Food Up Front

Comment

Comment by Katherine Wheatley on February 2, 2012 at 10:48pm

I wonder if fruit or nut trees would be a better option there? But I believe compost and the wonderful microorganisms in soil can do a lot to combat pollution (apparently bokashi is being used to reclaim old paint factory sites) and possibly all you need to do is wash the vegies when you harvest them! Don't forget pollutants are everywhere in urban areas, they can't be avoided. I'd go ahead and grow but I'd probably be less likely to grow herbs in that spot - and favour things that could be peeled or scrubbed. That's my very unscientific contribution.

Comment by Sophie McInnes on February 2, 2012 at 10:28pm

hello, anyone still here?

I have a lovely veg patch in the back garden and a load of wasted grass in the front. The only thing keeping me from sowing more fruit and veg is the fact that we live on a main road, opposite a bus terminus. Most of the buses are good at turning off their engines between shifts, but there're still plenty of pollutants in the air.

Should this put me off so much? I know airbourne junk will get to my backyard veg too, but the front yard has literally nothing between it and the cars but "fresh" air.

ta, Sophie

Comment by Amy gwh on February 26, 2011 at 9:39am

Margaret, when one of my friends who does ALL container gardening here in NW Georgia was looking for fruits, Top Hat is one I recommended. The plant is still young, but she got her first big batch of blueberries last summer and she LOVED them. I hope your works, too!

Comment by Margaret Beers Oliver on February 25, 2011 at 6:29pm

This coming growing season (North America) I am going to have Top Hat Blueberries on the front steps.

Comment by Katherine Wheatley on January 9, 2011 at 5:18pm

I love the idea of FUF! I love growing flowers for the vase (or gifts) but it seemed like so much wasted space, so my front garden now includes borage, comfrey, midyim (a bush tucker berry) plants, dwarf mulberries, guavas and feioja trees, dwarf macadamia trees, plums, olives, herbs,strawberries, zucchini, pumpkins, squash, rhubarb, silverbeet and other greens. Oh, and some tomatoes, especially handy if you're walking to the car and feel a bit peckish....... It raised eyebrows at first but I think the neighbours love it now. The only real problem I found was the horse manure incident of 2007, when an awful lot of flies appeared in the street just after I brought home manure from the stables for the front garden. I'm a bit more careful now :).

Comment by Margaret Beers Oliver on October 7, 2010 at 3:59am

I like the vetch. I would just give it a mower trimming when it looks awful.
I have also used a straw mulch and think that may be what happens this year.

Comment by Amy gwh on October 6, 2010 at 4:01pm

A question about shutting up the front-yard-garden-shop for the winter (whenever that might be for other members of the group): do you mulch or plant a cover crop? I've tried both, and I have to say that the cover crop of vetch I've grown a few times looks pretty untidy by Spring. Since the garden is right out front, I try to keep it somewhat neat, and so mostly cover the unused parts of the garden with mulch (some is in winter veggies), but I also like the nitrogen-fixing action of the vetch. Any thoughts?

Comment by Margaret Beers Oliver on October 6, 2010 at 3:45pm

Amy, we have nights in the 40's for the most part with that one really cold night last weekend. I have two mandarin oranges in pots that are in the living room. This is my first try at growing under lights as a season extender. Should be interesting. I am cloning so that I know the plants are not bringing in bugs.

Comment by Amy gwh on October 6, 2010 at 3:30pm

Margaret, fall isn't quite so far along here in N. Georgia, but we are having nights in the low 40s. I will be digging my sweet potatoes later this week, and I've started to bring in green tomatoes to set out on the ping-pong table in the garage, where they will ripen over the next several weeks. I am impressed that you make cuttings to grow indoors! The only food plant I bring in is my lime tree, which is already in a big pot.

Comment by Margaret Beers Oliver on October 6, 2010 at 1:58pm

Well... we have had one very cold night where the temp. has hit 36f and the garden plants are toast. Cuttings turning into clones for the indoor garden.

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