A cross two acres in Jupiter Farms, Dr. Amanda Pike has cultivated a landscape with an impressive résumé. It feeds her family, supports her work in art therapy, welcomes children and community groups, and demonstrates how an ordinary Florida yard can become far more productive. More than 200 species of edible plants grow throughout the property alongside chickens, quail and beehives. Together, they form a working ecosystem that provides an estimated 70 percent of the Pike family’s groceries. Instead of devoting the acreage to expanses of lawn and purely decorative landscaping, Pike has created a place where beauty and usefulness grow side by side.
Dr. Amanda Pike’s Living Laboratory
constant watering, fertilizing and maintenance associated with many conventional gardens. Despite its ambitious name, a food forest does not require two acres. e same principles can be applied to a suburban backyard, a modest garden bed or a collection of containers. For Pike, however, the Jupiter Farms property has become a full-scale example of what can happen when a landscape is asked to feed people, teach children and contribute something more useful than another aernoon of mowing.
vegetable garden. Crops are not con ned to rigid rows or replanted with every passing season. e landscape is arranged in layers that imitate a natural woodland. Tall trees create an upper canopy, while smaller fruit trees, shrubs, vines, herbs, groundcovers and root crops ll the spaces below. Every layer has a role. Some plants provide food, others create shade, attract pollinators, retain moisture or improve the surrounding soil. As the planting matures, the various elements begin supporting one another, reducing the
e property is known as a food forest, but it bears little resemblance to a traditional
30 Coastal Pearl Living - TOGETHER
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