Forest Garden in the hottest parts of the world

Hello everyone,
I live in the Middle East, in Dubai. We have one of the hottest summers on earth, where our temperatures get up-to 50c and above. Growing food here is possible in the cooler months of the year and I have been doing this for the past 10 years. But the problem is our summers, where most things won’t grow and we regularly lose plants. Rainfall in the summer is non existent and we get little rain in winter, which is irregular and it’s usually a lot of it in a small period of time. I am having a hard time finding resources to help me build a food forest. A lot of the recommended plants do well here in cooler months and then we lose plants in summer. This year I lost my lemon tree that was around 8 years old. The same age olive also died but I didn’t have a heart to cut it down and I can see some growth from the base of it. So though we have plenty of food in winters we barely have anything that survives the summer so as a result we rely mostly on annuals. I want to change that. I know I must think differently and explore food sources that I wouldn’t think of otherwise. So I’m looking for books and other resources that deal specifically with our climate. I have ordered rainwater harvesting books to find solutions for our water scarcity (our water comes from desalination plants). I have some books but I feel it’s not enough. I’d appreciate any resources and suggestions.

Yana, welcome to the forums!

Does your area have traditional native plants that were eaten before modern shipping practices?  Look at those for something that will grow in your area.

Here are some threads that you might find interesting:

https://permies.com/t/58559/permaculture-projects/Big-Fat-Thread-Dryland-Farming

https://permies.com/t/165230/Species-Dryland-Mediterranean-Food-Woodland

https://permies.com/t/56010/Breeding-dew-collection-experiments-dryland

https://permies.com/t/138768/Water-Plants-Trees-Drought-Conditions

Have you tried any mesquite or acacias? Some mesquites taste good and I think you can cook acacia beans. I have local ironwood and palo verde too. I think you can cook all 4 beans.
I planted those all through summer, but watered on weekends. 2-3 times month. 115 all summer pretty much. They can establish shade for better tree later on too.
Can you post a picture of what you're working with?

The heat and lack of water seems to be a big problem that you are facing. To help fix that I recommend a few things:
Mulch: this will cut down on evaporation, and it will also help you soil to capture dew, it also help with water infiltration in storm
Biochar: this makes the water in the soil more mineral dense, which makes the plant request less water
Irrigation: Under the mulch flood/drip irrigation is a great idea, weekly watering promotes deeper roots
Swales: These are depressions are filled with mulch that will hold water,
Reclaimed Water: Greywater and or Aerated Sewage/Septic water that is send under the mulch.
Soil Aeration: This helps the soil hold more water and help infiltration, and plant root dept
Palm/Legume Overstory: These plants will help shade the plants beneath them thus helping them to survive while also providing food/nutrients
Species/Cultivar Selection: Traditional Mediterranean/Desert fruit and nut crops include date palms, carob, catus pear, almonds, hazelnuts, cashew/pistachios, chestnut, pine nut, pumpkin seed, sesame seed, sunflower seed, walnut, grapes, olives, figs, pomegranates, apricots, plum/prune, citrus, persimmon, jujube, and loquat. See if you can find some local/native/wild cultivars near you, even if they aren't the best quality you can always graft. In fact you can plant alot of seeds in your garden and see which would survive the hot local conditions and then graft them if the fruit quality isn't up to your liking.

Here are a few other plants that you might like
GRAINS
• Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana)
• Fonio (Digitaria exilis and D. iburua)
• Pearl Millet (Pennisetum species)
• Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor)
• Tef (Eragrostis tef)
• Other cultivated grains (Brachiaria, Triticum, Paspalum, etc.)
• Wild grains (Echinochloa, Paspalum, etc.).

VEGETABLES
• Amaranth (Amaranthus species)
• Bambara Bean (Vigna subterranea)
• Baobab (Adansonia digitata)
• Celosia (Celosia argentea)
• Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata)
• Dika (Irvingia species)
• Eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum)
• Egusi (Citrullus lanatus)
• Enset (Ensete ventricosum)
• Lablab (Lablab purpureus)
• Locust Bean (Parkia biglobosa)
• Long Bean (Vigna unguiculata)
• Marama (Tylosema esculentum)
• Moringa (Moringa oleifera)
• Native Potatoes (Solenostemon rotundifolius and Plectranthus esculentus)
• Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus)
• Shea (Vitellaria paradoxa)
• Yambean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa)

FRUITS
• Balanites (Balanites aegyptiaca)
• Baobab (Adansonia digitata)
• Butterfruit (Dacryodes edulis)
• Carissa (Carissa species)
• Horned Melon (Cucumis metulifer)
• Kei Apple (Dovyalis caffra)
• Marula (Sclerocarya birrea)
• Melon (Cucumis melo)
• Tamarind (Tamarindus indica)
• Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus)
• Aizen (Mukheit) (Boscia species)
• Chocolate Berries (Vitex species)
• Custard Apples (Annona species)
• Gingerbread Plums (Parinari and kindred genera)
• Gumvines (Landolphia and Saba species)
• Icacina (Icacina species)
• Imbe (Garcinia livingstonii)
• Medlars (Vangueria species
• Monkey Oranges (Strychnos species)
• Star Apples (Chrysophyllum and related genera)
• Sugarplums (Uapaca species)
• Sweet Detar (Detarium senegalense)
• Tree Grapes (Lannea species)

S Bengi, thank you for such a detailed answer. I have already tried a lot of the suggestions and plants you mention, and some are totally new so I’ll be researching them (this is the kind of info I’m looking for). Lots of Mediterranean trees won’t work here because some still require winter chill (we don’t have it here, on rare occasions we may have it but not for too long) or don’t do well in our summer extremes. The issue with our summers is the scorching sun and hot nights they stay above 30c. I’m also inland, closer to the desert where it gets much hotter than the coastal areas (though we enjoy way cooler winters). The problem is sourcing trees as saplings, as importing trees/saplings into the country is not a simple yet a costly process, and you never know what will take. So I am looking for a specific to our climate resources, to minimize the errors an learn things I don’t know.  

S Bengi wrote:The heat and lack of water seems to be a big problem that you are facing. To help fix that I recommend a few things:
Mulch: this will cut down on evaporation, and it will also help you soil to capture dew, it also help with water infiltration in storm
Biochar: this makes the water in the soil more mineral dense, which makes the plant request less water
Irrigation: Under the mulch flood/drip irrigation is a great idea, weekly watering promotes deeper roots
Swales: These are depressions are filled with mulch that will hold water,
Reclaimed Water: Greywater and or Aerated Sewage/Septic water that is send under the mulch.
Soil Aeration: This helps the soil hold more water and help infiltration, and plant root dept
Palm/Legume Overstory: These plants will help shade the plants beneath them thus helping them to survive while also providing food/nutrients
Species/Cultivar Selection: Traditional Mediterranean/Desert fruit and nut crops include date palms, carob, catus pear, almonds, hazelnuts, cashew/pistachios, chestnut, pine nut, pumpkin seed, sesame seed, sunflower seed, walnut, grapes, olives, figs, pomegranates, apricots, plum/prune, citrus, persimmon, jujube, and loquat. See if you can find some local/native/wild cultivars near you, even if they aren't the best quality you can always graft. In fact you can plant alot of seeds in your garden and see which would survive the hot local conditions and then graft them if the fruit quality isn't up to your liking.

Here are a few other plants that you might like
GRAINS
• Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana)
• Fonio (Digitaria exilis and D. iburua)
• Pearl Millet (Pennisetum species)
• Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor)
• Tef (Eragrostis tef)
• Other cultivated grains (Brachiaria, Triticum, Paspalum, etc.)
• Wild grains (Echinochloa, Paspalum, etc.).

VEGETABLES
• Amaranth (Amaranthus species)
• Bambara Bean (Vigna subterranea)
• Baobab (Adansonia digitata)
• Celosia (Celosia argentea)
• Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata)
• Dika (Irvingia species)
• Eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum)
• Egusi (Citrullus lanatus)
• Enset (Ensete ventricosum)
• Lablab (Lablab purpureus)
• Locust Bean (Parkia biglobosa)
• Long Bean (Vigna unguiculata)
• Marama (Tylosema esculentum)
• Moringa (Moringa oleifera)
• Native Potatoes (Solenostemon rotundifolius and Plectranthus esculentus)
• Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus)
• Shea (Vitellaria paradoxa)
• Yambean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa)

FRUITS
• Balanites (Balanites aegyptiaca)
• Baobab (Adansonia digitata)
• Butterfruit (Dacryodes edulis)
• Carissa (Carissa species)
• Horned Melon (Cucumis metulifer)
• Kei Apple (Dovyalis caffra)
• Marula (Sclerocarya birrea)
• Melon (Cucumis melo)
• Tamarind (Tamarindus indica)
• Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus)
• Aizen (Mukheit) (Boscia species)
• Chocolate Berries (Vitex species)
• Custard Apples (Annona species)
• Gingerbread Plums (Parinari and kindred genera)
• Gumvines (Landolphia and Saba species)
• Icacina (Icacina species)
• Imbe (Garcinia livingstonii)
• Medlars (Vangueria species
• Monkey Oranges (Strychnos species)
• Star Apples (Chrysophyllum and related genera)
• Sugarplums (Uapaca species)
• Sweet Detar (Detarium senegalense)
• Tree Grapes (Lannea species)

Yana Samir wrote: The problem is sourcing trees as saplings, as importing trees/saplings into the country is not a simple yet a costly process, and you never know what will take.

I would repeat the advice on growing from seed. It will take longer, but you might have 24 seeds, 12 seedlings, three at three years old, and one tree at ten years old. But this one is the survivor that cost you less $ than one sapling and the sapling would have more risk of not making it at all.  I have the opposite problem - too wet and cold, and also the same problem - lack of shelter (from wind not sun!) and it is amazing how quickly ten years can go when you`re having fun! Some of my trees I may be lucky to see fruit, but we are talking Permaculture here!

Yes, I’m growing as much as I can from seed. Neem, Moringa and a local type of mesquite do amazingly well from seed and grow well here. So finding a resource that describes these types of trees would be great. I know there must be others and am willing to try. I also feel lost because most info I find is for temperate climate trees. I prefer books because it makes it easier for me to plan, or at least a resource I could print out. I am looking for the practical details, as this where most resources lack in.
And I understand you when you feel you’re the opposite. I’m half Russian and we have a house in Russian countryside. Though the soil is very rich I have seen how lack of planning created soil erosion due to rain runoff on neighboring plots. And though some years summers are hot, others can be cold and wet. I have seen the many fungal diseases ok many trees there as well. I remember as a kid it would sometimes rain for days almost non stop. My dream is to one day convert that countryside plot of ours into a Permaculture site, but that is when I can go there more often as now I only go once every few years.

Nancy Reading wrote: I would repeat the advice on growing from seed. It will take longer, but you might have 24 seeds, 12 seedlings, three at three years old, and one tree at ten years old. But this one is the survivor that cost you less $ than one sapling and the sapling would have more risk of not making it at all.  I have the opposite problem - too wet and cold, and also the same problem - lack of shelter (from wind not sun!) and it is amazing how quickly ten years can go when you`re having fun! Some of my trees I may be lucky to see fruit, but we are talking Permaculture here!

Yana,
Have you come across The Ferns Website. They have a database of plants that covers tropical plants. I tend to just look at the temperate plants database, but you may find the tropical database of some use?

This is new to me, I’ll have a look. Thank you.

Nancy Reading wrote:Yana,
Have you come across The Ferns Website. They have a database of plants that covers tropical plants. I tend to just look at the temperate plants database, but you may find the tropical database of some use?

Are you familiar with Geoff Lawton’s greening the desert site in Jordan? Here is a vid where he shows the species he’s using.  I believe the climatic conditions there are very similar to yours

A heavy focus on support species is a really good idea for the first years and establishment as they can create a micro climate that allows for season extensions and nursery for the most demanding productive trees later.

Thank you, yes I’m familiar with his work, he’s one of the first permaculturists I followed. I love that project and I always watch his videos. Just watched the video again and remembered that I bought carob pods last spring specifically to try and use the seeds to grow into trees. Time to plant them now that the weather is cooler (I’m not a fan of starting outdoor seeds in the heat as I lose lots of them this way, and I don’t have enough indoor space for all of my experiments), hope it works. .

Andrés Bernal wrote:Are you familiar with Geoff Lawton’s greening the desert site in Jordan? Here is a vid where he shows the species he’s using.  I believe the climatic conditions there are very similar to yours

A heavy focus on support species is a really good idea for the first years and establishment as they can create a micro climate that allows for season extensions and nursery for the most demanding productive trees later.

Andrés Bernal wrote:

A heavy focus on support species is a really good idea for the first years and establishment as they can create a micro climate that allows for season extensions and nursery for the most demanding productive trees later.

Just to put this out there, but you might have to be your own pioneer! And tell us what works for you! I kinda feel like that in this rocky clay I'm dealing with...

Yana Samir wrote:Hello everyone,
I live in the Middle East, in Dubai. We have one of the hottest summers on earth, where our temperatures get up-to 50c and above. Growing food here is possible in the cooler months of the year and I have been doing this for the past 10 years. But the problem is our summers, where most things won’t grow and we regularly lose plants. Rainfall in the summer is non existent and we get little rain in winter, which is irregular and it’s usually a lot of it in a small period of time. I am having a hard time finding resources to help me build a food forest. A lot of the recommended plants do well here in cooler months and then we lose plants in summer. This year I lost my lemon tree that was around 8 years old. The same age olive also died but I didn’t have a heart to cut it down and I can see some growth from the base of it. So though we have plenty of food in winters we barely have anything that survives the summer so as a result we rely mostly on annuals. I want to change that. I know I must think differently and explore food sources that I wouldn’t think of otherwise. So I’m looking for books and other resources that deal specifically with our climate. I have ordered rainwater harvesting books to find solutions for our water scarcity (our water comes from desalination plants). I have some books but I feel it’s not enough. I’d appreciate any resources and suggestions.

Does Cordeauxia edulis grow there?

How big of a "growing" area or food forest are we talking about?

Your average temperature graph doesn't look that far off from where I'm at in the Arizona Desert, albeit we get more rainfall.

https://www.google.com/search?q=dubai+average+tempatures&rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS751US751&oq=dubai+average+tempatures&aqs=chrome..69i57.8232j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Looks to me the main problem is the lack of rainfall and water, not so much the heat itself.
Sure blazing sun and wind too aren't helping.
Also, do you have other sources of water for irrigation other than rainfall?

If its not that big of an area, I would suggest a big shade cloth canopy system (50%-80% shade cloth) over the whole growing area....kind of like you would see at a tree nursey.   That could be seasonally put up or taken down.
I know that's a big input/cost .... but extreme environments require extreme measures.
Maybe once the trees get very established you could ween them off of the protection.

Other strategies would be extreme deep mulch; sub surface/deep irrigation systems; long term bulk water storage for the dry periods.

Malabar is an edible vineing plant that is heat tolerant. I grow it in a pot under a huge pine tree with a trellis.  But I do have to water it. I live in the high desert in SE Arizona, summer temps to 105 F.