Suggested Plants for Arid Farming

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shishito peppers

listada di gandia eggplant

snowy eggplant

little finger eggplant

sugar baby watermelon

waltham butternut squash

lovelock lettuce

magenta lettuce

ronde de nice squash

cocozelle zucchini

sivan f1 melons 

shanghai green pac choy

vitamin green

toyko bekana

peaches

nectarines

apricots

plums

apples

cherries

almond

black walnut

pears

Asian pears

service berry

raspberries

blackberries

gooseberries

boysenberries

goji berries

Mahonia trifoliata (agarita)

opuntia

pomegranate

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Drought-tolerant Shade Plants/Biomass Producers

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bougainvillea

acacia

large cacti

Robinia neomexicana (New Mexican Locust)

Quercus gambelii (Gambel Oak)

Amelanchier utahensis (Utah Serviceberry)

Cercocarpus montanus (Mountain Mahogany)

Prunus virginiana (Common Chokecherry)

Ptelea trifoliata (Common Hoptree)

Populus angustifolia (Narrowleaf Cottonwood)

Populus fremontii (Freemont Cottonwood)

Populus tremuloides (Quaking Aspen)

Salix bebbiana (Bebb Willow)

Salix exigua (Sandbar Willow)

Salix scouleriana (Scouler Willow)

Acer glabrum (Rocky Mountain Maple)

Acer negundo (Box Elder)

Abies concolor (White Fir)

Picea engelmannii (Englemann Spruce)

Picea pungens (Colorado Blue Spruce)

Pinus edulis (Colorado Pinyon Pine)

Pinus flexilis (Limber Pine)

Pinus ponderosa (Ponderosa Pine)

Pinus strobiformis (Southwestern White Pine)

Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas Fir)

Juniperus communis (Common Juniper)

Juniperus deppeana (Alligator Juniper)

Juniperus monosperma (Oneseed Juniper)

Juniperus scopulorum (Rocky Mountain Juniper)

Sambucus racemosa (Red Elderberry)

Betula occidentalis (Water Birch)

Celtis reticulata (Netleaf Hackberry)

Cornus sericea (Red Osier Dogwood)

Mesquite - note: invasive!

Leucaena leucocephala - note: invasive!

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Windbreak Species

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tamarisk

casuarina

eucalyptus

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Erosion-stoppers

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sand dropseed

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Ground Covers

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Portulaca oleracea (purslane)

Aptenia cordifolia (Sun Jewel)

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Nitrogen Fixers

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Tagasaste (Chamaecytisus palmensis) – Requires over 300mm of rainfall per year. Grows to a height of 7 metres. It makes an excellent protein-rich fodder crop.

 

Salt wattle (Acacia ampliceps) -Requires between 250 – 700 mm of rainfall per year. Grows to 2 to 8 metres in height. Tolerates alkaline and saline conditions. Makes good fuel or timber for posts. Can be used as fodder.

 

Chisholm’s wattle (Acacia chisholmii) – Requires between 190 and 800mm of rainfall per year. Grows 2 to 3 metres in height. It can be used for fodder or fuel.Australian pine (Casuarina equisetifolia) – Requires from 175 to 1500mm of rainfall per year. Grows to 8 to 16 metres in height. Makes a good windbreak and controls erosion. The wood is durable and makes good posts. It is a good fuel tree yielding 4950 kcal per kg and will burn when green. It also makes good charcoal. The bark is tannin rich and can be used for tanning.

 

Rosewood (Tipuana tipu) – Drought tolerant once established. The trunk will grow up to 1.6 m across, and the tree can grow 40 m tall. This tree yields good timber.

 

Pigeon Pea (Cajanus indicus) – This tree is drought tolerant and might be a possiblility. Its protein-rich peas are edible and are sometimes used to make dal. The food can be used for fuel, fencing or thatch. Planted over chicken ranges, these trees can feed chickens.

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Climax Trees

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Neem (Azadirachta indica) – Drought tolerant. Grows 15 to 30 metres in height. The trees has anti-septic properties and it used for everything from oral hygiene to head lice treatment. This is one of the great trees of India.

 

Mexican pinon (Pinus cembroides) – Requires 270 mm to 800 mm of rainfall per year. They yield pine nuts which can be roasted or eaten raw, and can be ground to make flour.

 

Olive (Olea europaea) – Drought tolerant. The olives can be eaten or used to make olive oil.

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*Note: It is usually if not always better to cultivate local flora rather than imported stock varieties. It provides habitat and food/nectar sources for native species of insects, birds, and other animals which facilitates pollination and fruit set as well as fills crucial ecological niches that support the growth and health of other native plants which inhibits the encroachment of invasive species. Cultivating a genetically diverse ecology provides resistance from fungal pathogens, bacterial infections, nematodes, and other pests and crop ailments. However, common varieties are easy to cultivate and good beginner or pioneer plants and are widely available.