Forest gardens are not new. They have been grown in the tropics for centuries, if not millennia. In Indonesia they are called home gardens or pekarangan. Like a forest, a home garden contains a great variety of plants in many layers, from the tall trees of the canopy to shrubs and shade-loving plants on the forest floor. The difference is that in the home garden all the plants have been chosen for their use, which might be as food, building materials, fibres or medicines. The canopy might include coconut, durian, jackfruit and timber trees, with bananas, papaya and coffee lower down, and vegetables and starchy crops such as aubergines, chillies, cassava, sweet potatoes and taro in the lowest layers. Animals including fish in ponds are also usually part of the…
