A store near my home sells zero mile diet kits. Actually, they don’t sell them at the moment. They are all sold out. The popularity of local food has been growing in recent years. In addition to crafting connections with local farmers, a growing number of people have been taking to their yards. No, it’s not to mow the lawn or trim the shrubs. It’s to turn over the lawn, install garden beds and start raising vegetables.
A growing number of people in my neighborhood are even gardening on their front lawns. The houses in our area reach into the low millions, so growing vegetables on the front lawn is either simply a statement of encouragement to vegetable-growers everywhere or a desperate addition to the food budget, given the mortgages. But I digress.
While I appreciate a good swath of lawn for running or and for playing on, many of our homes have a lot of lawn and not much else. This is especially true if you live in the suburbs and have a front lawn. The kids don’t always use it, and it seems that the lawn is just there for decoration. And mowing – did I mention the mowing? The grass always seems to be growing in time for more mowing.
If you are concerned about what the neighbors might think about vegetables in the front yard, start small. I have blueberry bushes and raspberry canes in my front garden. The raspberry canes grow up an archway and look rather attractive, in their slightly wild way. The blueberry bushes are just bushes, and no one needs to know that they also produce food. Edible and ornamental kale and chard plants are the same way. There are some attractive food plants out there that are quite easy to integrate into your home landscape.
Are you growing a vegetable garden this year? Would you grow it in your front yard?