our Plant Profile Series due to its many uses, its beauty, and its willingness to grow

Post #70 Plant Profile: Coconut Possibly one of the most versatile edible perennials in our Plant Profile Series, the humble coconut is a great start when it comes to subsistence

Post #69 Plant Profile: Papaya (Carica papaya) As we continue our plant profile series, we arrive today at yet another powerfully nutritive tropical fruit: Papaya. Also called papaw, the papaya

Post #68 Plant Profile: Sweet Potato The humble sweet potato is South Florida’s answer to growing potatoes. Although it is a vastly different plant than the white potato, it provides

Post #67 Plant Profile: Coromandel We’re going to begin this profile with a warning. Coromandel, also known as tropical primrose or Chinese violet, is a fantastic edible perennial with ornamental

Post #66 Plant Profile: Moringa Today we are putting the spotlight on another wonderfully nutrient-dense, edible tropical perennial you can easily grow in your South Florida zone 11a forest garden.

Post #37 Katuk (Sauropus androgynus) Blog Description: Katuk (Sauropus androgynus), Zone 10 south Florida gardening for food, subtropical, permaculture, forest gardening, sustainable gardening, perennial, edible plant Let’s talk about growing

Blog Post #10 Jackfruit Blog Description: Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), Zone 10 south Florida gardening for food, subtropical, permaculture, forest gardening, sustainable gardening, perennial, edible plant When it comes to edible

Post #5 What Is a Forest Garden?  Post Description: An overview of Forest Gardening, explaining the 7 layers and how they mimic nature. Why is it better from an ecological

Post #3: Chaya Blog Description: Chaya (Cnidoscolus chayamansa), Zone 10 south Florida gardening for food, subtropical, permaculture, forest gardening, sustainable gardening, perennial, edible plant If I were to recommend only

Post #2B Permaculture Principles and Zones Blog Description: A discussion of the 12 core principles of Permaculture, and definition of the zones. Now we know what Permaculture is and the

Post #2A Permaculture Overview and Ethics Post Description: An overview of Permaculture, including the philosophy and ethics. Part One of a two-part series. Why is it the best way to

Post #1 My Story Blog Description: It’s not often the journey to Permaculture gardening begins with a patch of rosebushes, but here I am 30+ years later… Hi! I’m Mary,