Field Notes

Fruit Hunter Field Notes

Notes from the field on Florida food forests, fruit trees and what it really costs to grow your own, from Matthew Nadu and the Bring Back Eden team.

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Bring Back Eden crew planting a new food forest bed

3 min readWhat a Florida food forest costsWhat a professionally installed Florida food forest costs: published prices from a $4,997 crew-led zone to $14,000+ full Design + Build.

A wheelbarrow of papaya, avocado, starfruit and dragon fruit harvested in Bradenton

4 min readStart a fruit yard with three plantsPlanting too much at once is why most Florida fruit yards fail. Start with three plants: a quick win, a family favorite and one adventure.

Native and edible hedge rows around young fruit trees on a Sarasota property

3 min readTampa Bay & Gulf Coast design guideDesigning a food forest in Bradenton, Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch, Tampa, St. Pete or Naples: climate, sandy soil, rain, wind, salt and HOAs.

A cluster of green papayas under the leaf canopy

2 min readSouth Florida design guideFood forest design in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach: near-tropical climate, limestone and sandy soils, storms, salt and small lots.

Layered planting in the Bradenton food forest: banana canopy over canna and firebush

3 min readFood forest vs orchard vs edible landscapeFood forest, orchard and edible landscape are not the same thing. How each behaves on a Florida lot and how to choose between them.

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