There are so many plants I want to grow someday.

My main strategy for creating a diverse food forest with all of the plants I have on my (very extensive) wish-list has been to pick a few types of perennials to add to my collection each year.

I’d recommend figuring out what plants you’d want eventually (maybe take into consideration what plant guilds you want to build) and just work on one guild at a time.

Also, it’s worth starting with plants that are easy to propagate so you can fill your food forest faster initially! If you start with regular cherry trees, apples, and blueberry bushes you’ll be waiting for a long time before the food forest really starts to fill out.

My best plants have been the ones that are compatible with several different plant guilds (comfrey, yarrow, walking onion, elderberry) and are easy to propagate.

With that said, here are some new ones I’m testing out this year! Forgive the lack of photos, but I don’t have much to show since the plants are so young. (I try to use only photos that I have taken myself, a few photos are labeled otherwise).

I’ve been looking to get my hands on some skirret for a while and honestly, I keep forgetting as soon as the actual growing season starts.

I’m so thankful that one of my connections actually was willing to send me two different varieties this year and so far, they seem very happy in the garden!

Now for the obvious question you are probably wondering; “what is skirret??” and yes, this is one of those slightly obscure plants only people like me (and hopefully you) care about!

Skirret is a medieval perennial root vegetable that is in the carrot and parsnip family.

The roots are around 6-8 inches and grow in bunches/clusters. In order to harvest them, as I understand it you just pull some of the roots out or split the plant, then leave some in the ground to continue multiplying.

The flavor is somewhat sweet, and apparently, they have a pleasant aroma. They are used exactly like carrots and are typically white in color!

My friend just this weekend asked if I wanted sprouted chestnut seedlings to grow out, and of course I had to say yes. I’m not entirely sure what variety these are (still trying to track that down) but I’m excited, nonetheless.

I’ve wanted to start growing nut trees for awhile and chestnuts are one of my top two preferences.

These nuts have fallen out of popularity with most of America but there is a resurgence of interest in these nuts as a perennial staple crop. The most intriguing thing to me about chestnuts is that they can be used as a replacement for grains or potatoes since they are starch-based and not actually fat-based like most other nuts! For comparison:

While chestnuts on the other hand:

These are Similar macronutrients to potatoes, sweet potatoes, and grains. When combined with vegetables and a good protein source, chestnuts are an absolutely amazing staple crop for both humans and for livestock.

They are naturally a little bit sweet and can be used in baking as well as cooking. They have enormous potential in the future of agroforestry in the midwest.

I plan to eventually source and carry chestnut trees for sale, if you are interested, please let me know! These are the options I’m considering:

Don’t worry, I will write an entire article about chestnuts at some point!

I’ve heard people rave about gooseberries and I’ve tasted them myself. These are an incredible berry that everyone should grow!

Gooseberries are related to currants and taste similar to a flavorful grape but a little more tart. They are also very easy to grow in most parts of the region, and have a few native counterparts as well.

I couldn’t resist since I of course need to have every berry under the sun eventually.

I will have some of them available this year for sale as young plants as well.

While I have eaten wild ones, I’ve never grown a serviceberry tree or had a cultivar.

I wrote a whole article about serviceberry here for you to read.

This year I will have a cultivar called “Jennybelle” available in limited quantities so if you’d like one, reserve it now!

To reach out about buying plants, message me on any social media platform or reply to this email!

This is a fairly obscure medicinal berry.

I think this fruit has a huge potential to surpass even elderberry as a medicinal powerhouse!

The biggest thing is that aronia actually has the highest antioxidant content out of ANY commonly cultivated plant in the world. It ranks higher than elderberry, goji, acai, blueberries, blackberries, or any of the normal antioxidant fruits.

The best thing about this to me is that it is more medicinal than the fruits normally considered “superfoods” that cost 10x more!

It’s an easy-to-grow medicinal that like elderberry actually has a lot of scientific research to back up the health claims.

On top of that it’s actually more cold hardy than even elderberry (survives zone 3) and grows in pretty much any soil including heavy clay, or straight sand. They will also produce reliably for 40-60 years as opposed to the 10-20 years elderberry produces for.

So while I love elderberry for so many reasons, aronia is an excellent medicinal that is amazingly resilient and is essentially a set-and-forget crop.

As an added bonus, they’re a native shrub!

Follow me on social media for behind-the-scenes videos and seasonal photos!

Leave a comment to show the algorithm how legit we are!

Thanks for reading The Naturalist. Please share on social media to support the work!