If I were stranded in my own yard and couldn’t escape I would quickly starve to death. This is what many of our Grandparents would refer to as a ‘crying shame’ and not so atypical of American yards. How did this happen? When did we become consumed with growing non-fruit bearing plants. Some might say that we structure our yards from an astehetic point of view or that vegetable and fruit gardens require too much maintenance.
Is that so?
In my front yard grows a beautiful shade tree. I don’t even know what it is, but the neighborhood is poluted with this variety. The tree grows very thick and green in the summer, so thick that the front yard is devoid of any grass.The leaves turn a brilliant yellow in the fall, maybe more striking than the rich green of summer. Then they fall. Hundreds of thousands, possibly millions of these golden beauties descend, layer upon layer, blanketing the yard in a soft display of the end of the season. I could hardly wait to scoop up all of the harvest and make, uh, well, bags of leaves destined for the trash.
MMMM, Leaves!
Unfortunately, we humans cannot eat leaves. Or grass, or evergreen shrubs, or tulips, or even the beautiful azalea! Dandylions, we can eat. But instead we have an entire industry dedicated to the destruction of these yummy salad greens! Yea, crying shame.
My sons and I spent many hours picking up the discarded useless fruits of the beautiful shade tree. My disgust ran high. Each break I took I spent calling information searching for local landscapers specializing in tree removal. 
28 bags later I had an aching back, sweat soaked clothes, three miserable children and not a damn thing to eat. 28 large lawn bags completely full and not even a morsel of potential food for me and my family. This has not saved me any time. This is much more maintenance than a vegetable garden or at the very least the same. But the difference is yield. When did we trade productive and useful for pretty and useless. (If you aren’t thinking of some Sodam/Gomorrah disintegration of society raising sex and hedonism above all else, proliferated by the entertainment and media non-reality world, then you’re not gettin it.) Wouldn’t back breaking yard work be better if piles of grass clippings and bundles of shrub trimmings were replaced with pecks of tomatoes and bags of fresh greens? I’m not saying to not throw in a few rows of flowers or not to have a nice backyard tree to hang a swing from or in which to build a treehouse. It just makes sense to fill your land, however small, with some things to eat.
My goal over the next year is to make my yard more productive. Join me. Some of you who have gardens, try adding a fruit or vegetable you haven’t grown before, share with the neighbors. If you have no garden, like me, start with just some low maintenance herbs or something that grows very hardily, like zucchini. Even making your yard a fraction more edible is a good start. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.
I did notice one thing in my yard I could eat…
Don’t judge.
Have your pet spayed or neutered,
FV
Eat This NY
The Duchess of Amboy
Hey FV you seem to have stole m thunder! Awhile back I commented on this same subject! If you recall I suggested that instead of mowing why not make a vegetable garden.I agree that this not only would cut down on some “yard work” but provide some nice organic items for our table this summer! And it will save you some money as well.
So FV, cut some of that tree down to provide sunlight and get the kids and the Dutchess next Spring and get busy on that garden. As for all of those leaves Mr. Organic Promoter,you should have saved the 28 lawn leaf bags and instead began a compost.By adding vegetable scraps and coffee grinds by next Spring you would have had nice rich compoist for that garden!
My bill will be in the mail!
Hey Rizza.You’ve been quiet lately. What’s your spin on this topic?
Hey FV. Thanks for visiting my blog. I’ll be sure to check out yours too regularly.
We definitely should do a city vs. city pie off somehow.
As for growing your own food, I bet it will taste better than anything you buy in the stores. This is one of the very few reasons why I wouldn’t want to live in NY. The best we can grow here is mold.
Yo! UB! That was just my front yard. I still have about 40-50 bags in my side and back yards. You are welcome to help come pick up the rest, I’ll make pork steaks! We could compost the whole neighborhood just from my yard! Also, yes my friends, UB did first mention the joys and usefulness of a garden in your yard, thanks UB. See you soon, bring your own work gloves.
Save us some of those bags FV.We can use them with our grassclippings to make compost.Seriously folks composting produces a dark black substance that is “Black Gold” for a gardener. I would encourage everyone to plant a vegetable garden next Spring!That goes for you FV as well.(You kids will love helping FV).
PS.Those pork steaks sound delicious.Scalloped potatoes as well?)
As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday,I can’t help but want to share a funny story relayed to me from a colleague at work concerningt the firsr time he bought a Turkey for his mother to cook.
He had just returned from the service in the Army and was living with his mother. He decidied to go to Giant Eagle and buy a turkey for their Thanksgiving dinner. And knowing him he wouldn’t settle for any ordinary bird;he settled for a Butterball.
His mother prepared the bird and after being in the oven for a while,he opened the door to baste it for her and to his shock he saw what appeared to be a piastic object in the bird.He immediately looked up the 1-800 number for Butterball questions and comments. He explained that this foreign object was attached in some mannerto his bird and was concerned that the Thanksgiving dinner would be ruined and contaminated. He was asked for the color of the object and its location. After his explanation he was surprised to learn that this object was in fact…………….the pop-up button which indicates when the bird is done!!!!
Happy Thanksgiving.
ah my dear fv, your nana always had a garden when I was a youngster. there is nothing like eating a warm tomato freshly picked right off the vine. we also had plum, apple, sweet and sour cherries and pear trees. we had grapes for a few years but never a really good crop. mom planted potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, peas, beans, watermelons, pumpkins, strawberries and zucchini. what a woman. what a childhood!