Transforming Florida Yards

Transforming Florida Yards offers readers a way to easily grow edible plants by creating a natural ecosystem. All one needs to successfully begin their food forest is a lawn and this book! Knowing which plants grow in each part of the state (north, central, and south) simplifies steps to create a flourishing garden. Permaculture, or the process of working with nature rather than against it, teaches affordable, sustainable, and research-based ways to beautify surroundings. Backyard gardens also lower the risk of food insecurity and help prepare communities for continuous climate change.

Thanks to ample rainfall and warm temperatures, Florida is the perfect state for growing produce, herbs, and other edibles year-round. Most plants in a food forest are long-lived and low maintenance. Often, food forests even take care of their own fertilization and pest control!

Empowered with easy-to-follow, one-page reference sheets for 200 plants (with corresponding hardiness zone, recipes, cultural information, and landscaping design tips), readers will quickly watch their lawns transform into a gorgeous, yet edible paradise.

AMANDA PIKE, PhD, ATR-BC is a board-certified therapist, certified educational leader and owner of a two-acre, Florida permaculture farm complete with hundreds of species of edible plants, free-roaming chickens and 26 beehives. Dr. Pike serves as Education Chair and Chapter Representative for the Palm Beach County chapter of the Native Plant Society. As a local 4-H program facilitator, Dr. Pike helps make food forestry an accessible and practical landscaping option for the community.