by David The Good
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When I was down in Ft. Lauderdale for Thanksgiving, I took the time to film a new tour of the Great South Florida Food Forest Project – check it out:
Some of the trees and shrubs have died but others are thriving. Once trees get to a certain size they usually manage to fend for themselves – especially in South Florida where the water table is within easy reach of tree roots.
I’ll post more tomorrow – I have lots of photos.
I’m David The Good, gardening author, homesteading, survival gardener, nursery owner and plant geek. Let’s grow some food!
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10 responses to “South Florida Food Forest Fall 2015 Update”
Is that the katuk that had the large white berries on it?
I’ve never seen one fruit before.
Yes – that’s katuk. For some reason, the one growing in the Great South Florida Food Forest Project fruits almost continuously. There are also baby katuk trees scattered here and there around its base that started from seed.
What would a person need do to get you to send cuttings of that katuk to them?
I am very interested in getting some.
Where are you located?
Nice video, my acerola cherries are only about 5 feet tall, had no idea they got really big.
I’m a big proponent of using the Extension Service for IDing plants. Also the Fl univ web site. I’ve actually had very little luck using the Master Gardeners in my area – most seem to be snowbirds or rounders who only grow ornamentals and
would not try any food crops in the hot months.
Yeah – the Master Gardeners aren’t all that helpful. Permaculture folks and rare fruit clubs are great, though. And I do love perusing the UF site.
edis/ifas/fl.gov.edu/state.univ/fruit.com or whatever its ridiculously long address is.
And acerola cherries will make a nice tree if you let them.
You mentioned a flowering weed that looks a bit like a morning glory. The name is ascerina. I think the is the correct spelling. I saw it in a seed catalog years ago. It is a perennial member of the morning glory family. A vine that grows up to 6ft. Flowers year round. Turkeys, chickens and sheep all love it. I let it grow in waste spots and harvest it every so often as feed.
The flowers look really close, though the leaves and vines aren’t right. This particular plant has rounded leaves and doesn’t climb. Probably a relative.
Yes they do have rounded leaves and don’t climb well unless they are happy, crowded and left alone. I saw a small plants coming up in the front of the photo with wanderg jew. The purple striped ground cover. Frequently ascerina looks like a ground cover when it is young. The animals also eat the wandering jew.
Well cool – thank you. I couldn’t find any with rounded leaves via an image search but I’m happy to take your word for it. They’re pretty and the bees like them.