The ultimate garden

I consider myself to be a pretty fanatical gardener, but lawns, rockeries, herbaceous borders, shrubberies, gravel terraces and the like do absolutely nothing for me. My kind of gardening centers around food and I am fascinated by edible plants of all kinds: annual vegetables, perennial vegetables, water vegetables, bush fruit, stone fruit, tree fruit, citrus, vines, edible wild plants, useful weeds, herbs and much more. I will attempt to grow any food plants I can get my hands on, even if I know it has no chance of making it in my climate (bananas, papayas, avocados), just to get to know it a bit better. When I started my garden I had a vague idea of creating the ultimate food garden, one filled with every edible plant I could find that would grow here. This is a lot because I’m very fortunate to have a climate that allows me to grow a very wide range of species from both cool and warm climates.

Because the main purpose of my garden is to produce food sustainably, a large proportion of the plants are edible, useful or contribute to garden fertility (the rest are mainly natives). I have found that the most practical way to do this, without creating an overwhelming amount of work, is to split the garden up into several areas. My annual vegetable garden gets most of the attention because it is the most efficient way to grow the familiar crops that we eat every day. I also have a lot of fruit trees and shrubs (these produce much delicious food with so little work), scattered all over the place and some in a kind of semi-wild semi-forest garden setting. I also have areas for bush fruit and arbors for vines. There are still many vacant areas, but I aim to eventually fill them with plants that are both productive and low maintenance (chestnuts, blackberries).

The food garden isn’t just a place for growing delicious food, it has other, less obvious, benefits too. It can improve your health physically through better nutrition and gentle but sustained exercise. It is a refuge where you can reconnect with nature and soothe your frazzled 21st century psyche. It further enhances your life by stimulating the senses, challenging you intellectually and artistically, and by providing a beautiful, biologically rich and peaceful place to live. It also helps to reduce your impact on the earth, not only by growing food (home grown food requires far less energy and water to grow than commercial agriculture) but also by giving you a way to reduce, reuse and recycle household waste products. It can even supply a lot of the materials (posts, poles, rocks) needed for its own construction.

The food garden even gives you a way of reclaiming some independence in a world where most people are totally dependent on a system that is out of control and unsustainable. A sizeable food garden is also a form of unemployment insurance, because food is the one essential of life that isn’t usually free. If you lose your job tomorrow you might be able to support yourself by growing something of value (and even if you can’t sell it, you can eat it).

The garden isn’t a farm though and productivity isn’t the only concern, it is also your home, a place to be lived in and you should give some thought as to how you can make it comfortable.  You mainly do this by creating beautiful spaces where you can relax and enjoy your surroundings, places to sit and talk in the evening, interesting places for the children to play, a place to dry laundry. Make these areas special with a combination of furniture, artwork, water, productive plants (also beautiful and maybe scented) and other fun stuff. There is no reason the productive garden can’t be as beautiful and comfortable as any ornamental garden (and all the more pleasurable for being a place of production).

Few existing gardens actually accomplish all of the things I want from a garden, but it isn’t at all difficult to achieve There are three aspects to creating a productive garden, design, construction and management. As you might expect designers tend to over-emphasize the importance of the design part, but it is actually the least important. You just need enough design to get the various components in the right places in relation to the sun, the land and each other and to put the plants in the right places. Most food gardens end up containing variations of the same components, because these are the ones humans need and use. These commonly include an annual vegetable garden, a patio or deck living area, a fairly ornamental front entrance garden (planted with the most attractive food plants), a play area, herb garden, water garden, greenhouse, shed, workshop. Areas not needed for a specific purpose can be planted with low maintenance plants that produce food without too much attention (food producing trees, shrubs, vines, perennials, annuals and fungi). There is no need to worry about making the perfect design right from the start, just go at your own pace, in your own way, for your own satisfaction. You will do a lot of the design while you are actually constructing the garden and dealing with real garden problems.

Design doesn’t stop even when the garden is established though, as you will come up with many improvements during your day to day gardening activities. In fact this is when you really get to know the garden and its (and your) needs. Once set in motion the garden will keep evolving and changing, a little piece at a time, for as long as you live in it. Circumstances change, the plants get bigger, you grow plants and materials for various projects, you gain new insights, find interesting new plants and generally one thing leads to another. Persistence is more important than special skills or knowledge (you acquire these during the process of creating the garden). The ideal is to create a garden that maintains itself without consuming all of your free time, but in reality it probably will anyway (because you will want it to, rather than because you need to).

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

Having so many free chestnuts in my garden has made me into something of a chestnut aficionado in recent years and have tried quite a few methods of preparing them. My favorite method by far is to roast them outdoors over an open fire (yes I know there is a song about this very subject, but it is really about Christmas and contains hardly anything about what kind of fire to use, or the best way to roast them). Apparently in parts of Italy going in to the woods in autumn and roasting chestnuts on a fire is a favorite autumn pastime, which just affirms for me that the Italians really know how to live (I can't think of a nicer way to spend an afternoon).

With chestnut trees within 20 feet of my house I go into my garden for this treat, rather than into the woods. I only have to go far enough so smoke from the fire doesn’t blow into the house, which means just out past the biggest chestnut tree. I light my small fire in a metal fireplace because it has a rack that holds a Dutch oven very nicely. I use this cast iron pot because it has a thick base and distributes heat evenly (and because I already have it), but a cast iron skillet would work just as well (in Italy you can buy special chestnut roasting pans).

Before you roast the nuts they have to be punctured to allow steam to escape, otherwise they tend to explode (actually it’s more like popcorn popping, but messier). Basically you have to cut through the skin (this is usually done on the flat side as it’s easier), ideally without cutting into the nut itself. A small X is traditional but a simple slit works just as well and is quicker. Some people like to soak the punctured chestnuts in water for 15 minutes, saying it makes them moister.

Roasting the nuts couldn’t be simpler, they are simply placed in the pan over high heat and stirred frequently so they cook evenly and don’t burn on one side. The traditional way to tell when they are done is to put a couple of unpunctured nuts in the pan with the rest; when these explode the rest should be done.

The tricky part of preparing chestnuts is the peeling, as there is not only the obvious thick brown outer skin, but also a thin inner skin (pellicle). The outer skin on a cooked nut curls back at the cut and can be removed fairly easily. The inner skin is a lot harder, though it turns crisp and brittle on a well roasted nut and can usually be rubbed off. It is essential to peel chestnuts while they are hot; as they cool down the pellicle gets harder to remove and when cold it is almost impossible. One of the virtues of a heavy cast iron pan is that it holds heat and so keeps the chestnuts hot for longer.

There is something special about chestnuts that I can't quite put my finger on, they are just a wonderful food. A well cooked nut is moist, sweet and delicious and it makes my mouth water thinking about them. In fact writing about this has inspired me to go out and do it. 

Chestnuts

The Chestnut is arguably the most useful tree of the temperate zone and is certainly my favorite forest tree. It is vigorous, beautiful, provides deep green shade in hot weather, coppices easily, provides very durable wood (that splits easily) and is a fantastic source of food that simply falls on to the ground every year. I can only imagine how people felt when the Chestnut Blight came along and wiped out almost every mature tree in the eastern half of the country.

When I first explored the land that eventually became my garden I was very excited to find several young  chestnut trees already growing there, with trunks 4 - 6” in diameter. When I cleared away the ailing Monterey Pines to build my house I was careful not to harm these trees and they responded to suddenly being in full sunlight by growing rapidly (10 years later the largest is now 15” in diameter). Though they are still pretty young (only one tree is really productive as yet) I already harvest from 30 - 90 pounds of nuts a year. This is more chestnuts than I really know how to eat, but it isn’t a problem because we can actually make money by selling them to local natural food stores. Squirrels love the nuts as much as we do (in fact probably more) and practically move into the trees at this time of year. I don’t mind though and don’t try to deter them (actually I feel I can’t mind as they probably planted the trees in the first place).

Every year at this time (late October) the ripe nuts start to rain down from the trees. This is so predictable that the daily collecting round (it has to be done regularly to beat the squirrels) has become a family tradition. Gathering Chestnuts is one of those activities (like digging potatoes) that is both fun and productive, so much so that it is the only garden task my children do without any prompting (my youngest daughter has already been out this morning). The nuts are contained in a fiercely spiny green husk which only splits open when the nut is ripe (this protects the immature nuts from predation). Some husks open on the tree and the nuts fall out, others are opened by squirrels, and some fall to the ground without opening at all (these are held securely, relatively safe from predators, until you gather them). I step on the unopened fallen husks with my foot to feel if there is a nut inside (a full husk feels hard in the center, while an empty one just feels squishy). If there is a nut inside I roll the husk under my foot until it splits open and the nut pops out. The larger sized husks usually have one nut inside, or sometimes two, while smaller ones are usually empty because they didn’t pollinate properly.

Chestnuts are different from most nuts, in that they are low in protein and fat, but high in carbohydrate and moisture. Also unlike most nuts they mold quickly if not stored carefully and should be treated like a perishable vegetable and kept in a fridge. They like 95% humidity, but must be able to breathe, so are usually stored in perforated plastic bags. Stored in this way they will last for up to a month. If you want to keep them for a longer period, they must be dried first to reduce their moisture content. This must be dried fairly quickly otherwise they will go moldy and traditionally this was done over a wood fire (in chestnut growing areas they had special buildings for this). You can also cook and peel the nuts and store them in a plastic bag in the freezer.

The biggest problem with eating chestnuts is peeling them. Not only do you have to remove the skin (it isn’t a shell) but also an astringent inner skin (pellicle) which sticks to the nut and impairs the flavor. This can be tricky to remove and is why peeling Chestnuts has gained some notoriety among food lovers (some people use commercially prepared canned nuts because of this). It isn’t that difficult however and if you search chestnut peeling on Youtube you will find several short videos each showing you the best method. These all basically consist of cutting a slit or cross in the end of the nut to make it easier to peel and to allow steam to escape (so the nut doesn’t explode when it heats up). They are then roasted or boiled and the skin and pellicle are peeled off while the nut is still hot (this gets harder to do as the nut cools, so some people wear rubber gloves).

Chestnuts are a wonderful food quite unlike anything else I can think of and most people seem to like them instinctively. They are sweet, delicious and very addictive. They work well with both sweet and savory dishes and have been a major staple food in some parts of the world. Roast chestnuts are sold by street vendors as a traditional winter food in many northern cities.

The compulsive gardener in me has to say a few words about growing trees from these nuts because it is so easy. If you are gathering chestnuts you can try planting some to grow your own trees. If you buy fresh chestnuts from a store when they first appear in fall these should also be fresh enough to germinate (dried seed won’t work because it is dead). The large seed germinates and grows quickly and can easily grow to be 10 feet tall within 3 years. I already have so many volunteers that I don’t plant them systematically, but I always seem to plant a few seeds every year (and the squirrels plant more).  When the seedlings are big enough I transplant them to suitable sites or pot them up and give them away. 

Making money from your garden

(Excerpted from The New Food Garden)

Working in your garden is such a nice way to spend your time, you may have daydreamed about how wonderful it would be if you could make a living doing it. There really is no reason why your garden shouldn’t make money for you, at least enough to pay for itself and maybe more (how much more largely depends upon the size of your garden and your energy). Producing something to sell is often the easy part though, actually selling it is the hard part. I am never short of ideas, so here are a few possible ways to make money.

Vegetables - Every successful vegetable gardener occasionally has more food that they can eat during the summer months and you could start by trying to sell your surplus (one possible market for this would be to grow vegetables for your neighbors for a pre-arranged weekly fee). If this proves feasible you could start planting a few extra rows or beds specifically to sell (this is a cottage garden tradition in fact). I think we need to develop a new kind of commercial gardening, somewhere between market gardening and traditional home vegetable gardening. Producing food doesn’t just have to be the domain of the farmer with hundreds of acres, or even the market gardener with 2 or 5 acres. It’s been estimated that you could make a living from intensively cultivating only an eighth of an acre. You just need to use the right techniques and grow the right crops (and try to have them available while no one else does and prices are high).

Fruit - You could also sell fruit as well as vegetables, it takes even less work and may be easier to sell. In fact this could be a good way to dispose of the over abundance of fruit that comes from getting too interested in fruit trees. A few productive trees can give you a lot of fruit in a short time and often a lot goes to waste, simply because you just can’t use it all. Just make sure you grow the best-flavored highest quality varieties. You could also try drying fruit to sell at a later date, or add value by making preserves or pies.

Salad mix - Salad mix is a high value intensive crop that is easy to grow and doesn’t require much space. I have known a couple of people who made a good living growing edible flowers for chic restaurants (one even sold her weeds too).

Berries - A high value crop of berries only takes a couple of years to get going (strawberries even less). As with tree fruit you could sell fresh or dried fruit, or make preserves or pies (maybe sell to coffee shops). The drawback to berries is that they take time to harvest and are perishable (if they are in danger of going bad make preserves out of them).

Herbs – You could grow culinary herbs, tea herbs, or the more specialized medicinal herbs (for sale fresh or dry). You could also add value to your medicinal herbs by making salves, tinctures, essential oils, cosmetics and more. You could grow and dry herbs for making tea, or get equipped to make your own tea bags (make your own tea blends and put them in fancy boxes).

Mushrooms - Mushrooms and other fungi might be grown on a small scale, indoors or out and could provide you with a high value crop. You might even coppice trees to grow logs for growing shitake or oyster mushrooms  If you are successful at this, you might also sell spawn of various edible species, so people can grow their own.

Eggs - Grow your own chicken feed and sell eggs.

Seed sprouts, micro-greens - Save your own seeds and use them to grow sprouts for sale.

Cut flowers – Another easy one.

Food stall - You could try selling all of the above foods (and other products) at your local flea market, or set up a roadside stand.

Craft materials - Basket Willows are easy to grow and are in demand from craftspeople. Other craft products you could grow would include dried flowers, dye plants, scented plants, vines and other basket or wreath making materials.

Bamboo - Bamboo plants are expensive to buy but easy to grow. It would take a couple of years to build up enough stock to sell, but then you could have all the plants you could sell. You might even offer an invasive bamboo removal service (then pot it up and sell it). You could also produce canes for gardeners or for use in various crafts,

Ornamental plants - Hobby ornamentals such as Dahlias, Orchids, Begonias, Iris and others offer a lot of scope for sales, though you have to be interested in the plants.

Honey - Bees improve the garden by helping out with pollination, while providing a valuable and saleable product (honey) at the same time.

Alcoholic drinks - Many fruits can be used to make wine, not just grapes. There would no doubt be a market for some of the more unusual ones. Get adventurous and add herbs, flowers, fruits, etc. You could grow hops and make beer, honey to make mead, apples to make hard cider, wormwood to make absinthe, agave to make tequila, barley to make beer or moonshine or grapes to make raki. Of course there are legal restrictions and taxes on selling alcoholic beverages which usually make it illegal.

Smoking materials - You could grow the herbs (Bearberry, Mullein, Coltsfoot, Mint and more) to make your own herbal smoking mixtures. I would find this quite fascinating, if it wasn’t for the fact that I don’t like to get smoke in my lungs. It is also easy to grow tobacco, which actually grows as a short lived perennial in my garden (I don’t smoke it, but I gave some to a smoker friend and he said it was the best tobacco he had ever had). Selling tobacco is also illegal in most places because of tax laws.

Seeds – You could sell your own locally produced and adapted seed from heirloom and unusual varieties. If you save your own vegetable seed you usually have a big surplus anyway. If your garden contains a lot of unusual edibles, you could allow them to produce seed and collect it for sale. If you are an artist it gives you the chance to make beautiful seed packets too.

Seedlings - If you are already growing vegetable and herb seedlings for your own use, you might also grow extra plants to sell. If you have useful plants that produce short lived, large seeds (Chestnuts, Hazels, Walnuts) you could grow seedlings for sale. You might also be able to pot up self-sown seedlings.

Propagating plants - Many plants are easily raised from bulbs, tubers, cuttings, layering and division. You could make money propagating food plants for sale, especially the more unusual cultivars. If more people did this then many useful plants could become better known and more widely available. Craigslist.com is a fantastic resource for selling any plants you can produce, as it can put you in touch with buyers of even the most obscure things.

Gardening supplies - If you have a big truck you could find a good source for manure, compost, mulch, shredded bark and supply less mobile gardeners with these important materials.

Garden advisor - We need a new kind of hands-on gardener/small farmer/consultant, ready to share knowledge with neighbors and help them to grow more of their own food and make city neighborhoods blossom. Once your garden is sufficiently developed you could teach others how to plant and maintain this kind of garden. This could tie in well with selling surplus useful plants. Don’t do this until you have gained sufficient knowledge though. There are many more people who like the idea of being teachers, than there are people worth listening to.

If you have come up with other ways of making your garden pay for itself I would love to hear them.

Comfrey

I have lots of favorite plants, but comfrey has to be pretty close to the top of my list. For all around versatility, usefulness (culinary, medicinal, agricultural, horticultural), ease of propagation and growth very few plants can match it). Comfrey should be in every food garden, it has so many uses you will no doubt find at least one you can’t do without (it is also quite attractive). I can’t think of a reason to not grow it (unless you have some kind of phobia about it I suppose).

For centuries Comfrey was considered an important edible plant and was widely eaten by country people, but in recent years this use has become controversial. It is now known that the leaves and (especially the roots) contain toxic pyrrolidizine alkaloids, which have led to it being classified as a poisonous plant. Exactly how much of these alkaloids are found in comfrey, of what kind, and exactly how dangerous they are, is the subject of some debate, with two opposing camps. On the one hand you have the scientists with their scientific methods, who decided that the plant contains toxins and must therefore be dangerous. On the other hand you have the traditionalists who say the plant has such a long history of use as food for domestic livestock (and humans) with no apparent ill effects (in fact only apparently beneficial effects) that it should be considered fairly safe.

I would never recommend that anyone eat comfrey because I can’t say for absolute certainty that it’s safe, but I throw a few leaves into my green blender drinks (see separate post) without any qualms. The young leaves have also been eaten as a potherb (they are too rough to be good raw) for centuries by country people. They were once popular fried in batter.

Comfrey also has a long history of medicinal use, for healing burns, wounds, ulcers, insect bites, sprains, broken bones, torn ligaments and bruises. The leaves or roots can be used as a poultice (put the leaves in a blender with a small quantity of water and some flour to thicken), or mixed with oil and beeswax to make a wonderful salve.

Comfrey is one of the world’s most efficient producers of plant protein (yielding up to six times as much per acre as Soybean) and is also rich in vitamins A, C and (maybe) vitamin B12 (one of the few vegetable sources), as well as calcium, phosphorus and potassium. It has been widely used as feed for livestock in the past. Horses, goats, pigs, sheep and poultry will eat it fresh, rabbits and cattle will eat it when wilted (which eliminates the rough hairs and reduces its water content). It is particularly well suited to feeding chickens and can be used to supplement (or even to replace) commercial feed.

In the garden Comfrey can be used as a groundcover, ornamental foliage plant, or to fill in any spare ground (to cover the soil, prevent weed growth and to make it productive). If you have a suitable site you could have a large bed of comfrey for use as fertilizer, perhaps irrigated with gray water and fertilized with Humanure.

Comfrey is usually grown from root cuttings and few plants are as easy to propagate vegetatively. All you need is a single piece of root and within a few years you can have as many plants as you could possibly use. Plant a single root and it will grow into a substantial plant in one summer, which can then be broken up into a whole series of root cuttings and replanted. These will all grow into new plants and can in turn be broken up. The simplest way to propagate established comfrey is with a shovel, simply cut off the top 6 inches of root and replant it (maybe break it up into several pieces). The broken off roots that remain in the ground will all grow into new plants too.

Comfrey is one of the most important non-nitrogen-fixing fertility plants and has few equals as a fertilizer and soil builder. Its vigorous root system breaks up compacted soil and mines the subsoil for nutrients. The nitrogen and potassium content of the leaves makes them an excellent green manure and compost material (they can even provide the nitrogen component of compost piles). For maximum production the leaves should be cut regularly (4-5 times in a summer). They will grow in part shade, but do much better in full sun.

Comfrey leaves can also be used to make a liquid foliar fertilizer. Just fill a bucket with as many leaves as it will hold, top it up with water, cover and leave to ferment for 2 ‑ 3 days. Then strain out the remaining fibers, dilute with an equal amount of water and apply with a watering can. The resulting anaerobic fermentation makes this a smelly process however. If this is too smelly you could try making aerated compost tea by bubbling air through it.

Putting fruit trees in the right place

Fruit (and nut) trees provide an abundance of delicious food while requiring very little care (they are also beautiful) and should be in every garden. However you have to place them carefully because they are so big they influence everything around them. This influence is sometimes positive (they modify the microclimate and create shelter from wind) and sometimes negative (they create large areas of shade and their strong roots can take most of the water and nutrients from the soil). You just have to find the places where they will grow best and enhance the garden, without creating too many problems.

The biggest problem with trees in the food garden is the shade they create. A newly planted tree doesn’t cast much shade, but as it gets bigger over the years it can eventually shade a considerable area. The biggest mistake I made in the early years of my garden (and the hardest to rectify) was not being more careful where I planted my trees, which resulted in several sunny areas becoming partly shady. Actually I wasn’t careful at all, I just planted the trees where I thought they would do well, without taking into consideration what the area around them would be used for later. This is an easy mistake to make when you have a large empty area, because you may not have even thought of what you are going to do with it in the future. Planting trees should start with deciding what you will do with each area of the garden, so you can then avoid putting trees in areas that will need full sun (at least until you have a better idea of how you are going to use them). Above all you must avoid planting fruit trees anywhere near your vegetable garden, most common crop plants need full sun for maximum production and don’t mix with trees very well.

Of course the shade cast by your trees isn’t static, it varies continuously as the sun moves across the sky. In the morning the west side of the tree is shady, at noon it is on the north side and in the evening it is to the east. Shade also varies seasonally (and with latitude), in winter the shadows may be very long, while in summer they may be almost directly underneath the tree. The first rule here is to avoid planting trees to the south or west of your vegetable garden (or patio), as you need as much sun in those areas as you can get (unless you live in the desert, but if you do you probably know more about desert gardening than I do). As a general rule you should put trees to the north of any places that need full sun (making sure you don’t shade your neighbors though). Trees to the east of the garden aren’t usually a big problem because early morning sun doesn’t produce much growth anyway.

Another big mistake is not giving your trees enough room. Crowded trees have to compete with each other for water and nutrients and create such dense shade that nothing can grow underneath them (it also makes them taller and skinnier). The right spacing between trees depends upon their mature size of course (don’t be influenced by how small they are when planting) and especially their width. For maximum productivity you want your trees to grow to their fullest potential, which means giving them slightly more room than they need. Of course you don’t have to plant trees as close together as they will tolerate, if you have plenty of space it’s usually better to leave extra growing room between the trees and fill in with other plants (this is basically what forest gardening is all about). Be aware that the ultimate size of a tree isn’t completely predetermined by rootstock, it also depends upon the growing conditions: how much room they have, soil and climate. Even dwarf trees will grow bigger if they have good growing conditions.

Most fruit tree roots tend to be vigorous and fairly shallow and when well established they will take most of the nutrients and water out of the soil. This is another reason for keeping your trees well away from the vegetable garden (even on the north side). It’s a common practice to put a nice wide path between the trees and growing beds.

When placing your trees you also need to be aware of the growing conditions of the site (soil, microclimate, shelter, competition from other plants) and make sure these are suited to the species. This is particularly important for plants that are marginal for the area, as a warmer microclimate can allow you to successfully grow something that wouldn’t thrive otherwise. I planted citrus around the dripline of a large Live Oak (on the southwestern side) because it provides significant protection from frost. When I planted the first trees in my garden I made the mistake of planting several too close to established trees. They didn’t grow very well because they didn’t get full sunlight and their small root network couldn’t compete against the large tree roots. I tried to compensate for this by irrigation and feeding (more work) but it didn’t really work (I eventually moved some of them, but the ones remaining are about a quarter of the size of trees in more ideal conditions). The amount of shade a tree can tolerate varies according to species of course, but it also depends upon what you want it to produce. If you only need a few leaves for flavoring then a plant won’t need as much sun as if it has to produce lots of fruit (which requires lots of sunlight). You should also consider the vigor of the plant, you may be able to put an unusually vigorous plant in part shade (instead of full sun), where its vigor will be reduced, but it may still produce satisfactorily.

Of course garden trees also frequently have to perform landscaping duties, such as screening an area from view, creating shade for the house in summer, or blocking cold prevailing winds. These uses will often determine exactly where we put our trees, which simplifies your planning (don’t forget to take the other factors I mentioned into account too). The reverse of this is don’t put trees where they will negatively affect the look of the garden.

If (after all this) you do put a tree in the wrong place, it won’t usually be evident until it gets big enough to affect the area around it. Unfortunately by the time a tree is big enough to be a problem your options are limited. You can either remove the tree (if it’s not too big it’s worth trying to transplant it) or leave it and change the garden around it (this is the best option if you have lots of space). Of course it’s much better to plant the tree in the right place to begin with, so do your best to get it right first time. 

Productive, low-work plants that should be in every garden

I’m a pretty casual gardener (to say the least) and really appreciate plants that produce food without requiring anything from me (this probably comes from my being a wild food forager and being used to getting something for nothing). A lot of plants will produce something edible occasionally, or only require a little attention, or produce foods that are okay and I have lots of them in my garden. However the plants that I really prize are those that are able to produce tasty food (or other things) reliably, year after year, without me having to do anything at all. There are actually lots of these and it makes sense to make them the foundation of your garden. They can greatly enhance its productivity, while leaving you free to work on less accommodating plants.

It’s not enough that a plant is useful and grows itself without your help, it also has to produce something that you will actually eat (ideally it should be easy to use too). Filling your garden with useful plants that you never actually use makes it less productive, because they take up space that could be used for more useful things. Another mistake is growing more of a plant than you need; a 60 foot long hedge of Rosemary may be attractive, low maintenance and (theoretically) useful, but you will never use even a fraction of it. This is an easy mistake to make when something grows so well, but if it takes up a lot of space that could be growing something else, you aren’t being productive (if you have lots of space this may not matter).

Great low-maintenance useful plants

Below is a list of the useful plants that grow and produce reliably in my garden without any attention and that I actually use regularly. The plants that will do well in your garden may differ somewhat, but the following plants are a good place to start experimenting.

Blackberries, Raspberries and related hybrids - These are tops for ease of growing, taste and productivity. The only reason I can think of for not planting tons of these is if you already have lots growing wild around about.

Comfrey - Very independent, it will grow almost anywhere in my garden, sun or shade, wet or dry (and very easy to grow from root cuttings). I eat a few leaves (though some caution against it) and use a lot for fertilizer.

Chestnut - This wonderful tree takes a while to start producing its sweet nuts in quantity, but they are worth it. Trees can also be coppiced to produce durable fenceposts.

Walnut - Takes a while to start producing its high protein nuts and you have to find a way to keep squirrels away from them. The wood of large straight trees is very valuable.

Amaranth - This self-sowing annual behaves like the related garden weeds, Pigweed. It produces nutritious edible seed and tasty foliage.

Giant Lambs Quarter - Another effortless self-sowing annual that produces tasty foliage and flower buds.

Asparagus  - Has to be protected from gophers but is very vigorous, productive and able to grow pretty much as a wild plant. Of course it is delicious too.

Fuzzy Kiwi - I hesitated to include this one because the plants in my garden aren’t actually producing much fruit as yet. This is because my male plant got killed by gophers so the females aren’t getting pollinated. Once they get producing they are incredibly productive though.

Oca - In our mild climate this pretty plant grows like a weed. It produces tasty edible tubers.

Mallows - These beautiful edible ornamentals have edible foliage. I don’t use them very often, but they are pretty and low input.

Plums - These are arguably (because I have a few) the most dependable and easiest fruit in my garden.

Mints - Great for tea, they have to be kept under control rather than encouraged.

Sage - I planted a few plants about 5 years ago and have been regularly harvesting ever since.

Rhubarb - If you have a fairly cool spot it is easy to grow and very productive. Though it is a cool climate plant it does very well in our fairly warm climate.

Blackcurrant - Easy to grow, easy to propagate and produces the best preserves of any fruit. Though it prefers a cool climate it has done pretty well here.

Gooseberry - Also easy to propagate and grows without any attention. It produces one of the best pie fillings.

Russian Kale - Attractive, tasty, nutritious, easy to grow and incredibly productive (if I time it right it will produce for 8 months in my garden). Russian Kale is the staple winter green in my garden, always there when everything else fails.

New Zealand Flax - This plant is often seen in low maintenance ornamental landscapes around here. It isn’t edible (actually the seeds are), but I grow it because the leaves make great twine for tying up plants.

Aprium - This cross of plum and Apricot tastes very much like the latter, but is easier to grow and more reliably productive in my garden.

Apples - The most reliable fruit for cool climates, just be sure to choose a good tasting cultivar.

Fig - In a suitable climate the Fig is easy to grow, easy to propagate and produces tasty, nutritious fruit.

Lemon - In the right climate lemons are easy to grow and have a long bearing season. Improved Meyer is one of the hardiest.

Chicory - This easily grown perennial produces edible (if somewhat bitter) greens every spring and spectacular blue flowers in summer.

Fennel - Drought tolerant and easy to grow, the young leaves, flowers and green seeds are my daughters favorite garden snack.

Stevia - This is a relative newcomer to my garden, but has become a firm favorite. It is quite happily perennial in my garden, in fact every spring I divide each plant into four or five pieces and all usually grow. It is very useful in that it provides a sweetener for herbal teas and other foods.

Mulberry - My Black Beauty cultivar is a very reliable producer of delicious sweet fruit. The biggest drawback is that it requires netting to keep birds off (I didn’t put Cherry in here for this very reason, but I like these more). Also the fully ripe fruit are full of red/purple juice and will make your hands look like you have just butchered something.

Alpine Strawberry – This perennial is easily grown from seed and will actually produce fruit in its first season. It will then continue to fruit for several years, making a packet of Alpine Strawberry seed a true bargain. It requires a little more attention than most of the plants here (it may need watering and weeding occasionally) but the fruit is absolutely delicious and it is a very pretty plant.

These are the plants that stand out in my mind, no doubt others will come to me later and I’ll be ashamed that I forgot them (Bay, Coriander and Dandelion already come to mind). I’m curious to hear from you about which plants you have found to be productive, tasty and easy to grow. 

Of course you have to be able to find a plant to use it. It’s very frustrating when books recommend unusual plants that are pretty much impossible to find (Ulluco where are you?). Most of the plants below are fairly easy to find locally, but a few are usually only available mail order (fortunately this is now pretty effortless).