The workshop is an opportunity to discuss ways of building on the current collaboration between Plants For A Future (PFAF) and the Permaculture Association. We will discuss how the wider international Permaculture movement (and the Transition movement, which has many similar aims) can best take advantage of the information in PFAF’s Plants database and connect with its worldwide user community of gardeners and specialist growers.

PFAF is a UK-based Charity whose main aims are to provide information and encourage research on ecologically sustainable horticulture, as an integral part of designs involving high species diversity and permaculture principles. PFAF now provides free access to an information database of over 7,000 edible and otherwise useful plants suitable for growing outdoors in a temperate climate. It also publishes books on edible plants, trees and shrubs, and woodland gardening. The database was originally created 15 years ago by Ken and Addy Fern, who planted and experimented with 1,500 species of edible plants, mainly perennials, on their site in Cornwall. Analytics on site usage show that around a million people each year visit the site and make use of the database and associated website.