YAY! Go Fritz! I had Fritz for drawing class my freshman year of college. We didn't always understand each other when it came to art, but he was always a fun guy to talk with.
I like this idea, too. It reminds me of the old plan to garden in the residual spaces around the 110 freeway. Front lawns really are such a waste of space, at least if you don't have kids. I remember when I was little, my mom and I used to raise tomatoes and sunflowers in our yard, and it was a lot of fun. I wonder why people are so attached to ornamental plants.
'I wonder why people are so attached to ornamental plants'
Purely aesthetics, probably the same reason people like their veg and fruit in the supermarket to look as if it’s been cloned from the ideal specimen.
Personally I prefer my veg to resemble genitalia as the amusement is extra and free.
I really don't have the interest or time to grow my own vegetables. I'm just not much of a gardener. I'd rather pave my whole 700 SF of lawn than have to tend to plants.
The nice thing about grass is that it's so hard to kill either by drought, cold, or trampling. It just comes back when it gets enough water and the right temperature air. It keeps unwanted plants and weeds from overtaking my house as well.
Edibile estates is an idealistic environmental goal (and it's been thrown around under different names since the earliest suburbs), getting rid of gas powered mowers and convincing people to stop duping tons of fertilizer on their lawns seems more realistic.
I don't think it's necessary for *everyone* to have an edible estate, but the promotion of it is great. Yeah, there will be people that just aren't good at gardening or aren't interested. But those people who spend hours a week in their gardens tending to shrubbery would probably do just as well at carrots, the tops of which I think would make a cute lawn border. Not everybody needs to do it, but it would sure be nice if more people did. And I assure you that orange trees are just as beautiful and certainly more fun to climb in than most of the stuff I see on people's lawns.
Nice one vado -the symbolic importance of the front lawn is a whole thread in itself.
Here’s some info gleaned on the English obsession and elaborate rules governing the small patch of scrub that separates the personal and private from the public.
This small patch of land will usually have a wall or fence surrounding, low in order for maximum view in from the road. More likely to be better tended than the rear garden however no time will be spent here other that that which is required to weed, water, tend and keep it looking presentable.
The most important rule is never sit in your front garden even where there is plenty of room. If you have to be there, squatting to pull a weed or stooping to trim the hedge or otherwise looking industrious is acceptable less you are accused of a very peculiar loitering.
The front garden is an important social tool. A busy person in his / her front garden presents one of the few occasions in which you may be regarded as socially available to your neighbours, who would almost never dream of knocking your door for a chat.
There is the inevitable counter culture of students, hippies etc. who can deliberately flaunt the rules with the casual placement of an old sofa , never benches or garden seating. The act of sitting is clearly an act of deliberate disobedience. In the traditions of English moaning rules, the conservative will generate much bitching, huffing and curtain twitching between themselves and will never confront the problem directly.
far box - swiss chard, fennel, romaine lettuce
middle box - (recently seeded) heirloom tomatoes, carrots
close box - more fennel and romaine lettuce, beets, thyme, rosemary
each garden box is 3' x 5' and i had to put up the wire barrier thing around them because neighborhood cats think every box with dirt is their own personal litter box.
there's a fig tree in a pot because i don't know where to plant that yet and my compost bins are at the far left corner sort of hiding the wheel barrow and extra pots.
fennel can become invasive in socal. so better not let it go to seed (even though those seeds are very tasty). you can cook the fennel bulb or eat it raw... does keep a while in the fridge.
Just this sunday enjoyed the first spinach salad from my garden! Stole a recipe from a restaurant I used to work at... Just cook some bacon, saute some red onion in the grease and then make a sherry vinagrete made from using the grease... dump the warm mixture onto the spinach to wilt slightly and add asiago... YUM!
Definitely having the same problem with squirrels, cats, etc digging up my new plantings...
frac. cut it in half lengthwise, brush with olive oil & rosemary, grill it up! Or, cut shavings of it, sautee with olive oil, white wine, lemon juice, use as pasta topper with pine nuts. YUM.
Edible Estates!
Fritz Haeg was on ABC news tonight!
Die lawns! Die!
Replacing our front yard with a vegi garden can save the world. American's grow more crab grass then any other crop- more acres are wasted with the suburban cancer of boring grass then with growing our food. It is time to change that - thanks Fritz!
lawn haters of the world unite!
YAY! Go Fritz! I had Fritz for drawing class my freshman year of college. We didn't always understand each other when it came to art, but he was always a fun guy to talk with.
I like this idea, too. It reminds me of the old plan to garden in the residual spaces around the 110 freeway. Front lawns really are such a waste of space, at least if you don't have kids. I remember when I was little, my mom and I used to raise tomatoes and sunflowers in our yard, and it was a lot of fun. I wonder why people are so attached to ornamental plants.
landscape architecture, an apocalyptic manifesto
http://www.iastate.edu/~isitdead/dead_f2.pdf
grow grass, cut, dry, smoke, relax
'I wonder why people are so attached to ornamental plants'
Purely aesthetics, probably the same reason people like their veg and fruit in the supermarket to look as if it’s been cloned from the ideal specimen.
Personally I prefer my veg to resemble genitalia as the amusement is extra and free.
Bad BOTS!
\:-)
I really don't have the interest or time to grow my own vegetables. I'm just not much of a gardener. I'd rather pave my whole 700 SF of lawn than have to tend to plants.
The nice thing about grass is that it's so hard to kill either by drought, cold, or trampling. It just comes back when it gets enough water and the right temperature air. It keeps unwanted plants and weeds from overtaking my house as well.
Edibile estates is an idealistic environmental goal (and it's been thrown around under different names since the earliest suburbs), getting rid of gas powered mowers and convincing people to stop duping tons of fertilizer on their lawns seems more realistic.
I don't think it's necessary for *everyone* to have an edible estate, but the promotion of it is great. Yeah, there will be people that just aren't good at gardening or aren't interested. But those people who spend hours a week in their gardens tending to shrubbery would probably do just as well at carrots, the tops of which I think would make a cute lawn border. Not everybody needs to do it, but it would sure be nice if more people did. And I assure you that orange trees are just as beautiful and certainly more fun to climb in than most of the stuff I see on people's lawns.
last dance with mary jane
grass is a signifier in a way that a vegetable garden is not. please take into account the symbolic importance of the front lawn.
Nice one vado -the symbolic importance of the front lawn is a whole thread in itself.
Here’s some info gleaned on the English obsession and elaborate rules governing the small patch of scrub that separates the personal and private from the public.
This small patch of land will usually have a wall or fence surrounding, low in order for maximum view in from the road. More likely to be better tended than the rear garden however no time will be spent here other that that which is required to weed, water, tend and keep it looking presentable.
The most important rule is never sit in your front garden even where there is plenty of room. If you have to be there, squatting to pull a weed or stooping to trim the hedge or otherwise looking industrious is acceptable less you are accused of a very peculiar loitering.
The front garden is an important social tool. A busy person in his / her front garden presents one of the few occasions in which you may be regarded as socially available to your neighbours, who would almost never dream of knocking your door for a chat.
There is the inevitable counter culture of students, hippies etc. who can deliberately flaunt the rules with the casual placement of an old sofa , never benches or garden seating. The act of sitting is clearly an act of deliberate disobedience. In the traditions of English moaning rules, the conservative will generate much bitching, huffing and curtain twitching between themselves and will never confront the problem directly.
Don’t get me started on rear gardens.
i'll get ya started on rear gardens, BOTS!
far box - swiss chard, fennel, romaine lettuce
middle box - (recently seeded) heirloom tomatoes, carrots
close box - more fennel and romaine lettuce, beets, thyme, rosemary
each garden box is 3' x 5' and i had to put up the wire barrier thing around them because neighborhood cats think every box with dirt is their own personal litter box.
there's a fig tree in a pot because i don't know where to plant that yet and my compost bins are at the far left corner sort of hiding the wheel barrow and extra pots.
hey! how 'bout that for a timely bump...
posted yesterday: "Local" @ thebiblog.net
yeah you go, fritzy !!
yo my fennel's ready what the bleep do i do with it?!? (i'm thinkin' a little fennel/grapefruit salad ..)
fennel can become invasive in socal. so better not let it go to seed (even though those seeds are very tasty). you can cook the fennel bulb or eat it raw... does keep a while in the fridge.
regarding what to do with the white house lawn.
frac, roast it and/or make a soup.
Just this sunday enjoyed the first spinach salad from my garden! Stole a recipe from a restaurant I used to work at... Just cook some bacon, saute some red onion in the grease and then make a sherry vinagrete made from using the grease... dump the warm mixture onto the spinach to wilt slightly and add asiago... YUM!
Definitely having the same problem with squirrels, cats, etc digging up my new plantings...
FRaC - I'm partial to grilled fennel + sausage and pasta with a white sauce... (sausage optional).
toasts idea is a good one too.
frac. cut it in half lengthwise, brush with olive oil & rosemary, grill it up! Or, cut shavings of it, sautee with olive oil, white wine, lemon juice, use as pasta topper with pine nuts. YUM.
thanks for the fennel suggestions!
i have 4 more to harvest in the next month or two and i'll definitely try some of the ideas y'all brought up! i'm diggin' eatin' my estate(s)!
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