The edible front yard

[Dover]

An interview with Fritz Haeg an artist, designer, gardener, and writer currently on a 2010-11 Rome Prize Fellowship; his book “Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn” was just rereleased in a second expanded edition by Metropolis Books. www.fritzhaeg.com



In the new edition of your book, “Edible Estates: Attack On The Front Lawn,” you argue that ripping out front lawns and replacing them with fruit, vegetable, and herb gardens can “ignite a chain reaction of thoughts that question other antiquated conventions of home, street, neighborhood, city.” Why does this start with the front lawn?

The front lawn is wrapped up in our ideas of the American dream. It’s a very iconic and loaded space. When you remove it and replace it with something else, you are questioning all of the values implicit in the lawn and what it stands for. It is significant to me not just because it’s a private space that’s very public – so visible in our cities and such an obvious opportunity to reconsider – but also because of what it symbolizes. The easiest first step for the urban citizen who wants to make a visible impact on their city is to go out that front door and get their hands in the dirt. It is the leading wedge into more complex and ambitious civic activity.

While of course I have an earnest interest in growing food at home, what really excites me is the sense of attacking the archaic values of the conventional manicured landscape and replacing it with casual, wild, and handmade gardens that propose an alternative set of values which are more evolved, civilized, healthy, participatory, and full of pleasure. If you see your neighbors remove their lawn and replace it with a space to grow food, suddenly the city opens up for you. I hope this leads to the collective imaginings of a more participatory city that’s less like TV and more active, inspiring landscapes and cities that are not there for passive viewing but for active participation...cont'd

http://dirt.asla.org/2010/09/22/interview-with-fritz-haeg-author-of-edible-estates-attack-on-the-front-lawn/






Why the White House garden matters
The Obamas' new vegetable patch is a symbol of what is wrong with our lawns and how we can fix them. It doesn't take much

by Fritz Haeg
guardian.co.uk,
Wednesday 25 March 2009 21.00 GMT

Has one vegetable garden ever generated so much excitement or debate? A few details about the new White House vegetable garden caught my attention.

It is 1,100 square feet. This is a garden sized for a family. In my experience of removing front lawns and planting Edible Estate prototype gardens across the country, the Obama garden is about the size of the average American front lawn. Most Americans should be able to imagine themselves planting something about this size in front of their house over a weekend with the help of some friends and neighbours.

Of course I would have preferred that they remove the entire South Lawn of the White House. I imagine a combination of fruit tree orchards, wild berry patches and edible flower and grass meadows. But since this new first family garden should be a model to inspire every American family, perhaps a modest 1,100 square feet is the best way to start the revolution.

There will be tomatillos and cilantro, but no beets. The Obamas love Mexican food, and Barack does not like beets. This is a garden planted for the personal tastes of the family that will be eating from it. It is not just a pretty garden, or an empty symbol, but a place for a family to grow the food that they like to eat, on the land that is around them.

They have selected 55 varieties of vegetables and herbs according to their tastes, and every American family can inspect that list and imagine what they would plant instead. Where are the tomatoes? Why so much spinach? Can I grow blueberries where I live? The lawns surrounding our homes are all the same, in denial of our diverse climates and cultures. Neighbourhood streets lined with edible gardens like the Obamas' would all be different, celebrating our diverse tastes...cont'd

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/mar/25/white-house-vegetable-garden-lawns

[starroute]

1. Womderful concept, but it would never work for me

My front lawn is (1) tiny and (2) on a slope. On one side, I can't even grow grass -- just some of the hardier weeds, and even those were getting all brown and crunchy this year, because between the slope and the late afternoon sun, it's always dry as a bone.

And on the other side there's a maple -- which keeps my living room cool in summer in lieu of air conditioning -- and nothing grows under it except ivy, because maple roots run very close to the surface and don't let anything else in.

So I can see the value of replacing all those sweeping lord-of-the-manor front yards with gardens, but for old-line small town homes like mine, it's just not applicable.

[emmadoggy]

2. Not to mention,

a garden of that size takes considerable time and energy to tend. Not a lot of people have that kind of time to devote along with all the other demands of jobs and life. Plus, you have to have the time, and know-how, to prepare, process, can, freeze or otherwise store the bounty.

I think it is a great concept, and people who are able to and have the time and interest, should definitely go for it. But it is certainly not for everyone, and as you pointed out, won't work in all situations.