Front Yard Farms

[Lex1775]

I've recently expanded my backyard vegetable plots and was running a Google search for some info earlier when I stumbled across this article:

*snip*
"BOULDER, Colo. -- When suburbanites look out their front doors, a lot of them want to see a lush green lawn. Kipp Nash wants to see vegetables, and not all of his neighbors are thrilled.

"I'd rather see green grass" than brown dirt patches, says 82-year-old Florence Tatum, who lives in Mr. Nash's Boulder neighborhood, across the street from a house with a freshly dug manure patch out front. "But those days are slipping away."

Since 2006, Mr. Nash, 31, has uprooted his backyard and the front or back yards of eight of his Boulder neighbors, turning them into minifarms growing tomatoes, bok choy, garlic and beets. Between May and September, he gives weekly bagfuls of fresh-picked vegetables and herbs to people here who have bought "shares" of his farming operation. Neighbors who lend their yards to the effort are paid in free produce and yard work."

More at the link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120882472974233235.html?mod=residential_real_estate

[LSparkle]

1. This is the wave of the future ... "Victory Gardens"

A MUCH better use of land than the suburban lawns intended to
mimick country estates.

[tridim]

2. Hemp for victory!

Cannabis too. :smoke:

[Lex1775]

3. I'd imagine so.

My neighbors sure make it a point to see how well my plants are doing. We've got a whole underground barter system put together in our neighborhood. :patriot:

[Historic NY]

4. I am doubling my gardening this yr.........corn will be insane.....

my brother has decided to come help since I have a larger yard we can till up. I may have to fight the deer but if they get too pesky they can go in the freezer too.

[kestrel91316]

5. This sort of thing gives me hope for our future.......

Wonder how long before one of his neighbors sues over the "unsightly mess", though.....

Well, it's Boulder, I see. Anybody who tried to sue him would lose so it's a non-starter, thank heavens.

[Captain Angry]

6. Question: What is #1 cultivated crop by acreage in USA?

Answer: lawn grass. Which is immediately cut down to stay at a specific height, and the clippings are tossed.

Millions of dollars are blown on keeping the lawn a certain height with a certain color with pesticides, etc.

All that wasted water. All that wasted gasoline in the lawn care.

[guruoo]

9. Waste of time, too, IMO. n/t

[eppur_se_muova]

14. And more pesticides per acre than most farm crops. nt

[depakid]

15. And if you could only see just how much productive farmland in the Willamette Valley

is devoted to supplying that senseless crop, it'd blow your mind.

[Shoelace]

16. that is so true!

I live there too and it's not just the growing of it, it's all the pesticides, herbicides, and that bloody yearly field burning which turns our valley into a haze. All in all, it's one of the most ecological damaging crops on earth!
Also, did you notice that they've been cutting down all the hedgerows around these farms? Hedgerows offer excellent protection for birds, wildlife but apparently they don't want competition from weeds that might grow in them.
Makes me mad everytime I see grass seed farms! :grr:

[Shallah Kali]

25. Grass seed farms?? My mind boggels

I should have comprehended this fact before with grass seed for sale but OY! my poor brain aches at the waste of precious arable land and water.

[izquierdista]

26. Lawns aren't that bad

You just need to use furry lawnmowers. :bounce:

[losthills]

7. Way to go!

[IDemo]

8. I've always had a garden, but I'm interested in the "CSA" concept

CSA = Community-supported agriculture. http://www.idahostatesman.com/localnews/story/357739.html

[Shallah Kali]

24. Look up many local CSAs here: http://www.localharvest.org/

http://www.localharvest.org/

[wildeyed]

10. We have a large suburban yard.

I am slowly converting the sunny backyard into a kitchen garden, but it never occurred to me that I could grow extra and do it for profit. All the yards in this neighborhood are over sized. With a few neighbors, I could start a patchwork co-op. :)

Some of the neighbors would have an aneurysm if I started framing the front yard, even though it is ridiculously large and a huge PITA to maintain. Oh well, as food prices continue to rise, they might have to get used to it.

[dgibby]

17. Possibilities

Would it be possible for you to put fruit trees, blueberries, kiwi vines, herbs in you front yard? They would be ornamental, and could be grown with edible flowers. I doubt your neighbors would even realize it was a "garden"-just beautiful "landscaping"!

[wildeyed]

19. Good ideas!

I wish I had thought of them four years ago when we moved into this house and I paid a landscaper a small fortune to replace all the plantings in the front yard!

But I can still make some changes. I have about half the lawn in full sun. I was thinking of a raised bed along the driveway. Lots of lettuce, chard and herbs are quite ornamental. Or maybe a grape or kiwi arbor? I dunno, I need to mull it over. One thing is for sure, I am so sick of the lawn. It looks like hell anyway.

I still have plenty of space in the backyard to work with, so I want to get that laid out first. I do a few new beds each year, try not to get overwhelmed. Next year I want to add asparagus, blueberry and maybe some strawberries if I am feeling energetic.

[dgibby]

22. thanks!

might want to consider thornless blackberry and raspberries. I'm thinking of making a large grape arbor and including these as well as kiwi (love the look of the male kiwi vine-so pretty). Just have to find out of all those things can grow together. Lots of other Good ideas in DU gardening and rural/farm groups, too. In fact, you might want to post this on the garden group. Good luck!

[wildeyed]

23. I posted it to the gardening group.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=246x7315

[dysfunctional press]

20. we use strawberries for border plantings and groundcover.

nt

[bad_robbie]

29. There are ornamental edibles

Kale is very attractive, especially in cooler seasons when other stuff hasn't emerged yet or have already gone dormant. Also, alliums have nice flowers, including the edible varieties (onion, garlic, chive, leek). A front yard garden need not be unattractive to produce food crops. A lot of people plant sweet potatoes as ground cover with no intention of harvesting the tubers for food (perhaps even unaware that they could).

Of course, whether this applies to you depends on your climate. I've been trying to cut down on area of grass lawn in my yard, instead growing more areas of native plants and small herb and vegetable plots.

I've found a couple of helpful books on small gardens: "Postage Stamp Garden" by Newcomb (out of print :( ) and "Square Foot Gardening" by Bartholomew. SFG, in particular, has a scheme for making productive gardens also pretty to look at.

BTW, is your Brooksie avatar in the standard collection?

[Javaman]

11. A friend of mine did this to her yard. It's amazing...

my wife and I are going to being the process this summer.

But first we have to expand out backyard garden.

[stuntcat]

12. right on!

This rocks, I'm forwarding it, thanks! :headbang:

[Summer93]

13. Have space - would love to have someone garden in it

[madokie]

18. I spent most of the day today planting our garden

Still have another days planting to go. Let the grazing begin :-)

[OKthatsIT]

21. LAWNS should be outlawed! I'd rather see meadow larks!

We've been slowly converting our front lawn into garden beds, too.

We will be able to grow and store enough food to sustain us for 6 mos. We use canning, dehydration and vacumn packing.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

27. I've never understood the allure of lush green lawns

I think it's probably an Anglo thing. If the city would let me do it, I'd prefer a 10 foot gated wall around my house for complete privacy and pebbles on the ground instead of a front lawn. I would however like to have fruit trees growing everywhere on my property, front and back. I have seven small trees now (apple, 2 orange, grapefruit, lemon, peach, and plum) but I'd like a lot more. I just don't understand wasting precious water resources to water an unnatural thing like a green lawn.

[Trillo]

28. The real Good Life: An entire village turns against supermarkets and grows its own food

The real Good Life: An entire village turns against supermarkets and grows its own food

By LUKE SALKELD - More by this author » Last updated at 17:46pm on 14th April 2008

Comments Comments (20)
It was a sitcom that inspired many a household to live off the land.

And although it might not attract the likes of Margo and Jerry to move to the area, an entire village is trying its hand at the Good Life.

In a bid to become less dependent on supermarkets, the residents of Martin are working together to become as self-sufficient as possible.

more @ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=559580&in_page_id=1770