THE FOREST GARDENER
PLANT YOUR FIRST FOOD FOREST GUILD
Turn Your Land into a Food Forest That Actually Feeds You — One Doable Guild at a Time
Use the step-by-step One-Guild Method to create the first productive guild of your future food forest — so you know what to plant, where it goes, how far apart to space everything, and what to do first, without wasting months researching or trying to design the whole property before you start.
Matthew Brown
United States
Ready to plant your first food forest guild?
Join the workshop today and get immediate access to the lessons, workbook, templates, and step-by-step guidance you need to design, plant, and care for your first food forest guild — then use the same method to keep expanding your food forest from there.
Self-paced workshop · Workbook included · Templates included
Chances are, you probably don’t need more food forest inspiration.
You’ve probably had enough of that already.
You’ve seen the mature systems where fruit trees, berries, herbs, flowers, vines, and groundcovers are all growing together in a place that feels abundant, alive, and actually enjoyable to spend time in.
A place where you can step outside and harvest food through the seasons.
Not just a few lonely fruit trees sitting in grass. Not a vegetable garden that needs to be restarted from scratch every year. And not a wild, messy jungle where everything is technically “natural,” but you can barely walk through it, harvest from it, or understand what is actually going on.
A food forest should give you food.
It should be beautiful to spend time in.
And over time, if it is designed well, it should become easier to care for and not become another full-time job hidden behind nice-sounding food forest theory.
But when you try to actually start one, the beautiful idea gets buried under decisions.
What do you plant first?
Where does it go?
How far apart should everything be?
Which plants actually work together?
What can wait?
And what actually matters right now?
So you watch another video.
Save another plant list.
Sketch another possible layout.
Read another opinion.
And before long, you are not starting a food forest anymore.
You are researching one.
The problem is not that you need more information.
The problem is that you are trying to figure out the whole food forest before you have built the first working piece.
And that is where most people get stuck.
Because a food forest feels huge when you look at the whole thing at once.
The trees.
The shrubs.
The herbs.
The vines.
The spacing.
The paths.
The water.
The soil.
The support plants.
The order of planting.
The long-term layout.
It is too much to solve in one go.
And for most people, it is too much to take on all at once.
You have work, family, weather, budget, limited time, limited energy, and plenty of other things pulling at your attention.
So what if you did not have to start with the whole property?
What if you could start with one clear, doable piece?
Inês Costa
Portugal
One guild.
Small enough to actually begin.
Structured enough to make sense.
Useful enough to move your food forest forward.
Repeatable enough to become the pattern for the larger system.
That is the One-Guild Method.
Instead of trying to design the entire food forest at once, the One-Guild Method helps you build the first living piece properly.
Then, over time, as your budget, skills, season, and energy allow, you repeat the same pattern until those small pieces start becoming the larger food forest you wanted from the start: a beautiful, productive place where you can step outside and harvest food through the seasons.
That is exactly what I’ll walk you through inside the workshop.
Jessica Thompson
Australia
Plant Your First Food Forest Guild
A step-by-step online workshop that walks you through the process of creating your first productive food forest guild from start to finish.
Inside, I’ll show you how to choose the right starting location, pick your main tree, choose the plants around it, space everything properly, and turn it into a clear planting plan.
Then you’ll learn how to plant it, care for it while it gets established, and use the same method again as your food forest grows.
So instead of staying stuck in research mode, you can create the first real piece of your food forest and build from there.
How The One-Guild Method turns your land into a food forest, one doable step at a time
The One-Guild Method takes the big, overwhelming idea of a food forest and breaks it into one clear process you can follow: choose the right place, design one guild, plant it well, care for it, and repeat the pattern as your food forest grows.
1. Foundation
Understand what makes a food forest guild actually work.
Learn the basic structure behind a strong food forest guild: the right plant roles, the right layout, and enough order to avoid creating a messy, overcrowded patch.
2. Location
Choose the best place to start your first guild.
A good guild can still struggle in the wrong spot. You’ll learn how to choose a strong, realistic starting location before anything goes in the ground.
3. Design
Choose the right plants and place them where they belong.
You’ll choose your main tree, select the plants around it, and understand where everything goes so your guild is productive, beautiful, and manageable as it grows.
4. Plan
Turn your design into a clear planting plan.
A good idea is not enough. You’ll turn your guild design into a plan you can actually take outside, so you know what goes where and what needs to happen first.
5. Plant
Put your first guild in the ground properly.
You’ll learn how to prepare the area, plant the main tree, add the supporting layers, and give the guild a strong start instead of guessing your way through planting day.
6. Care
Help your guild establish without daily babysitting.
The first months matter. You’ll learn what to watch, maintain, water, mulch, protect, and adjust while the guild settles in.
7. Repeat & Expand
Repeat the pattern as your food forest grows.
One guild is not the whole food forest. It is the first repeatable piece. Once you know how to create one properly, you can use the same pattern again as your budget, season, skills, and energy allow.
That’s the journey inside the workshop: build your first guild properly, learn the repeatable pattern, and start growing your food forest one doable piece at a time.
"Thank you for the structure. Otherwise, it can feel very overwhelming and chaotic if I want to do everything at once."
María Fernanda
Ecuador
Laura Bennett
England
Alejandro Martín
Spain
What You Get Inside the Workshop
To help you complete that journey, you get the lessons, workbook, examples, support, and templates you need to design, plan, plant, and care for your first guild without starting from a blank page.
14 Step-by-Step Video Lessons
Follow 14 practical lessons that walk you through the full process in the right order, from understanding what makes a guild work to designing, planting, caring for, and expanding it.
So you are not left wondering what to do first, what comes next, or what you might be forgetting.
Complete Guild Design Workbook
Use a workbook that follows the lessons step by step and helps you make the actual decisions for your own guild as you go.
Instead of finishing with notes you never use, you turn the workshop into a clear plan you can take outside and plant from.
Guided Exercises and Examples
Work through practical exercises and real examples that help you apply each step to your own land.
So the ideas do not stay floating around in your head.
You move toward knowing what you are planting, where it goes, and why.
Troubleshooting & Q&A Section
Get access to answers for the common questions, doubts, and problems that come up while planning, planting, and establishing your first guild.
So when you hit a confusing moment, you have somewhere to look before falling back into the research rabbit hole.
Email Support
If you get stuck while going through the workshop, you can reach out by email for help with the process.
You are still doing the work, but you are not left completely alone with a half-finished plan, unclear next steps, or the feeling that you might be missing something important.
Bonus: The One-Guild Food Forest Templates
You’ll also get The One-Guild Food Forest Templates, with 60+ ready-made guild templates across temperate, Mediterranean, and subtropical climates.
Use them to see how different guilds can be structured, avoid starting from a blank page, and design your own first guild with more confidence.
Your First Guild, Planned, Planted, and Ready to Grow
This workshop is not designed to leave you with another notebook full of ideas.
It is designed to walk you through the full process of creating your first food forest guild from start to finish: choosing the location, picking the main tree, selecting the plants around it, spacing everything properly, turning it into a clear planting plan, planting it, and knowing how to care for it as it gets established.
By the end, you should either have your first guild in the ground, or have a clear planting plan ready to put in the ground when your season, site, and plants are ready.
What people are saying about Plant Your First Food Forest Guild
"This is the first time I see how a guild is being planted. I knew it just theoretically."
Simon Turner
England
Juan Carlos
Peru
Tamara Williams
United States
"The spacing part alone was worth it for me. That’s the bit I’d been second-guessing the most."
Marcus Brooks
United States
Jeroen de Vries
Netherlands
João Silva
Portugal
Is this right for you?
This workshop is for you if...
You want to start a food forest without designing your entire property first.
You want to know what to plant first, what belongs around it, and how far apart everything should go.
You want a clear step-by-step process instead of piecing things together from videos, books, plant lists, and conflicting advice.
You want to turn one part of your land into the first productive guild of your future food forest.
You want a repeatable method you can use again as your food forest grows.
You have real life, limited time, a budget, seasons, weather, and other responsibilities, and you want a starting point that fits into that reality.
This workshop is probably not for you if...
You want a complete custom masterplan for your entire property.
You want someone else to make every decision for you without learning the process.
You are mainly looking for advanced permaculture theory, academic design philosophy, or endless ecological deep dives.
You expect instant self-sufficiency, instant abundance, or a mature food forest by next weekend.
You want a zero-maintenance system and are not willing to plant, observe, care for young plants, and make small adjustments as your guild establishes.
Choose the Best Way to Plant Your First Guild
Follow the workshop step by step and create your first guild yourself, or get personal help designing your first guild around your land, climate, goals, and starting point.
Self-Guided Workshop
One time payment of:
€147
For gardeners and landowners who want the full step-by-step system to design, plant, and care for their first food forest guild themselves.
Includes:
14 step-by-step video lessons
Complete guild design workbook
Guided exercises and examples
Troubleshooting & Q&A section
Email support while working through the process
Bonus: The One-Guild Food Forest Templates
Lifetime access to the workshop and materials
Instant access · Self-paced · Lifetime access
Workshop + Custom Guild Design
One time payment of:
€497
For gardeners and landowners who want the full workshop plus personal guidance from me to design their first guild around their actual land and situation.
Includes everything in the workshop, plus:
1-hour private video deep-dive call with me
Review of your land, climate, goals, and starting point
Custom guild design based on your situation
Main tree, shrub, support plant, and lower-layer recommendations
Clear plant list with spacing and layout guidance
Step-by-step implementation and planting sequence
First-month care notes to help your guild establish well
Limited availability · Includes workshop access · Instructions sent after checkout
Heather Collins
United States
30-Day First Guild Clarity Guarantee 🤝
I want this workshop to help you create a clear, usable plan for your first food forest guild, not become another course you watch and forget. So the self-guided workshop comes with a 30-day First Guild Clarity Guarantee.
Go through the workshop, complete the exercises, and use the workbook to create your first guild plan. If you still feel unclear about where to start, what to plant, how to space everything, or how to move toward planting your first guild, email me within 30 days of purchase with your completed workbook work and show me where you are stuck. I’ll help you get clear.
And if I cannot help you get clear on your first guild, I’ll refund your workshop payment.
This guarantee applies to the Self-Guided Workshop only. It does not guarantee plant survival, future harvests, or growing results, because those depend on your climate, season, plants, soil, water, care, and local conditions.
A Note About the Custom Guild Design Option
The Workshop + Custom Guild Design option includes personal time, a private call, review of your land and goals, and custom design work created specifically for your situation.
Because of that, the custom-guided option is not refundable once the private call has been booked or the custom design work has started.
If something in your custom guild design is unclear after delivery, you can send your questions and I’ll help clarify the design so you know how to move forward.
Brian Miller
United States
Before You Join, You Might Be Wondering...
Yes, for your first food forest guild.
The workshop walks you through choosing your main tree, deciding what plants belong around it, placing the different layers, working out the spacing, and turning it all into a clear planting plan.
But it is not just a random “copy this guild” recipe.
You will learn how to make the decisions properly, so you understand why each plant is there, why it goes where it goes, and how the whole guild fits together.
That way, you are not only creating your first guild. You are learning the repeatable process you can use again as you add more guilds and grow your food forest over time.
You do not need to be a food forest expert.
You do not need to understand permaculture theory, succession, guild design, or all the technical terminology before starting.
This is made for people who want a practical first step.
If you can follow clear instructions, observe your space, plant young plants, and care for them while they establish, you can work through this process.
You do not need a large property to start.
The whole point of the One-Guild Method is to begin with one clear section of land instead of trying to design everything at once.
Your first guild could be in a small garden, an orchard corner, a young planting area, a weedy patch, or part of a larger piece of land.
The exact size depends on your main tree, your climate, your plant choices, and the space you have available.
Inside the workshop, you will learn how to choose a realistic starting place for your first guild.
The method is designed to work across different climates because it does not rely on one fixed plant recipe.
It teaches you how to think through your first guild, choose plants that make sense for your conditions, and design around the reality of your land.
You also get the One-Guild Food Forest Templates bonus, with 60+ ready-made guild templates across temperate, Mediterranean, and subtropical climates, so you are not starting from a blank page.
You still need to choose plants that fit where you live.
The workshop gives you the process, but your climate, soil, water, wind, and local plant availability still matter.
That is fine.
You can still go through the workshop, design your first guild, create your planting plan, and make a clear list of what you need before planting.
Depending on your season, budget, plant availability, weather, and site preparation, you may plant straight away or prepare first and plant when the timing is right.
The goal is not to rush.
The goal is to move from confusion into a clear, practical plan you can actually put in the ground.
You can work through the workshop lessons in a focused weekend.
If you already have your plants, materials, water access, and planting area ready, you may be able to plant your first guild straight away.
If not, the workshop still takes you through the full process.
You will design your guild, create your planting plan, understand what needs to happen next, and know how to plant it properly when your site, season, and materials are ready.
This is not meant to be another course you watch and forget.
It is designed to move you from planning to planting.
That is completely fine.
In many cases, an existing fruit tree can become the main tree for your first guild.
The workshop helps you stop seeing that tree as a lonely fruit tree in the ground, and start seeing it as the anchor for a more complete planting around it.
So you may not be starting from zero. You may already have the beginning of your first guild.
The templates give you ready-made guild examples and layouts you can study and adapt.
The workshop gives you the full process.
Inside the workshop, you learn how to choose the right starting place, pick your main tree, select the plants around it, space everything properly, turn it into a planting plan, plant it, care for it, and repeat the method as your food forest grows.
The templates help you avoid starting from a blank page.
The workshop shows you how to make the decisions and actually create your own guild.
The Self-Guided Workshop gives you the full step-by-step process, workbook, examples, templates, support, and lifetime access.
You follow the method and create your first guild yourself.
The Workshop + Custom Guild Design option includes everything in the self-guided workshop, plus personal help from me.
With the custom option, I review your land, climate, goals, and starting point.
Then I help create a custom guild design for your specific situation, including plant recommendations, spacing, layout guidance, planting sequence, and first-month care notes.
The self-guided option teaches you the method.
The custom option gives you the method plus personal design help for your first guild.
No. This workshop focuses on helping you create your first complete food forest guild.
It is the first repeatable piece of a larger food forest.
It is not a complete custom design for your whole property.
If you want help with your full property layout, including access, water, windbreaks, zones, planting areas, phasing, and a full implementation plan, that is a separate service.
You can apply for that here: [Apply here]
Yes.
You get lifetime access to the workshop and materials, so you can move at your own pace, come back when the season is right, and use the method again as you add more guilds over time.
Your food forest will not be built in one sitting, and that is the point.
Yes. The Self-Guided Workshop comes with a 30-Day First Guild Clarity Guarantee.
Go through the workshop, complete the exercises, and use the workbook to create your first guild plan.
If you still feel unclear about where to start, what to plant, how to space everything, or how to move toward planting your first guild, email me within 30 days of purchase with your completed workbook work and show me where you are stuck.
I will help you get clear.
If I cannot help you get clear on your first guild, I will refund your workshop payment.
The guarantee does not cover plant survival, future harvests, or growing results, because those depend on your climate, season, plants, soil, water, care, and local conditions.
Why This Workshop Starts With One Guild
I’m Moreno, The Forest Gardener.
The reason I teach food forests through one guild first is simple: it is where most people get stuck.
Most people I speak with already want the same thing: food from their land, a place that looks beautiful, and a system that becomes easier to care for over time.
The hard part is knowing what to plant first, where it goes, and how to make sure it does not turn into a mess.
I have seen this in my own food forests, in my market garden, with 500+ students worldwide, and in personal consultations with more than 100 gardeners and landowners.
That is why this workshop does not start with the whole property. It starts with one guild.
I have spent more than a decade growing food in different climates, and I teach from what I have actually planted, tested, got wrong, and improved.
The goal is to help you create the first working piece of your food forest, understand why it works, and use the same process again as your land becomes more productive over time.
One last thing...
I know how easy it is to keep your food forest as an idea.
You watch another video. Save another plant list. Think through another possible layout. Wait for the perfect season, the perfect plan, or the moment where everything finally feels clear.
But at some point, the food forest has to stop living in your head and start living in the ground.
That does not mean designing the whole property today.
It means starting with the first real piece.
One main tree.
The right plants around it.
A clear layout.
A proper planting plan.
A strong start in the ground.
And a pattern you can repeat as your food forest grows.
There will always be more to learn. Food forests are very generous that way.
But if you are ready to take the first clear step toward a food forest that actually feeds you, this workshop is built to help you get started.