Plants for a Future

Plants for a Future, commonly abbreviated PFAF, is a United Kingdom-based educational charity and information resource devoted to edible, useful, and ecologically sustainable plants. Its principal public-facing service is an online database intended for people researching food plants, perennial crops, agroforestry, permaculture, sustainable horticulture, and related forms of plant-based land use. The resource has a particular emphasis on species suited to temperate climates, while also covering plants for tropical and subtropical conditions. The organization’s name is a wordplay on the phrase “plans for a future.” That framing reflects its interest in long-lived plants and land-use systems that can contribute to resilient food production and lower-maintenance cultivation. Rather than operating primarily as a conventional consumer gardening brand, PFAF functions as an educational and reference platform. Its stated charitable purpose is to advance public education in ecologically sustainable vegan-organic horticulture and agriculture, with special attention to trees, shrubs, and other perennial species, and to conduct and disseminate research in those fields. The database originated with Ken Fern, who assembled information on approximately 1,500 plants that he had grown and assessed at a 28-acre research site in South West England. It subsequently developed into a much larger online reference collection. The database is described as containing information on more than 8,000 plants, including roughly 7,000 suitable for cultivation in temperate regions such as the United Kingdom and about 1,000 associated with tropical situations. Entries are intended to help users identify plants with edible or other practical uses and to consider their cultivation characteristics and ecological roles. Since 2008, maintenance of the database has been carried out by a database administrator employed by the Plants for a Future charity. This institutional transition helped move the resource from a largely founder-led project toward an ongoing charitable information service. The organization has also participated in public discussion through books, conference activity, and involvement in the International Permaculture Research Project. Its publishing work extends the database’s subject matter into practical guidance on unusual edible plants, woodland gardens, food forests, edible trees, shrubs, and perennial crops. PFAF’s materials are relevant to gardeners, growers, permaculture practitioners, educators, researchers, and readers interested in alternatives to annual-heavy food systems. Its central proposition is that perennial and multipurpose plants can broaden food choices while supporting more sustainable horticultural and agricultural practices. The organization’s current public identity remains closely tied to its website, plant database, educational mission, and publications. No separate commercial parent company, public listing, or corporate ownership structure is identified in the supplied material.

Plants for a Future emerged from Ken Fern’s practical research into edible and useful plants. The initial database was built around approximately 1,500 species that Fern had grown at a 28-acre research site in South West England. Its purpose was not simply to list garden plants, but to gather information relevant to food production, plant utility, perennial cultivation, and ecologically sustainable land management. The project’s subject matter reflects a wider interest in perennial agriculture, agroforestry, and vegan-organic horticulture. In these systems, trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and other long-lived plants can provide food or materials over extended periods while potentially reducing the need for repeated soil disturbance and annual replanting. PFAF’s stated educational objectives therefore combine public information with research and dissemination concerning sustainable horticultural and agricultural practices. The organization later developed an online resource serving a broader audience than the original research site. Its database expanded to more than 8,000 plants, covering both temperate and tropical contexts. Approximately 7,000 entries concern plants that can be grown in temperate regions, including the United Kingdom, while around 1,000 relate to tropical situations. The database became the organization’s defining public service and gave users a searchable source of information about edible and otherwise useful species. A significant administrative stage occurred in 2008, when responsibility for maintaining the database was assigned to a database administrator employed by the Plants for a Future charity. This marked a shift toward formalized ongoing maintenance and helped preserve the resource as a continuing institutional project rather than a static collection assembled solely by its founder. PFAF has also communicated its ideas through books and public participation. Ken Fern’s 1997 book, Plants for a Future: Edible and Useful Plants for a Healthier World, established a durable publication associated with the project. Later books addressed unusual edible plants, woodland gardening, edible trees, perennial plants, shrubs, and food forests. These publications extend the database’s informational approach into more practical guidance for cultivation and design. The organization has participated in conferences and has been associated with the International Permaculture Research Project. Such activities place PFAF within a broader network concerned with sustainable food systems, perennial agriculture, and alternative horticultural methods. Its work remains primarily educational and informational. The supplied material does not identify a precise founding year, a current named executive team, a commercial parent, or a separate operating headquarters beyond its association with the United Kingdom and the South West England research tradition.

• 2024

  Publication of Food Forest Plants for Hotter Conditions

  [1]Plants for a Futureen.wikipedia.org

  A guide addressing perennial plants for tropical and subtropical food forests extended the organization’s published coverage beyond temperate conditions.

• 2021

  Publication of Plants for Your Food Forest

  [1]Plants for a Futureen.wikipedia.org

  The organization published a guide covering hundreds of plants for temperate food forests and permaculture gardens.

• 2019

  Publication of Edible Shrubs

  [1]Plants for a Futureen.wikipedia.org

  Edible Shrubs broadened the organization’s practical coverage of multipurpose perennial plants.

• 2015

  Publication of Edible Perennials

  [1]Plants for a Futureen.wikipedia.org

  Edible Perennials presented a selection of perennial plants relevant to food growing and sustainable garden design.

• 2013

  Expansion into woodland gardening and edible trees

  [1]Plants for a Futureen.wikipedia.org

  The organization published guides on sustainable edible woodland gardens and on growing and harvesting edible trees.

• 2012

  Publication of Edible Plants

  [1]Plants for a Futureen.wikipedia.org

  Plants for a Future published Edible Plants, a guide focused on choosing and growing unusual edible species.

• 2008

  Database maintenance formalized through the charity

  [1]Plants for a Futureen.wikipedia.org

  The online database began to be maintained by a database administrator employed by the Plants for a Future charity.

• 1997

  Publication of the foundational PFAF book

  [1]Plants for a Futureen.wikipedia.org

  Ken Fern published Plants for a Future: Edible and Useful Plants for a Healthier World, helping articulate the project’s focus on edible plants, perennial cultivation, and sustainable horticulture.

An educational, research-informed reference platform for edible, useful, perennial, and ecologically sustainable plants, with particular relevance to temperate horticulture and permaculture.

• Online reference database

  PFAF Online Plant Database

  The organization’s central public resource is an online database containing information on more than 8,000 plants. It focuses on edible and useful species, with extensive coverage of plants suitable for temperate regions and additional material for tropical situations. The database supports research into plant selection, perennial horticulture, sustainable food production, and permaculture-oriented garden design.

• Book · 1997

  Plants for a Future: Edible and Useful Plants for a Healthier World

  Ken Fern’s 1997 book presents the project’s core interest in edible and useful plants and connects plant selection with sustainable horticultural practice. It is one of the principal publications associated with Plants for a Future and provides a broader interpretive context for the organization’s database work.

• Book · 2012

  Edible Plants

  Published in 2012, this guide focuses on unusual edible plants and offers readers inspiration for selecting and growing species outside the most familiar food crops.

• Book · 2013

  Woodland Gardening

  This 2013 publication addresses the design of low-maintenance, sustainable edible woodland gardens, applying PFAF’s interest in perennial plants to woodland-based cultivation systems.

• Book · 2013

  Edible Trees

  Also published in 2013, Edible Trees provides practical guidance on growing and harvesting trees that produce edible or otherwise useful materials.

• Book · 2015

  Edible Perennials

  This 2015 title highlights a selected group of perennial plants relevant to edible gardening and longer-term food-growing systems.

• Book · 2019

  Edible Shrubs

  Published in 2019, this guide concentrates on edible and useful shrubs and demonstrates the organization’s continuing interest in multipurpose woody perennials.

• Book · 2021

  Plants for Your Food Forest

  The 2021 guide covers approximately 500 plants for temperate food forests and permaculture gardens, linking species selection with the layered and perennial structure of food-forest systems.

• Book · 2024

  Food Forest Plants for Hotter Conditions

  Published in 2024, this guide focuses on more than 250 perennial plants for tropical and subtropical food forests and permaculture gardens, extending the practical publishing program into hotter climates.

1. 1Plants for a Futureen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Plants for a Future official websitepfaf.org