Check out some of Ann Torrence's threads - such as this one:
https://permies.com/t/34064/permaculture/Throwing-tree-planting-party She's in Utah. You can visit her blog on her
Fermentable Fedge too!
In the hot desert in Southern AZ (Tucson, Phoenix, Yuma) - the best example of a food forest is what's going on in
Brad Lancaster's neighborhood in Tucson.
Keep in mind that "food forests" will look VASTLY, HUGELY, IMMENSELY different in hot drylands than they do in humid climates. They major mostly in
native legumes like mesquite (edible pods) and other desert food sources like prickly pear, native peppers, herbs, other cactus fruit such as chollas (edible buds), etc. Some people claim to be growing
sustainable food forests (common types of fruit like citrus, stone fruit, etc) in the desert, but really they're importing a bunch of
water to support exotic species that would die if this water was not available (ask me how I know!) There is a succession pattern in time for developing desert food forests - it takes longer than in humid climates and there is much less information on how to do it. Thus we are inventing it as we go along. And so there are fewer examples. We must first plant the water, then build the soil, then create shade (native
trees) then, once we've done all that, we might get away with having some food crops like jujubes and pomegranates survive without supplemental water.
1
