front yard veggies

A sunny north facing front yard (before we made the garden beds.)

16 JULY, 2009

Our time living on the headland came to a close with news that the house we were renting is getting knocked down so we've moved to a cul-de-sac not far away. The property faces north at the front and with all the sun hitting the small front yard I've decided to build a veggie garden there. We are renting still but we can always turn it back into lawn when we move again. We can all do with some more flowers and veggies!

One thing I love about parts of Europe is how people grow their own food if they have the space. They don't seem to care about maintaining a pristine lawn. Instead they grow veggies, wildflowers and fruit trees, even in the front yard. I think it looks beautiful.

At our new place I've decided to go for more organic shaped beds and have designed a round bed in the centre, surrounded by other beds. We salvaged some soil, wood and plants from the old place and transplanted the whole garden. Miraculously everything we replanted survived. The soil we built up in the last garden was hearty. It would have been a shame to see new townhouses built on top of it after all that work!

At the moment my main point of reference is an organic gardening manual, but I also still live by the permaculture principle "Obtain a Yield"! I strongly feel it is important to get plants in the ground and experiment with how things grow together in a poly-culture garden. Learning how plants grow in different spaces is good for me to practice. I've also built up a garden on the verandah using containers and pots to create a privacy screen. I grow succulents and natives and a rambling cherry tomato bush up a trellis. I've decided I really needed bamboo and so I bought a fast-growing clumping variety with thin canes and fine light-green foliage.