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| A garden is pure, joyous, abundance |
I never knew who lived in the house that was the one holdout in a sea of high maintenance living carpet. But I sure did admire the homeowner that dared to be different, and planted their entire front yard in potatoes every year.
I passed by the 'potato farm' on my way to elementary school, and it was my island of sanity on that walk. Something felt right about it.
It was probably what I perceived as a blend of practicality and defiance for the rules of a confused, and confusing, system.
As a kid, that made a lot of sense to me. It still does.
Update: Here is another front garden. You can't say it doesn't look 'neat', a common complaint of neighbours.
I agree, wasting all our land on grass seems like such a waste.I haven't take the plunge to get rid of any yard yet, but it does make so much more sense. Plus it seems like the time to garden would take less than the time perfectionists spend mowing, feeding, watering, etc., etc. their yards.
ReplyDeleteI loved the article, especially the section about potatoes. When I was a kid people planted potatoes the first yr. so they could get the soil up to standard for the lawn. So the first yr. you had potatoes & the second yr. a lawn. I think the potatoes the first yr, most likely helped the family budget also.
ReplyDeleteUrban/suburan front lawns would be idle to grow a veg. garden, even if it was just potatoes. They are very easy to grow, plant them & wait. As we have seen this past while, with huge fires, droughts, high temps. in the U.S.A. & rain which is drowning crops, food security is an issue. Food prices will be going up.
Even if you decide a garden is too much work, you can always plant fruit trees & trade with a person who has the veggies. Blue berry bushes are great for the garden also. Easy to pick & easy to trade.
During WW II a lot of food was grown in peoples' yards. They did it for "the good of the country". With the enviornmental impact agra business has on the enviornment we might want to look at growing on our food again for the "good of the country".
I am starting my front yard garden this year. Our soil is awful, all clay and rocks, so I'm starting with sugar beets to loosen things up--I will donate them to a farmer or to the compost pile when they are done "digging". While they work underground, I plan a nice thick row of millet and qiunoa or amaranth masqueading as ornamental grasses, surrounding a stand of sunflowers. Some pole beans can grow up the sunflowers. In front of the "ornamentals", I'll have a nice collection of tomatoes and peppers in pots surrounded by marigolds and zinnias for color, and to discourage pests. My family will have some seeds, grain and vegetables, and there will be plenty left for the birds over the winter. Who could complain about that?
ReplyDeleteMy back yard has a steep slope and faces north, so it's not good for food plantings, but I have plans for it, too! Can't wait to get started!