There’s a movement that dares to ask the question, “Why Do You need a Front Yard Anyway?“
The American front yard has long defined boundaries and created separation between urban and suburban neighbors. The yard has also been the pride and joy of many homeowners as they manicure the “weed-free” lawn they have created.
Yet, there is a project known as “Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn” created by Fritz Haeg, who dares to challenge the entire “front yard” concept.
I am not here to endorse or denounce this organization or creator, nor do I intend to demonize the idea of the “front yard”, rather to bring the question to light and examine it.
It’s an interesting concept, using the front yard to grow our own food. People in third world countries who visit the US are often fascinated at why Americans “grow” grass rather than food.
There’s a rich history of the “Victory Garden” in this country, typically seen as a necessity of war. To ease the burden of producing enough food for our soldiers fighting in WWII, civilians took to growing a portion of their own food right at home.
Often, rabbits and chickens were introduced to the urban setting, again out of necessity. Our grandparents remember these days well.
Yet, somewhere along the line, we lost contact with our food. ”The Industrial Revolution” took men and women away from the farm and into the cities to work. As a society, we became more and more comfortable letting someone else create our food, distancing ourselves from farming for “better things”.
Hindsight is always 20/20 and 2012 brings a new generation of Americans who question that reasoning.
I, for one, deeply desire to reconnect with my food. Being raised on Fruit Loops and Pop Tarts, I grieve over my years spent eating “junk”. But I didn’t know….many of us, we didn’t know.
Maybe you’ve wondered the same things in your life. Perhaps unemployment (or under-employment) has caused you to question the “status-quo” and wonder if there could be a better way to sustain yourself and family.
Excellent book!
Get these books from your library and do some reading. Ask yourself where you fit in. Find unity with your spouse and create your own “Victory Garden” this year. This could be the first year of your “Urban Farmer” self!!
Have I got your creative farmer juices flowing??? What are your thoughts?
*****
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About kmorris
Love this. Will have to find this book.
Liz,
Worth the time and reading, thanks for commenting!
I thought this was a great post…..I’d love to turn my front yard into a garden. We have lots of deer and gophers…bu I”m thinking a raise bed on wheels!!! Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather
Heather,
I hear that deer and gophers run pretty fast! LOL!
I have a side garden. Since we can’t use the front yard. I love my little garden.
Michelle,
Use whatever you can to grow some food, good for you!
Thats my type of front yard! I have heard of this book but haven’t read it yet. They all would probably like to stop by my blog and enter the free seed give away I am having!
Clint,
Thanks for commenting and good luck with your giveaway.
Great ideas! Thanks for sharing about this book. I had been gardening in my balcony with great results but wish to have a piece of land to do more.
Have a great week!
Mely
Mely,
Thanks for commenting!
Love it! I’m hoping to be in the new house before the growing season starts. I can’t wait to have a whole field just for the family garden. But this idea is great. You need to work with what you have at the time. Last year we did pots and moved them across the yard to keep them in sun during the day….gotta love the treed in yard!
Abigail, I hope your growing season turns out the way you want it to be!
Love those raised beds. It just makes the garden seem so organized. My front lawn gets no sun so we grow our veggies in containers on our side porch.
I firmly believe in companion planting…and looking at these edible front yards begs the question….where are all the flowers? How else are you going to attract beneficial insects? The flowers are what can turn an ugly, neighbor-hating front yard into a beauty that all your neighbors will appreciate.
Caitlin,
Pollinators are critical, that’s for sure. Thanks for commenting.
First, that book has some great ideas in it.
There is another way to do an edible landsacpe other than what you have pictured. It is not rows of raised beds, and usually, your neighbors don’t even know that you have edibles in your front yard. I had an edible back yard and front yard at my last house, and the neighbors didn’t know that my tree was a nectarine, or that my green leafy plants were swiss chard growing next to my roses. I grew lavender and other herbs in my front yard as well.
I would LOVE to redo our front yard in our current house (it is very small; only the length of a car, but it can fit a LOT). It just isn’t financially possible right now. I still have it planned in my head, though. My plan includes a tilapia pond, a pomegranate tree, a peach tree, a possible third fruit tree, blueberry bushes grown as hedges, lettuce, a lavender hedge, roses, grapes, and more. It’s a very formal design.
I currently have a formal edible landscape in my back yard. You can see it here: http://www.theprudenthomemaker.com/index.php/kitchen-garden/edible-landscaping
It’s not raised beds; it looks like a formal English garden, but it’s edible.
That is absolutely beautiful, Prudent! I posted it on Facebook, well done!
Great post. Loved the pictures. Enjoyed watching the VICTORY GARDEN on public TV years ago. Don’t know if it is still on…no TV. Also is you can find it THE GOOD NEIGHBORS, another show from British TV is so funny. If follows Barbara and George who tear up both their front and back yards and go totally off grid. I found it on DVD and it still hilarious 30 years later.
I have seen front yard and side yard gardens around town here. There does not seem to be a problem with them. The city also allows up to 4 backyard hens. Our garden though is in the back as the front is all large trees…maple, oak and hickory. We did have to cut down a tree in back as was shading the gardens too much. We have quite a short growing season.
My partner and I live in Flint, MI. When people think of flint, they often think of things like crime, GM, pollution, unemployment ad mass exodus. There is an urban agriculture revolution going on hre! There are community gardens springing up in vacant lots, there is an amazing farmers’ market, and a couple of years ago, community members ptitioned the zoning board and convinced them to allow backyard chickens for the first time since the 1960s! We are planning to plant a garden in our front yard next year so that not only can we harvest it, but so people walking by can “steal” watever they need. We are also in the very early stages of creating an edible forest in the backyard, while still maintaining our annual food garden in the sunny spots!