Our Plants
Plants in our Florida food forest (zone 9b)
Since 2014, I’ve been filling our food forest with so many different species edible of beneficial plants. Now, my yard is a fascinating and beautiful place full of wildlife, food and peace.
Here is a comprehensive list of some of the best and most successful plants in our Zone 9b Florida food forest.
Interested in purchasing these plants? Click the links to support eBay gardeners. Pro Tip: Sort the results by distance, for plants grown closer to your own climate. Interested in learning more? Scroll below for more info.
Florida Natives
- Wax Myrtle.
- Elderberry
- Saw Palmetto
- Flatwoods Plum
- Coco Plum
- Beauty Berry
- Bee balm
- Muscadine Grapes
- Persimmon
- Oaks (acorn flour)
- Sea Grapes
- Florida Wild Coffee
Medicinal & Beneficial Plants
- Shampoo Ginger
- Comfrey
- Aloe Vera
- Ginger
- Turmeric
- Rosemary
- Calendula
- Milk Thistle
Edible Plants | Shrubs & Vines
- Longevity Spinach
- Okinawa Spinach
- Sweet Potatoes
- Bananas
- Papayas
- Blueberries
- Tapioca
- Cranberry Hibiscus
- Sugar Cane
- Passionfruit
- Goji Berry
- Chaya (tree spinach)
Edible Plants | Trees
- Avocado
- Mango
- Giant Mulberry
- Strawberry Fruit Tree
- Moringa
- Bay Rum & Laurel Bay
- Tamarind
- Elliot Pecan
- White Sapote
- Sapodilla
- Apples, Peaches & Plums (specific low-chill hour varieties)
- Loquat
- Pigeon Pea
our plants
It’s important to as they are better adapted to the local climate. My neighbor (an avid Native plant enthusiast) and I came to the agreement that 70% of your property should be native species as “the right thing to do”.
So, even if you want to have a food forest, make sure to prioritize natives and choose add some of these edible and beneficial native plants into your collection.
Wax Myrtle
A valuable plant for improving soil fertility (nitrogen fixer!) and you can use the leaves like bay leaf and the berries for candles!
Elderberry
Sambucus nigra
Produces clusters of small white flowers that become dark purple berries for jams, jellies, and syrups (just make sure you cook them first!). The flowers can also be used to make elderflower tea.
Flatwoods Plum
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Coco Plum
This large bush gets large fruits with an edible seed in the middle. Makes an awesome, edible hedge.
Beauty Berry
Callicarpa americana
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Blueberries
Vaccinium spp.
These native Florida blueberrie plants produce sweet, juicy berries that are great for eating fresh or using in pies, jams, and other desserts.
Bee balm
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Muscadine Grapes
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Persimmon
(Diospyros virginiana)
Produces sweet, orange fruit that can be eaten fresh, dried, or used in desserts.
Oaks
Live oak (Quercus virginiana)
Oak trees are such a benefit to our ecosystem.
Sea Grapes
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Saw Palmetto
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Turmeric
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Comfrey
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Aloe
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Shampoo Ginger
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Longevity Spinach
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Okinawa Spinach
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Sweet Potatoes
These japanase white sweet potatoes were not what I was expecting. They taste more like potatoes than sweet potatoes. Next harvest, I’ll cook them like potatoes instead and will update my review then.
Bananas
I have 2 varieties of bananas, one that was already here, and an ice cream banana. The last 2 years, the weather messed up production, but I have spread the pups and I’m hoping for many bunches of bananas in 2023!
Nitrogen-fixing plants are greatly valued by natural gardeners! They have the special ability to add nitrogen back into your soil using nitrogen-fixing bacteria that live in nodules on their roots. This means they can convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form that is usable by plants and other organisms in the ecosystem – aka free, natural fertilizers.
The nitrogen isn’t released back into the soil until that part of the plant begins to decompose – when it is cut back or dies, which is what chop & drop eludes to.
Wax Myrtle
(Myrica cerifera)
A valuable plant for improving soil fertility (nitrogen fixer!) and you can use the leaves like bay leaf and the berries for candles!
Beauty Berry
Callicarpa americana
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Elderberry
Sambucus nigra
Produces clusters of small white flowers that become dark purple berries for jams, jellies, and syrups (just make sure you cook them first!). The flowers can also be used to make elderflower tea.
Bee balm
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Muscadine Grapes
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Vegetable gardening in Florida can be challenging, but with the right planning and care, it is possible to have a successful garden in both hot and cool weather. Here are some of the annual vegetable crops we grow, and when we plant them.
Cool Weather Crops
Here are some of my favorite cool-weather crops from our yard and their approximate time til harvest. These are best to plant from seed right when the weather begins cooling down in August/September. As you get closer to Spring, it’s best to plant from store-bought transplants.
*Harvest times vary depending on the specific variety of each crop and the weather conditions during the growing season.
Purple Cauliflower
(60 to 100 days)
This was such a fun plant to grow! Make sure to let one plant bolt and you will end up with many seeds!
Cabbage
(70 to 100 days)
I was so surprised at how easy it was to grow cabbage. We don’t eat much cabbage, but the chickens sure do!!
Carrots
(70 to 80 days)
Carrots are so much fun to grow!! Toss seeds every few weeks for a constant supply of carrots throughout the winter, fall, and spring.
Squash
(70 to 80 days)
I love running squash down our fencelines and around tomato cages. They’re not the easiest vegetable to grow. I remove distressed leaves to reduce the humidity and fungus.