Unstoppable Food: N Florida (Zone 9) Edibles

August 3, 2023

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UNSTOPPABLE z9 (N Florida) Food list. You’ll be feeding the neighbors with abundance during famine!

In my personal mission to become famine-resilient and learn to garden, I took the personal strategy of building a 100% naturally grown permaculture food forest that focused on perennials and fast growing (weed like!) edibles. I checked Heirloom magazines, I looked into the best reviewed plants for the area by the top experts such as David the Good, and I’ve built this (unfinished! Will it ever be?) list of UNSTOPPABLE FOODS for Z9 North Florida. With even a touch of Frost each year, these plants should generally do just fine and even provide abundance. In many cases (most) 1 plant can become hundreds through techniques like Layering and Cutting.

Now you may have specific plants you prefer that grow just fine, and you may notice I didn’t include very many annuals on this particular list – and you may have never heard of some (or most even) of these plants…

Some experimentation to test your palette is suggested – but these are all incredibly productive, sometimes even illegal to sell, and must be foraged or gifted due to their “invasive” (read: unstoppable) food.

While most of these plants are not on the “invasives” list, some are. And proper understanding should be utilized in each case. I like to build a spreadsheet of my plants, and print off instructions for each one and put them in a binder incase the internet is taken down by them.

While your neighbors are starving, you’ll be handing them beans the size of your arm, endless greens, bowls of fruit, and much more – in order to survive.

Plants I want:

Fruit:

https://rennieorchards.com/lucuma-tree/

#1 Kumquat (Fortunella margarita)

ElderBerry

Chachafruto (Erythrina edulis

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/MG370 – Jackfruit

Mangos (NE florida variety)

Loganberry downy myrtle and dewberry

https://www.wholesalenurseryco.com/products/dewberry-plant

Wabash and Asimina triloba variety of pawpaws https://restoringeden.co/product-category/fruit-trees/pawpaw/

https://www.wholesalenurseryco.com/products/wild-plum

https://www.wholesalenurseryco.com/products/crabapple

https://www.isons.com/shop/berry-plants/specialty-berry-plants/elderberry-pair/

Honeyberry – https://onegreenworld.com/product/blue-sea-2/ & https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/gardening-by-zone/zone-9-10-11/zone-9-berries.htm

Bananas:

These – https://askthegreengenie.com/tropical-fruits/banana-plants/#:~:text=Dwarf%20Orinoco%20is%20a%20vigorous,growing%3A%20zones%209a%20%26%208b

Florida variety Beans:

https://www.flgardening.com/best-beans-to-grow-in-florida/

Bush Blue Lake’, ‘Contender’, ‘Roma II’, ‘Provider’, and ‘Cherokee Wax’ (a yellow wax type) are some great snap varieties for Florida gardens. If you’re interested in growing shell beans, try ‘Horticultural’, ‘Pinto’, ‘Red Kidney’, ‘Black Bean’, or ‘Navy’ varieties.

Scarlet Runner Beans – Perennial.

The Incredible Snake Bean:
https://www.rareseeds.com/how-to-grow-snake-bean-snake-gourd

PERENNIAL VARIETY BEANS: Scarlet Runner Bean, Fordhook 242 Lima Beans

Grain Corn: Tex Cuban and Hickory King stand head and shoulders above the rest.

https://www.thesurvivalgardener.com/survival-plant-profile-corn/

Mushrooms:

Such common varieties as Morels, Chicken of the Woods, Oyster, Lion’s Mane, and Button can all be easily grown in small areas on the homestead.

Tubers:

Jerusalem Artichokes

Potatoes: Dioscorea bulbifera (Air Potatoes)

Onions: Potato onions and Walking Onions

Greens: