I love the TV show “Growing a Greener World'' with Joe Lamp’l. One episode featured a lovely young woman named Brie Arthur. The show was all about how her HOA would not allow her to grow vegetables in her front yard. She is a trained horticulturist and did not take that information sitting down. The show toured her garden and how she planted the usual vegetable garden fare such as tomatoes, peppers, and greens but also peanuts, grains, and rice. It was beautifully mixed into her ornamentals and traditional landscape plants and shrubs.
My grandfather had a stunning vegetable and flower garden. It was, of course, like most gardens I see: in rows. There were rows and rows of tomatoes, corn, beans, etc.. It was beautiful. I, of course, have seen the occasional ornamental kale or cabbage in the landscape, but I never considered an edible AND beautiful landscaped yard could co-exist. Brie has written a book on this subject “The Foodscape Revolution” I encourage you to check it out and Brie’s inspiration, Rosalind Creasy’s “Edible Landscaping.”
To start, Brie wants you to answer the question “What do you like to eat most?” Start with 5 vegetables that you and your family eat most. So, don’t grow squash if you only eat it occasionally. She also encourages all of us to grow garlic. Most households eat a lot of garlic which is a highly imported food and she shows you how to use it in your borders to deter rabbits, deer, moles etc. from snacking in your garden.
Brie creates different zones in her garden based on plants water use, access to the house, and the care needs of the plant. All information I would not have considered when planning an edible landscape. I cannot wait to implement many of these practices.
Hopefully soon when people ask me about the flower farm “Do you grow any vegetables?” My answer will be a resounding YES I DO!
Stay tuned to see how we create more edibles in our cut flowers. Let us know what you think and how you intersperse vegetables into your landscape. Look for future workshops and tours of our Farm Foodscape!
XO, Jodie