Front Lawns Versus Edible Gardens: You Choose!

Are edible front yards dethroning lawns in your neighborhood?

From the amount of coverage the subject is getting from newspapers and prominent garden bloggers like my friend Susan Harris over at The Sustainable Gardening Blog, you would think that the movement to replace lawns with edible gardens is a popular one, at least among gardeners. I mean, it seems as though garden blog readers are really "eating this up."

So what are you doing about it? Are you a member of the choir who says"Amen" but hasn't made a commitment yet? How many homes in your neighborhood have made a change?

Display garden of an "edible front yard" by artist and author of "Edible Estates, Fritz Haeg at Descanso Gardens in Los Angeles.

As for me, my garden is a "grazer's garden" where you can grab from an assortment of fruit trees, vines and edible plants as you walk around my yard. I have a tiny patch of lawn for my dog. I've created a couple of "dedicated" edible front yards for clients (only edible plants,nothing else), and plenty of edible landscapes, but I haven't seen many people doing this in my neighborhood.

Fritz Haeg installed a strawberry patch on one side of the walkway and a lawn on the other for comparison.

Kitchen Gardens International, a popular blog and social network for edible garden enthusiasts, is leading a campaign to influence incoming President-Elect Barak Obama to "Eat the View," or replace the White House lawn with an edible garden as an example for the nation.

Here is a portion of the official petition verbage written by Kitchen Gardens international, Roger Doiron:

I'm asking President-elect Obama to replant a large organic food garden or Victory Garden on the White House lawn with part of produce going to the White House kitchen and the rest to local food pantries. The White House is "America's House" and should set a healthy example at a time of crisis. President-elect Obama would not be breaking with tradition, but returning to it (the White House has had fruit and vegetable gardens before) and showing how we can meet global challenges such as food security, climate change, and energy independence."

I think this is a noble effort and I love the idea of functional and beautiful yards, but if the White House adopts this, do you really think it will make a difference in your neighborhood? I'd welcome the boom in business converting lawns to edible gardens and tending to them here in Los Angeles!

It's easy to ask someone else to make a change in their home, (especially when there is full time staff available to tend to the plot), but what about the everyday family that is working overtime and managing the lives of their children?

Unfortunately, the majority of people don't have enough time to tend to their own gardens, or they don't want to! Edible gardens are a joy, but I wouldn't consider them to be "low maintenance."

How about those of you who signed the petition? Have you replaced your front yard lawn with an edible garden or are you planning to in the near future? If you haven't, believe me, I will sympathize with your reasons, especially if it has to do with reasons like I gave above, or because of limited physical abilities.

I guess the larger question is, are those who support this petition willing to make the same sacrifice that we are asking others to make?

Mixed lettuces are beautiful in the garden.

Will Americans opt for the convenience of a fifty cent burrito at a fast food joint over the "economical" practice of growing their own vegetables? You know, there was no "Taco Bell" or "McDonald's" back in the day of the Victory Gardens, so if you wanted cheap food, you had to grow it!

Of course, there are people who will put in the effort to grow their own vegetables for a myriad of reasons in addition to economics and environmental concerns. These people enjoy healthful food and they love vegetables. They LIKE to garden. This is me.

And then there are people who pay others to create edible gardens and tend to them. (They pay me). Not everyone can afford this service.

Do you think a White House garden will prompt a change in our society, or do we have to wait for the next generation of adults to see the influence at work?

You tell me, I'm just asking from Los Angeles...

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