Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Inspiration for Designing Edible Gardens


In our area we are fortunate to have the annual Edible Landscaping Tour, put on by Common Ground Garden Supply and Education Center in Palo Alto, California. Now in its fifth year, this popular tour of ten home gardens, plus the Common Ground demonstration garden, will be held on Saturday July 23. Visiting different suburban vegetable and fruit gardens is a fantastic way to get inspired with great ideas; it is also a wonderful opportunity to see a variety of gardens, from no budget DIY to those that have been professionally designed.

Gardening with Edibles is a Lifestyle

But beware, growing your own vegetables is the “gateway drug” to a more sustainable lifestyle. Households that grow food usually do so organically, to better protect the health of their families and the environment. They begin composting in order to feed their gardening habit, then go on to add efficient watering systems, (recycling gray water, drip irrigation, collecting rainwater). Next come worm bins, chickens and perhaps a backyard beehive. Soon a suburban micro farm is thriving where you would not have expected it, as rows of leafy lettuce and succulent fava beans replace what was formerly a perfectly manicured front lawn....

Read the full post at Ecolocalizer