Our goal here in our Cold-Climate Zone 4 Quebec Food Forest is to create a community gathering place, regenerative, polyculture, native-species focused, soil-healing, “as many perennials as possible” forest garden system.

The dream is to have a forest garden system that doesn’t need a lot of input from us - over time.

Yes, I still love the annuals like tomatoes, carrots, squash, and of course all the flowers and I will continue to plant those - but I dream of an expanding system that in time will have enough perennial food that we could use it as a source of food for much of the year.

Perennial plants, bushes, and trees come back yearly (some plants and trees only offer fruit every 2 years) and we can eat the greens, flowers, or fruit on them. We are slowly building our fruit tree guilds, hedgerows, and garden spaces to include as many food options as possible while still supporting our native ecosystem.

Cold-Climate Perennial Plants for Your Forest Garden

This is not a full list and it is focused on what we are successfully growing here - there are many more options. When I was starting this journey, I loved seeing what other people were growing so I hope this is helpful.

• asparagus (we have planted from seed and also from 2-year-old crowns)

• rhubarb (we have a few different kinds)

• chives

• spring onion

• garlic chives

• walking onion

• nodding onion (native)

• ground cherries (once you plant these, the squirrels will plant you many more)

• garlic (I let a few of them go to seed every year just to let them reseed themselves)

• herbs: tarragon, all the mints (contain this one!), oregano, lemon balm, varying flavours of thyme (we cook with it almost daily here!), sage, lavender (cold hearty and I cover it with straw in the fall), bergamot, anise hyssop,

• native flowers that one can make tea with or eat: purple coneflower, wild bergamot, scarlet bee balm, wild strawberry, raspberries,

• dandelions - they are here already so we eat them, the roots can also be roasted and used for tea

• purslane (it grows here already too - so we embrace it)

• clover flowers (already here)

• Jerusalem Artichoke (native) (very common in our area) I have planted this beside our driveway in a very sunny spot and near some older maple trees - it spreads easily, but not in this location

• Ostrich Fern (native and grows all over here already) - spring shoots are edible and so delicious

Zone 4 Perennial Bushes for Your Forest Garden

Not complete but a start if you are curious about what is working for us in Western Quebec near Ottawa:

• Aronia Berry (native) - astringent but lovely berries for juicing, jams, and freezing

• Serviceberry (native) - there are a few options here and we have them all, most of them grow here already

• High Bush Cranberry (native) - this one already grows here and we have not tried eating it yet but it is possible

• Hazlenut (native) - this is a tree but it isn’t tall so I still put it here under bush. It grows here already and we have planted more.

• Low and Highbush Blueberry (native) - these are already here too in the forest

• Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) (native) - this grows in the forest nearby but I have not found any on the land we live on

• High Bush Blueberries (cultivars) - we have planted many here because the soil is perfect for them and we love to eat them

• Haskaps (of varying cultivars from Saskatchewan) - love them, easy to grow and easy to propagate. We have over 35 plants here because they are a huge favourite!

• Elderberry (native and cultivars) - we have both, I leave the native one for the birds, and we use the cultivar

• Raspberries (native and cultivars) - we leave the native ones and eat the Anne, Heritage and thornless “Jane” ones for us)

• Blackberries - we have planted thornless ones (Triple Crown) here and trellised them so I can mow around them so they don’t spread everywhere

• Currants: Red and black (we have chosen disease-resistant Rovada and Ben Sarek from Whiffletree)

• Gooseberry (native), however we have chosen some cultivars from Whiffletree that are thornless and disease resistant - Jostaberry)

• Cherries (Romance Series) - these are smaller and bush-like

• Staghorn or Fragrant Sumac (native) - tree or bush really depending on how involved you are in it's growth :) Staghorn Sumac can be made into a lovely tea or infusion. We have not planted any but it is all over this area.

• Grapes - concords and others that I don’t know as two were planted before we moved here

Cold-Climate Perennial Trees with Edibles for Your Food Forest

This is not an exhaustive list as there are so many trees to choose from, but here are the ones that are doing great here. Eastern White Cedar, White Pines, Black Spruce, Tamarack, Serviceberries, Alders, and Birch are only a few of the trees that grow here already - some of these make beautiful teas and infusions - but that’s not my zone of genius - I’ll leave that to the books.

Trees we’ve planted that are growing well here:

• Hazelnut (we’ve planted more because they will be an excellent food source someday)

• Serviceberry (one of my favourites for the fruit)

• Apple Trees: Liberty, William’s Pride and a few more that I don’t remember

• SpringSatin Plumcot

• Honey Sweet European Pear

• Peach (Reliance and Contender) - we have not planted these yet, they are coming but some other local friends are growing them so far with success

• Cherries (many different kinds that I don’t remember the names of right now)

• Plums (collected from a local grower and I don’t know what kind they are)

• Pear Trees (I will need to look at the labels when the snow melts - they are still under the snow)

• Spicebush (native)

• Native Winterberry (not edible for humans, but I’m mentioning it anyway because the local birds love it!)

• Crabapple (small edible apples, ours is called Brandywine)

• Apricot (Hargrand) (good to zone 4 and so far it is doing GREAT!)

What perennials are you growing in your cold-climate forest garden?

Please share in the comments so we can all learn from each other!