| Wednesday What's New: Edible Yards |
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| Written by Heleigh Bostwick Wednesday, 02 May 2012 | |||
 With gas prices at an all time high, concerns about carbon footprints, and food being recalled left and right, more and more people are turning to growing their own food. But it’s not just back yards that are being turned into vegetable patches, front yards are fair game too. And, it’s a movement that’s taking root (pun intended) across the globe, from Australia to the UK to Canada, and of course here in the US. Some of us start small, growing tomatoes and herbs that are easily grown in portable easy to care for containers, then gradually increase the number of plants and containers. Others decide to take it to a larger scale and start a vegetable patch. Still others try different methods such as lasagna gardening and hay or straw bale gardening. And then, there are the edible lawn types whose gardens, er, lawns are the envy of all gardeners. These are the lawns that are christened “Edible Estates”. Yards that are chock full of fruit trees, flowering and fruiting vines, gorgeous flowers, and luscious veggies--like Clarence Ridgley’s front yard in Baltimore, MD for instance. Ridgley is participating in one of five Edible Estate projects in the US where homeowners trade their mowed and ornamental lawns for artistic arrangements of organic produce. It’s based on the Victory Gardens popular during the WWII years and is the brainchild of architect Fritz Haeg. The other edible estate gardens are in Maplewood, New Jersey, Lakewood, California, Salina, Kansas, and Austin, Texas. Recommended reading: Landscaping with Fruits and Vegetables 
Food Not Lawns: How to Turn Your Yard into a Garden And Your Neighborhood into a Community
Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture
Article source: The Incredible, Edible Front Lawn. Photo source: www.fritzhaeg.com |
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