Front-Yard Gardening
By Jenn (TinyChoices.com) | July 7, 2011
While walking in a new neighborhood today, I passed a house which was seemingly like all the others on the block, until I looked a little more closely at the garden they’d planted in front.
It was a vegetable garden. In the front of the house! Fantastic!
While I’ve read about people doing this, I’d never seen an example of it myself- folks who eschew the traditional shrubbery and ornamentals and instead opt to put their gardening efforts towards growing edibles. It makes so much sense, really, and is a great complimentary practice to xeriscaping (a method of landscape design that minimizes water use). Planting native species helps to minimize the amount of water and fertilizers needed, and planting veggies can reduce your food footprint and increase your level of health.
Plus, putting a veggie garden out front really puts the idea of growing food right in everyone’s face and consciousness. Neighbors ambling past can’t see a backyard garden, but put those red tomatoes and luscious melons out front and there’s no way folks won’t notice. I’d imagine there must be some locales which frown upon such activities, as is the case with clotheslines, but anything which gets people thinking and talking about their food sources is A-OK in my book.
Have you seen front-yard gardens, and/or do you have one? What are your thoughts on the decision to bring food growing out front?
[Image by David Owen via Creative Commons]
Topics: Food, Home | 5 Comments »
5 Comments
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When I saw this post I was wondering if you would be mentioning the front yard garden kerfuffle happening in Oak Park:
http://oakparkhatesveggies.wordpress.com/
We have a neighbor that has done this. It stands out because it’s different from the norm, but it includes a variety of vegetable plants, sunflowers, and flowers that attract butterflies. The way their yard faces makes it more ideal for growing these plants than a backyard.
We have an herb garden in the front yard. It’s pretty and functional, and takes the place of higher maintenance plantings. It’s so nice to have fresh (or homegrown dried) herbs for cooking.
In Seattle, many houses have a front-yard gardens. It’s awesome. It’s common for people to have raised box gardens on the strip between the sidewalk and the street. It’s fun to walk by and see what people are growing, and get ideas for my own garden next year.
I love the idea though although I live overseas where not many people have yards. Even if we did have a front yard and could do this - the produce would get stolen before it was even ripe!