What is PFAF?

Plants For A Future is a resource centre for rare and unusual plants, particularly those which have edible, medicinal or other uses. We practise vegan-organic permaculture with emphasis on creating an ecologically sustainable environment based largely on perennial plants. We are compiling a database, which currently consists of approximately 7000 species of plants. We research and provide information on edible and otherwise useful plants suitable for growing outdoors in a temperate climate. There are now 1500 species of edible plants growing at 'The Field' in Cornwall, our base since 1989.

The main aims of the charity are researching and providing information on ecologically sustainable horticulture, promoting a high diversity, holistic and permacultural approach namely 'woodland gardening'. We aim to use a minimal input of resources and energy, create a harmonious eco-system and cause the least possible damage to the environment whilst achieving high productivity.

The Plants for a Future Concept

It is our belief that plants can provide people with the majority of their needs, in a way that cares for the planet's health. A wide range of plants can be grown to produce all our food needs and many other commodities, whilst also providing a diversity of habitats for our native flora and fauna.

Plants For A Future on Facebook

PFAF Latest News

Welcome to the PFAF website which now has a completely fresh new design. Although it may look very different you can still find the same useful content along with some additional features that include: a plant discussion forum, our blog, and RSS news feeds on the homepage to show our latest, blog and forum entries. Also on the homepage we’ve added ‘Plant of the Week’, which gives information on a favourite plant, and the ‘Amazing Plant Fact’. Both sections are updated every week with new information.

We realise that it is important to have correct information so we are updating and improving the content of the database and website by sourcing and presenting new information and by encouraging experts to examine and update plant input (see the section below for more information if you would like to help out).

In the Database section you can now vote for ‘successful’ plants you have used. This is your chance to give feedback on rare or unusual plants that you have found to be useful. Additional information being added to the database includes Images, A more ‘user friendly’ description of each plant and a visual quick reference of sun, water requirements, and hardiness. We hope you like it..

What's here

RESEARCH

Information on the work at our 28 acre piece of land in Cornwall that was purchased as a place to demonstrate the many uses of plants with a very strong emphasis on perennial species. It is run by a small group of volunteers.more

DATABASE

Search for plants using a number of search criteria including: common and Latin names, keyword, family, habitat and use (medicinal, edible or other).

You can do a more detailed search using the Search Properties section. This allows you to search for a number of plant features at once. For example you might want to search for a plant that needs light sandy soil, that is between 1m and 5m high and that likes shade. The database search will find plants that have all 3 of these features.more

PLANT USES

The Plant Uses section gives a wide variety of uses for plants including their medicinal and edible qualities as well as other uses for example, building materials, dyes, paints, inks and paper or clothing. In many cases this information is supported by the database with direct links to relevant plants.

In this section you can also find the web page 'Top 20 Plants'. This page includes some of our favourite plants that we feel are so good they deserve an article all to themselves for example, Allium, Cornus and Viola. The page also has top rated plants for edibility and medicinal uses. The plants are rated by use, through our research and experience, and all have either a top rating of 5 apples for edibility or 5 hearts for medicinal use.

The edibility and medicinal use rating is applied to all plants in our database and will give you an idea how useful these plants may be to you. Towards the bottom of the page you will find the top 50 plants that users of the website have viewed.

Additional pages include Woodland Gardening, Vegan Organics, Perennial Plants, and Habitats.more

Translations

Become involved

An expert group of editors and contributors to and moderators for the PFAF database and website is being convened online. If you have and would like to share knowledge and expertise on plants, their uses, constituents and cultivation with Plants For A Future website users ( 160,000 unique users and over 1 million page impressions per month ), we would like you to join the group. This is an opportunity to help expand the general pool of knowledge on plants and increase both its quality and its accessibility to botanists, students, plant lovers, herbalists, nutritionists,cooks, gardeners and others.

How much time and effort you would put in is very much up to you, so you will choose your preferred field(s) of expertise and level of involvement. more..

General Disclaimer

To the best of our knowledge all the information contained herein is accurate and true.

However we cannot guarantee that everyone will react positively to all edible plants or other plant uses.

It is commonly known that many people suffer allergic reactions to conventional foods and products. Even amongst the more commonly eaten fruits, for example, there are plenty of instances where people react badly to them:

Many people are allergic to strawberries and will come out in a rash if they eat them.
Some people develop a rash if they touch the stems of parsnips.
Potatoes become poisonous if they turn green.
Eating large quantities of cabbage can adversely affect the thyroid gland.

In general, we believe that the overall health of people will be greatly improved by bringing more diversity into their diet and through using more natural products.

We strongly recommend the following preventative precautions when trying anything new:

Make sure you have identified the plant correctly
Try a small taste of anything new in your diet. If there are no side effects increase the quantity at the next meal.
When trying new soaps or skin applications try them on a very small area before proceeding to larger areas of the body. Look for any uncomfortable reactions or changes and if there is do not proceed with further application.

No liability exists against Plants for a Future or any member of Plants for a Future, nor can they be held responsible for any allergy, illness or injurious effect that any person or animal may suffer as a result of information in this catalogue or through using any of the plants mentioned by Plants for a Future.

Plant of the week

Amazing Plant Fact

The word dandelion comes from a French word that means “lion’s tooth.” The edges of the dandelion’s leaves look like teeth.

PFAF Newsletter

Stay informed about PFAFs progress, challenges and hopes by signing up for our free email newsletter. You will receive a range of benefits including:
• important announcements and news
• exclusive content not on the website
• updates on new information & functionality of the website & database

We will not sell or share your email address. You can unsubscribe at anytime.

Latest Forum

Aloe vera

Alternative Edible Leaves

Rosa glauca

Rosa rugosa

Amaranthus dubius

Latest Blog

Be an expert contributor

The new website

Employment Opportunities

New people to look after the land

Support Us

Your support as a volunteer or donor allows us to continue our work and is very important to us. Ways you can help to support our valuable work..Read More