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The Food Forest Handbook: Design and Manage a Home-Scale Perennial Polyculture Garden Paperback – May 1, 2017
Purchase options and add-ons
The Food Forest Handbook is a practical manual for the design and management of a home-scale perennial polyculture garden. Simple, straightforward instructions guide the reader through:
Getting started - site assessment and planning Tending the forest garden - maintaining soil health, succession planning, , mulching, pruning and more The fruits of your labor - crop profiles, harvest, storage, nutrition and recipes.
This timely book makes the concept of food forests accessible to everyone. Focusing on the potential of perennial polyculture to enhance local food systems, The Food Forest Handbook shows the reader how to mix and match plants in unique combinations to establish bountiful landscapes and create genuine self-reliance in years to come.
Darrell Frey is the owner and manager of Three Sisters Farm, a five-acre permaculture farm, solar greenhouse and market garden located in Western Pennsylvania. He has been permaculture teacher for thirty years, and is the author of Bioshelter Market Garden: A Permaculture Farm.
Michelle Czolba is co-owner of Pittsburgh Permaculture and co-founded the Hazelwood Food Forest. She has extensive experience in the design and maintenance of perennial polyculture.
- Print length256 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherNew Society Publishers
- Publication dateMay 1, 2017
- Dimensions7.5 x 0.96 x 9 inches
- ISBN-100865718121
- ISBN-13978-0865718128
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Sorting out the particulars of a Food Forest can be tricky, overwhelming and seemingly complex. But Darrell Frey's and Michelle Czolba's Book, The Food Forest Handbook changes all that! Through this in-depth practical book you will learn the strategies for effective planning, design, establishment and management of perennial polycultures. I found it fascinating how this design system has been utilized through the ages in many cultures to current times with a tour of successful food forests in varying climates. I recommend this book to all those who are bringing diversity to their planting schemes."
― Jude Hobbs, Permaculture land-use consultant, designer, and educator, Cascadia Permaculture
"Frey and Czolba share the valuable fruit of their decades of experience with this carbon-friendly gardening form. But they go beyond this to tour sites around the world to reap insight and inspiration. They also do a better job than any food forestry book I've seen of reminding us of the tropical origins of this form of multi-strata agroforestry."
― Eric Toensmeier, author, The Carbon Farming Solution
"Michelle Czolba's and Darrell Frey's decades of hands-on experience in permaculture and food production has allowed them to create a unique, important, and timely book. The authors have condensed two lifetimes of experience into a beautifully presented and essential volume. The Food Forest Handbook is an outstanding work that should be in the libraries of urban planners, designers, gardeners, property owners, naturalists, and even survivalists". Save the Earth" isn't just a slogan; this book shows the reader how to make it a practice."
― Joseph Jenkins, author, The Humanure Handbook, The Slate Roof Bible, and Balance Point
"Darrell Frey and Michelle Czolba have recovered this truth from ancient wisdom: forests are successional recyclers. What happens if we were to drop the boundary between the built environment and nature? Wouldn't we all be much better off? The Food Forest Handbook guides our first steps along that path."
― Albert Bates, author, The Post-Petroleum Survival Guide, The Biochar Solution, and The Paris Agreement
Book Description
Create abundance through this unique approach to low-maintenance, high-yield, sustainable food production
From the Inside Flap
Create ongoing abundance with low-maintenance, high-yield, sustainable food production
The Food Forest Handbook is an outstanding work that should be in the libraries of urban planners, designers, gardeners, property owners, naturalists, and even survivalists.
JOSEPH JENKINS, author, The Humanure Handbook , The Slate Roof Bible , and Balance Point
What happens if we were to drop the boundary between the built environment and nature? Wouldn't we all be much better off? The Food Forest Handbook guides our first steps along that path .
ALBERT BATES, author, The Post-Petroleum Survival Guide and The Biochar Solution
A FOOD FOREST is a productive landscape developed around a mix of trees and perennials, helping increase biodiversity, protect valuable habitat for beneficial insects, and promote food security and resilience, all while providing an abundant annual harvest.
Rooted in permaculture principles, this integrated approach to gardening incorporates a variety of plants such as fruit and nut trees, shrubs, vines, and perennial herbs and vegetables. Authors Michelle Czolba and Darrell Frey bring years of experience building and maintaining food forests to provide this practical and accessible guide to creating your own food forest landscape, whether you're urban, suburban, or rural.
This practical manual for the design and management of a home-scale perennial polyculture garden covers all the steps to guide the reader through the process, including:
- Getting started site assessment and planning
- Tending the forest garden maintaining soil health, succession planning, mulching, pruning and more
- The fruits of your labor crop profiles, harvest, storage, nutrition and recipes.
This timely book makes the concept of food forests accessible to everyone. Focusing on the potential of perennial polyculture to enhance local food systems, The Food Forest Handbook shows the reader how to mix and match plants in unique combinations to establish bountiful landscapes and create genuine self-reliance in years to come.
Frey and Czolba share the valuable fruit of their decades of experience with this carbon-friendly gardening form.
ERIC TOENSMEIER, author, The Carbon Farming Solution
DARRELL FREY is the owner and manager of Three Sisters Farm, a 5-acre permaculture farm, solar greenhouse and market garden located in Western Pennsylvania. He has been permaculture teacher for 30 years, and is the author of Bioshelter Market Garden: A Permaculture Farm .
MICHELLE CZOLBA is co-owner of Pittsburgh Permaculture and co-founded the Hazelwood Food Forest.She has extensive experience in the design and maintenance of perennial polyculture.
From the Back Cover
Create ongoing abundance with low-maintenance, high-yield, sustainable food production
The Food Forest Handbook is an outstanding work that should be in the libraries of urban planners, designers, gardeners, property owners, naturalists, and even survivalists.
― JOSEPH JENKINS, author, The Humanure Handbook , The Slate Roof Bible , and Balance Point
What happens if we were to drop the boundary between the built environment and nature? Wouldn't we all be much better off? The Food Forest Handbook guides our first steps along that path .
― ALBERT BATES, author, The Post-Petroleum Survival Guide and The Biochar Solution
A FOOD FOREST is a productive landscape developed around a mix of trees and perennials, helping increase biodiversity, protect valuable habitat for beneficial insects, and promote food security and resilience, all while providing an abundant annual harvest.
Rooted in permaculture principles, this integrated approach to gardening incorporates a variety of plants such as fruit and nut trees, shrubs, vines, and perennial herbs and vegetables. Authors Michelle Czolba and Darrell Frey bring years of experience building and maintaining food forests to provide this practical and accessible guide to creating your own food forest landscape, whether you're urban, suburban, or rural.
This practical manual for the design and management of a home-scale perennial polyculture garden covers all the steps to guide the reader through the process, including:
- Getting started – site assessment and planning
- Tending the forest garden – maintaining soil health, succession planning, mulching, pruning and more
- The fruits of your labor – crop profiles, harvest, storage, nutrition and recipes.
This timely book makes the concept of food forests accessible to everyone. Focusing on the potential of perennial polyculture to enhance local food systems, The Food Forest Handbook shows the reader how to mix and match plants in unique combinations to establish bountiful landscapes and create genuine self-reliance in years to come.
Frey and Czolba share the valuable fruit of their decades of experience with this carbon-friendly gardening form.
― ERIC TOENSMEIER, author, The Carbon Farming Solution
DARRELL FREY is the owner and manager of Three Sisters Farm, a 5-acre permaculture farm, solar greenhouse and market garden located in Western Pennsylvania. He has been permaculture teacher for 30 years, and is the author of Bioshelter Market Garden: A Permaculture Farm .
MICHELLE CZOLBA is co-owner of Pittsburgh Permaculture and co-founded the Hazelwood Food Forest.She has extensive experience in the design and maintenance of perennial polyculture.
About the Author
Darrell Frey is the owner and manager of Three Sisters Farm, a five-acre permaculture farm, solar greenhouse and market garden located in Western Pennsylvania. He has been permaculture teacher for thirty years, and is the author of Bioshelter Market Garden: A Permaculture Farm.
Michelle Czolba is co-owner of Pittsburgh Permaculture and co-founded the Hazelwood Food Forest. She has extensive experience in the design and maintenance of perennial polyculture.
Product details
- Publisher : New Society Publishers (May 1, 2017)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 256 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0865718121
- ISBN-13 : 978-0865718128
- Item Weight : 1.1 pounds
- Dimensions : 7.5 x 0.96 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #86,381 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #189 in Sustainable Living
- #653 in Gardening & Landscape Design
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Darrell Frey is the owner and manager of Three Sisters Farm, a 5-acre permaculture farm, solar greenhouse and market garden located in Western Pennsylvania. He facilitates workshops and delivers keynote presentations on permaculture design, perennial polyculture management and ecological land use planning, and has been a sustainable community development consultant and permaculture teacher for 30 years. Darrell writes extensively about the principles involved in regenerative, organic agriculture and is the author of Bioshelter Market Garden: A Permaculture Farm.
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book informative and helpful for getting started in food forestry. They appreciate the clear language and examples, making it an easy read. The layout is well-organized and the writing style is engaging. However, some readers wish the book had color photos.
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Customers find the book informative and helpful for getting started with permaculture. They say it covers a wide range of topics in an easy-to-understand manner, making it suitable for beginners. The book provides an overview of food forests and permaculture as a useful concept.
"...This book spells is out what a food forest is, why permaculture is a useful concept, and finally how to plan, design, and then actually plant a..." Read more
"I purchased this book for a class I was taking at MIU. It was super helpful and something I will continue to use even after the class." Read more
"...but this book to me had just too much information that was not easy to follow, and I did not find it useful." Read more
"Good food forestry overview - easy to read layout and language." Read more
Customers find the book's language straightforward and easy to read. They appreciate the clear examples and helpful graphics. The layout is organized well and the book provides a good overview for beginners. However, some readers felt the topics were inconsistent.
"...is, why permaculture is a useful concept, and finally how to plan, design, and then actually plant a productive food forest in my own yard...." Read more
"Good food forestry overview - easy to read layout and language." Read more
"...but this book to me had just too much information that was not easy to follow, and I did not find it useful." Read more
"Extremely well organized and written in an engaging style. Lots of helpful graphics and examples...." Read more
Customers like the book. They wish it had color photos.
"Very informative and an enjoyable read. Very happy with this purchase" Read more
"Love the book, but wish it had color photos. All the photos of these beautiful gardens are in black and white! Disappointing." Read more
"Great book but I haven't had a chance to read it all yet." Read more
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Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2017As a novice gardener I found the information to be written in simple, straight forward language with clear examples -which I needed. To me words like ‘food forest’ and ‘permaculture’ mean gardening with a purpose, and that’s what I want to do. I quickly discovered that these topics can get quite involved and technical. In fact, I've looked through other books and could barely understand what they were talking about, never mind actually doing any of it. So for me, this book is the perfect resource for getting started. This book spells is out what a food forest is, why permaculture is a useful concept, and finally how to plan, design, and then actually plant a productive food forest in my own yard. My yard is now looking more like an organized garden and less like a mess .. also I haven’t purchased any herbs all summer because I am growing them!
- Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2023I purchased this book for a class I was taking at MIU. It was super helpful and something I will continue to use even after the class.
- Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2017Good food forestry overview - easy to read layout and language.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2023Very informative and an enjoyable read. Very happy with this purchase
- Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2018Extremely well organized and written in an engaging style. Lots of helpful graphics and examples. Best book on permaculture for newbies that I’ve read.
- Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2020Great information.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2025This book was a nice introductory text to permaculture style food forest design, diagrams, designs, suggested species lists for growing zones in North America, a good value for folks new to permaculture and food forest design.
- Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2024If you’re looking for a book that is very technical then this is for you. I was looking for something more simple that gave me education on what you can actually plant in a food forest, how to organize, etc. but this book to me had just too much information that was not easy to follow, and I did not find it useful.
Top reviews from other countries
Cath in CourtenayReviewed in Canada on October 25, 20195.0 out of 5 stars Super fast shipping of an awesome book!
This was a gift for my daughter and she loves it!
LadybeeReviewed in Canada on January 29, 20224.0 out of 5 stars Useful in planning my food forest
Although I already had some knowledge of the permaculture concepts, this book was a good handbook to provide the extra motivation and confidence that I needed to go from concept to plan so I can execute my vision of transforming my land and garden into a food forest. I would provide a higher book review if the layout of the booking was organized with an enhanced layout using tables and bullets to present the information. Overall, it served the purpose of providing the confidence to draft my plan and layout of the plants I will be planning this summer.






