Edible Front Yards

My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance. 

Tim Allen 

I attended an excellent lecture on converting front yard lawns into edible gardens by Ivette Soler.  She has great ideas for getting rid of non-productive lawns that guzzle water and require big bucks to maintain.  Her new book, "The Edible Front Yard," includes tons of photographs illustrating how to combine edibles and ornamentals in the front yard.  

The desire to turn the front lawn into a productive garden may be the modern trend, but my octogenarian neighbor has had an edible front yard for over 20 years and keeps it going all year long.  Indeed, his winter garden of cabbages, chard, broccoli, kohlrabi, spinach, lettuce and herbs is as beautiful as his summer garden.  

Of course, if you get rid of the lawns, you have to find another use for the man around your house.