Edible Landscaping

I shared before about how my tomato plants gave me the urge to move my whole garden to our front yard.  As I dreamed and did a bit of research, I fell in love with this book.

I don't think that I have enough time or energy to ever convert my whole yard into a garden, but some of Ros Creasy's photos make me wish I could.    She's been on a mission throughout the last 20 years or so to show people that edible gardens can be beautiful.

I, on the other hand, just want to actually be able to grow a little food in my yard.  I tossed around several ideas, and I really wanted to keep it on the cheap.  I had already invested a bit of money in the setup that wasn't working.  In the end, I decided to make 2 rectangular beds at the edge of our front yard out by the street.  I was a little worried about putting it all out there for everyone to see, so I did add in some ornamental annuals for color.

I had no clue what I was doing when it comes to spacing and design, and I already see a few things that I will do differently next year.  To make the beds we measured out the space and dug up the top layer of grass.  I didn't want to remove too much of the existing soil, and I really didn't want to deal with turning it...so we didn't.

We dug in a little to loosen things up, and we did add a couple of bags of garden soil to the top along with some Black Kow, mushroom compost, and Black Hen.  I am all about no dig methods, so I'd like to build some sort of raised beds in the same spot and add in some good, friable soil in the future.  What we have seems to be working for now.

There is little method to the madness out there.  Everything is pretty and green, and I have a ton of not-yet-ripe tomatoes.  These photos are actually from a week or so ago, and things have already grown quite a bit more.  There are even several baby peppers popping up here and there.

 

I planted several basil plants out there just because I had started them from seeds, so it's likely I will have way more than I would ever know what to do with.  I'm even just now seeing some spicy globe basil that has finally come up between the wild tomato plants.

 

In my dream picture, there is a walkway from our front steps that winds its way to the front curb.  That invisible path was the basis for the placement of my beds.  Maybe one day that will come to be, and it will be flanked by vegetables as it meets the street.

And, while I'm sure there is a neighbor or two who is wondering what on Earth I'm thinking, there are many more who slow down when they drive by to check the progress or stop to ask about fertilizer or with some other random question.  I guess that's one benefit of living in a southern small town.