Do You Have an Edible Yard? (I Do!)

a reply to: BuzzyWigs
Be careful. I have 5 1/2 acres. I got tired of weekly cuts during the Spring and Summer, so I let the majority of it go back to nature. The first year was fine. Towards the end of the second year I could see it was going to be trouble, but it was too green to manage, so I had to wait for winter for it to turn brown, and dry enough to get it back to manageable.

Now I keep it cut back once to twice a month depending on the the amount of rain and the height. I have sections of wild flowers that I keep tightly grouped and controlled. The ground cover is beautiful and the bees love it.

Don't let it get away from you. Trust me, it will be hell to pay. Also that second year my dogs were plagued with ticks. In the 14 years I lived here, I never saw a tick on my dogs. That second year the ticks were so bad, I was using Advantix, and I still had to use a Seresto collar to control the ticks. After cutting the grass back, the following year, again, no ticks and no ticks since.

1/2 acre in asparagus and raspberries. commercial patch

Small garden with the usual suspects...ahem

In the Rio Grande valley with water from the acequia.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
If SHTF, will you eat that grass?

No. I have edible neighbors.

And the drink gets sprayed all over the keyboard...

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

Personally Buzzy, I'd cheer your version on up one side and down the other. imho, it is the ONLY sensible thing to do--particularly at this late stage in the rush toward Armageddon.

The lawn front yard is mostly ego strutting anyway, imho. Or else lock-step conformity toward inane and insane pretense for no good purpose.

imho, YOU GOT IT RIGHT! CONGRATS! SHOUT IT FROM THE HOUSETOPS!

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
No. I have edible neighbors.

Do you use Bar-B-Q sauce, pepper, salt, onions . . . rare, medium or well done . . . ?

Do you flay them alive and Bar-B-Q them on a full moon or just whenever they get too close to the property line?

Do you buy the police and judges off with a leg of neighbor or a leg of lamb?

Is Fried Green Tomatoes your favorite movie?

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

Star and flag my friend. Since I've moved to the Pacific northwest I have much fewer edible weeds. Back in Maine, even in the city, I could find edibles growing up through the cracks in the sidewalk. I have had to cultivate edibles here in eastern Washington. My 5 year plan involves getting more wild edibles on my land, but for now I have to use a garden.

We have an edible yard...

30 chickens and 15 ducks, all free ranging...

originally posted by: BO XIAN

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
No. I have edible neighbors.

Do you use Bar-B-Q sauce, pepper, salt, onions . . . rare, medium or well done . . . ?

Do you flay them alive and Bar-B-Q them on a full moon or just whenever they get too close to the property line?

Do you buy the police and judges off with a leg of neighbor or a leg of lamb?

Is Fried Green Tomatoes your favorite movie?

For neighbors, I recommend a good soak in brine, then smoke for 12 hours...

a reply to: madmac5150

Trouble is . . . too many average neighbors in our era are probably

--95% lard and 5% stringy shoe-leather tough meat

or

--95% stringy shoe-leather tough meat and 5% poo for brains.

/black humor folks, black humor.

originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
Which, of course, you know how to cook so expertly as to be indistinguishable from ...........

Pork.

originally posted by: BO XIAN
Do you use Bar-B-Q sauce, pepper, salt, onions . . . rare, medium or well done . . . ?

Do you flay them alive and Bar-B-Q them on a full moon or just whenever they get too close to the property line?

Do you buy the police and judges off with a leg of neighbor or a leg of lamb?

Is Fried Green Tomatoes your favorite movie?

Yes.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

I hear babies taste of chicken, though. When does it become porkier?

originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
I hear babies taste of chicken, though. When does it become porkier?

No, they taste like piglet.

Holy crap it is so hot outside....I've been outside for three hours each of the last two mornings - trying to get my bedding plants put in, mulch spread around, and keeping the veggies alive. Fortunately the 'yard' is managing by itself....green as it can be, thick, and lush, and happy.

I'll upload pics eventually...still a work in progress, though.
Like my life.

originally posted by: BO XIAN
a reply to: BuzzyWigs

Personally Buzzy, I'd cheer your version on up one side and down the other. imho, it is the ONLY sensible thing to do--particularly at this late stage in the rush toward Armageddon.

The lawn front yard is mostly ego strutting anyway, imho. Or else lock-step conformity toward inane and insane pretense for no good purpose.

imho, YOU GOT IT RIGHT! CONGRATS! SHOUT IT FROM THE HOUSETOPS!

You have obviously never had to waltz with code enforcement.

In some places you can't grow vegetables in your front yard, in some places you can't even grow them in your back yard.

I live in the woods and I can't tell you all the grief I used to get from the Federal code enforcement agency, better known as the Environmental Protection Agency. The biggest lot of egotiscal Barney Fifes, you can find in our government.

a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn

In my neighborhood, we can do pretty much whatever the hell we want as long as the neighbors don't complain. Many of us have front-yard veggie plots or rows, others have chickens, we don't have a HOA, and we all know each other by name.

We mostly don't bother with permits or 'inspections' of anything either (unless forced to when bank loans or insurors get involved).

You are right about the fact that HOAs are often sticklers and very rigid - not real big on living free and owning your own property and allowing it to reflect your own creative self (rather than some 'committee's' idea of what things should look like )

Also, good reminder that letting it get away from oneself as a home-owner/landscaper is a big deal.
A couple of years ago we had a milder-than-usual winter (like we did this year too....climate change, anyone?) and everything looked like it was mid-August rather than mid-May. It was phenomenal.

We also had several mature trees pruned and removed over the winter. The sunlight is much different now - which of course affects the ground covers proportionally.

One thing I always loved about moving into an older established dwelling is watching over the course of each seasons to see what was planted by someone's granny 100 years ago. Old faves like Iris, Hosta, Daffodils, Narciccus, Phlox, Tulips, Forsythia, Ghost Lilies, Coral Bells, Rose of Sharon, Peonies, et al....

they just keep coming back....and often are really healthy and robust.



I learned a long time ago to not waste time and money and water on exotics that won't grow here without fussy amendments and artificial "habitat" provision. Also, to plant perennials -- annuals make a nice place-holder and color-splash, of course. Yesterday I planted the anemones amongst the pansies - with the blood-red velvet dianthus behind, a butterfly bush toward the south, more pinks (low mound type), a milkweed, a calendula, some rosemary -- and I also added thyme.




Now it's as hot as an oven - I hope everybody makes it!!

Nothing much to do for it. During the rainy season here, our lawns become jungles.
Over the course of this year and next, we'll be doing a lot of gardening.

In Sept, we're finally getting to our veggie garden. This is about a 20' by 40' area behind our garage (so hidden from view from street (or even our drive to the house).

In the front atrium area, (about 10' by 15'), we're doing a small koi pond, along with a lot of flowers and medicinal/culinary herbs. Some of the flowers are just for visual, others are flowering herbs. We should put this all in sometime this summer (just need to get a few more supplies, already have the pond and fountain, etc.). Can't see this much from the street either, or even the drive, just as you get near the front door.

All around the house, some roses, flowers and bushes in the front, but on the sides and rear of the house (more hidden), more food type plants such as berries, squash, etc. (this will be in Sept. also)

Finally, we'll be adding some fruit trees such as apple (yes, there are SOME that grow in FL), orange, banana, lemon/lime, avocado, peach, etc. Will be a few years before they fruit though. Already have a tangerine tree. These will be added as I find them, get a good deal, etc.

We're encouraging wild blackberries along the fence lines. The horses like them (and only leave us the ones in the pastures they are shut off from), and the brambles make it a bit of a hassle for anyone trying to climb fences.

We have a lot of foliage that has started growing on the fences over the past few years. I really like the way it's looking. From a security standpoint, kind of mixed, but it just looks so nice. Besides, come SHTF, could always remove it. Until then, I like the visual (and privacy).

Of course, the chickens in the yard already give us plenty of eggs (we give dozens to family and friends, and yet still always have about 5 dozen in the fridge (and often a dozen or so on the counter). Contrary to American thinking, you don't have to refrigerate fresh eggs (even though we do). Most other nations don't.

We also have a TON of frogs for some reason, so while not as palatable...in a pinch...as well as snakes, squirrels, birds, etc. If the zombies come, we'll be OK for a while.

a reply to: Gazrok

Very wonderful! Go you!

I'm so glad to hear that people are getting on board with this....subsistence farming isn't just for peasants....
its for everyone.

I have blackberries growing around. Also if anyone sees this, my hydrangea has died but I've noticed some new growth all be it small that is coming out of the root. Any suggestions? Should I dig it up and replant?

a reply to: Gazrok

We're encouraging wild blackberries along the fence lines.

Just keep the clippers and the shovel at the ready. I don't recommend herbicides.

Blackberries scramble and will smother any neighboring plants. They form a tangled mess of thorny stems that will block out everything; livestock, equipment, and you. The best of the berries are always were you can't reach them without being ripped to shreds. They make the perfect nesting place for rodents. It is a rat haven.

They spread like wild fire, and because of the pervasive underground root system, digging out the plants is one hell of a battle.

I love blackberries, but when I had them, I just mowed the whole thing down each year. Now I have blackberry tracks popping up in the strangest of places, no even remotely close to the original patch. They can injure your animals also.

Blackberries are not an easy treat.