One of the biggest challenges I face when trying to "convert" people to forest gardening is an unwillingness to give up our favorite annuals--tomatoes, zucchini, potatoes, carrots, etc. In fact, forest gardens are very heavy on fruit trees and nuts, followed closely by berries. Littered across the food forest floor is a smattering of this green and that.
It's a system built on shade.
Our lovable annuals are sun-hungry.
Well, I have four tentative solutions for this sticky situation.
The first is to grow your annuals at the edge of your forest garden. This is my least favorite solution as it requires me to give up valuable space I could be using to grow the more productive fruit trees and bushes. Still, there might be some merit to training vining vegetables like peas and beans up the trees at your gardens edge. If one has to give up valuable garden space, I suggest sticking to productive and multi-layered companion plantings like three sisters.
The second solution is to grow your annuals in the sky. No, I'm not talking about magic. I'm talking about upside down planters like the Topsy Turvies
I used in my indoor garden. These could be attached to the sturdy branches of larger trees, or, lacking such trees, could be attached to a building or temporary fixture. A simple bamboo tripod comes to mind.
I used in my indoor garden. These could be attached to the sturdy branches of larger trees, or, lacking such trees, could be attached to a building or temporary fixture. A simple bamboo tripod comes to mind.This technique has the advantage of adding another layer to the forest garden: plants that start at the top and grow down. Granted, you'll want to be careful where and how you're planting your upside down planters as leafy trees can block the sun and cause your tomatoes or other annuals to die. But, a well positioned planter can give you annuals and keep your forest garden a no-dig zone.
The third option is to focus on winter crops. Broccoli and other brassicas, root crops, and many greens can be over-wintered... depending on how harsh your winters are and how well you take care of them. This means they're better suited to low light conditions and can thrive when the trees lose their leaves in the fall. They'll certainly grow slower and may never develop to the extent that they would in a sunny monocultural garden bed. But, they should develop nonetheless.
The fourth option is to find alternative crops. It might seems like forest gardens are all fruits and nuts, but their not. Lots of edible greens can be grown in a forest environment. Ostrich ferns can be grown in dappled shade and their fresh young shoots can be harvested at the beginning of spring and used like asparagus. Bamboo shoots are another good pick. Cow parsnip can be used as an alternative to rutabaga. Hog peanut serves as an alternative to true peanuts. Wild cucumber (Streptopus amplexifolius, there is also a plant called wild cucumber which is poisonous) can be a substitute for... you guessed it: cucumber (in terms of flavor, at least... it doesn't look like anything you'd ever call cucumber).
My entire list of shade-loving perennial edibles can be found here. I'm still working on the much longer list of of plants that thrive in dappled shade and hope to have that up sometime before the end of the world.
Until then, hopefully these solutions inspire you to jump into forest gardening whole-heartedly. You won't regret it.
, 
, 
, and 
. I haven't read them yet, but they've received good reviews and are on my "to read" list. They might not have a lot of information on edibles (I won't know until I pour over them), but they're likely to have helpful information about shade gardening technique. If you have read them, let me know what you think in the comments. Also, if you have grown or eaten any of the plants listed below, feel free to provide any information you have on yields, harvesting, preparing, taste, etc. The more information we have, the better.
has a range of just under 4,000 sq. ft. at the maximum PSI. And oscillating sprinklers have the best range, though at the expense of watering efficiency. The biggest problems with oscillating sprinklers is that the water can be carried away by the wind because it's being spraying higher in the air than with other types of sprinklers, and for the same reason, more of it is likely to be evaporated. Watering early in the morning should help me alleviate both of these problems.
I can set the sprinkler to run every morning, whether I'm there or not. That way I know my plants are getting the water they need. Outside of this 4,000 sq. ft. area I'll plant drought resistant plants, or plants with lower watering requirements... probably perennials like fruit trees (although, fruit trees will require more water during the first year or two as they get established). 
. My interest was renewed when I was sitting at the farmers' market today next to a guy that was selling apple trees, among other things. I'm thinking about putting down a cover crop at my grandfather's place to start getting the soil ready for next season, since the soil is in really bad shape. Planting some fruit trees while I'm at it doesn't sound like a bad plan either.
, a 
, and 
when I picked up vinegar for the beets. The next batch of beets I pick will probably be canned whole or in quarters, and I'm looking forward to all of those tomatoes.
this summer when I worked out on the farm. Contrary to what you might think, it's actually very clean, easy to use, and free of odor. You can also get toilets that look like normal toilets and have a compartment under the floor for catching the wastes, whereas the Sun-Mar toilet I linked to does the actual composting itself.
One cool product that I've had the pleasure of using is the 
. It's kind of an experimental product as is, and I was using it in an even more experimental way. I got the Topsy Turvy so that I could utilize the vertical space in my indoor container garden. Not being able to grow a garden would have been the bane of my college dorm room existence... but I wasn't about to let someone tell me that I couldn't do it.
from the local hardware store (these have rubber ends, and you twist them to add more tension, and thus secure the wooden dowel in the window sill). The link for the flanges is just an example, they actually only cost me $2-3 at the hardware store. I then cut the dowel to size -- the saw on my pocket knife, no less--according to the directions that came with the flanges, and then secured it in place. I drilled a large hole through a board and placed it in the middle of the dowel to add extra support for the planters, as they can be quite heavy.
