[/caption]Bob Ewing - I do not like lawns. Why? They waste good growing space. Space that could be used to grow food, food so fresh, that your mouth begins to water while you are picking it.
I understand that in some circumstances, a lawn is necessary, after all the kids do need a safe place to play and the dog has got to get outside. Family picnics are great fun on summer weekends and the backyard is a fine place to have them.
However, if you have a yard, try reducing the space you need for the kids, pets and family gatherings. Consider converting that space to an edible forest garden.
Lawns take time they need cutting and watering for example, and to what purpose, so the yard can look great. This is a matter of perspective, of cultural prejudices; a great looking yard appears like a golf course. I prefer a yard that looks more like an urban farm or even better an urban or backyard food forest.
Lawns are unnatural and because they are, they are very demanding. The yard does not want to be a lawn; it does want to grow up and become a forest. This is Nature’s Way, so rather than fight Mother Nature, which will be a constant battle that you never actually win, go with the flow, and turn that unnatural space into a flourishing food forest.
Your lawn wants to follow Nature’s way and eventually become a forest but the constant maintenance that a lawn requires prevents this natural progression from taking place and creates considerable work for the homeowner.
Free the yard and let it grow, enable an ecosystem to develop and you will reap the rewards, fresh fruit, herbs and vegetables for the table. Now, the resources used to help the garden grow, take the form of an investment, rather than an expense.
The water used, for example, contributes to food for the table not green grass you must cut.
Include a few native plants in the overall design, and songbirds and butterflies will visit and move in. This will help control the bugs and pollinate the plants, a win-win situation. A bonus is the beauty of the birds and butterflies and the morning birdsong singing the world awake.
Start small and do your homework first. What plants are native to your area? What vegetables, no matter where they originate, are best suited to your design.
Slow and steady will rule the day, so pick a section of the yard where you will begin, and then determine what will grow best there. Study plant guilds, what plants do well with other plants. A future article will explore this idea in greater detail.
I suggest getting a copy of Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture by Toby Hemenway. Hemenway’s book is perfect for the homeowner who wants to turn the yard into a backyard edible forest garden; until next week, happy gardening.
