Edibles in the Front Yard

We have been doing some serious garden work this week.  I love the excitement surrounding my front yard gardening projects.  Every year I start off convinced that the neighborhood association is going to freak out and decide that my sidewalk garden  and edibles in the front yard are inappropriate and that I will be forced to remove them.  This year though, I am happy to announce that I think I have started a neighborhood trend; there are two other houses on my block with sidewalk vegetable gardens!  I love having my neighbors stop by and ask what is growing and pick a few things.  We always have more than we can eat by ourselves and I enjoy sharing the abundance with family, friends, neighbors, and those that could use a helping hand.  The only negatives are that I worry about the exhaust from vehicles constantly spraying them with chemicals and people that let their dogs poop and dig in my garden (I mean really can they not just pull the dog into the next yard?  It's only 50 ft away and scoop for the love of GOD; we live in the city!).  Really though, I am so lucky to live in a city I love and be able to combine my favorite parts of both urban and rural living.

(A) loves helping in the garden.

(A), "Hey guys, you wanted me to rake this part, right?..."

This is the beginning of the sidewalk garden redo... yikes

We've covered the hill with strawberries.  Great spreading ground cover and tasty!

This looks precarious, but the dirt actually landed behind the child.

(A) helps his pop spread some fresh stinky dirt.

New non-eroding mostly shade garden.  I replanted my azalea, ferns, hechuras, and hostas; and added cabbage and broccoli to make it more than just pretty.  The pots on the end are filled with tiny citrus trees my mother-in-law gave me.

Broccoli, yes it looks like this before it looks like food.

Yay!  Fresh dirt!!!!!

 

In the side-walk garden, I planted some sweet basil, cilantro, and flat-leaf parsley slips; double-yield heirloom cucumber, black from tula and mortgage lifter tomatoes, and cayenne and orange bell pepper seeds; and scarlet nanatte and purple dragon carrots in the pot.

The dwarf peach is hanging in there, but it has very few blossoms compared to others in the area at this time.  I'm not sure if it's going to do too much this year.

The herb garden at the corner of the house holds lemon balm, oregano, rosemary, sage, and thyme.  The climbers are antique red roses and the pot is filled with toad lilies.

The camellias are in full bloom.  The azaleas are beginning to bud.  And the pots are filled with radishes, white onions, red onions, and leeks.

This blueberry plant and it's sister are looking good for their 2nd year status in the side-yard!

Last spring we planted a tiny fig tree on top of the grave of our beloved old Great Pyrenees that passed that January.  This thing has grown 3 ft in 1 year.  Turns out that sweet giant of a dog is super nutritious for trees.

 

I cannot wait to eat blackberries this year!  This briar is looking AMAZING!!!!

We have been doing some serious garden work this week.  I love the excitement surrounding my front yard gardening projects.  Every year I start off convinced that the neighborhood association is going to freak out and decide that my sidewalk garden  and edibles in the front yard are inappropriate and that I will be forced to remove them.  This year though, I am happy to announce that I think I have started a neighborhood trend; there are two other houses on my block with sidewalk vegetable gardens!  I love having my neighbors stop by and ask what is growing and pick a few things.  We always have more than we can eat by ourselves and I enjoy sharing the abundance with family, friends, neighbors, and those that could use a helping hand.  The only negatives are that I worry about the exhaust from vehicles constantly spraying them with chemicals and people that let their dogs poop and dig in my garden (I mean really can they not just pull the dog into the next yard?  It's only 50 ft away and scoop for the love of GOD; we live in the city!).  Really though, I am so lucky to live in a city I love and be able to combine my favorite parts of both urban and rural living.

St. Patrick's Day in Memphis is good.

Today that hot guy I call my spouse, the kid, and I volunteered planting trees and pulling weeds for the 7th Annual Wolf River Conservancy Tree Planting at Shelby Farms.  I (shamefully) forgot my camera and missed some wonderful photo opportunities.  (A) was COVERED in mud.  He kept getting his shoes stuck in the mud and loved to hear the 'slush-pop' sound of pulling them out.  I know he's only 16 months old, but it's never to early to teach the kids about volunteerism and environmentalism, right?  Truthfully, I didn't get as much done with him as I would have without him, but everyone seemed to enjoy his youthful and oh-so-helpful presence.  

We later took that little bead hoarder to the St. Patrick's Day Parade on Beale St.  He loved the floats, especially the Bol Weevils, and once he figured out that he would get stuff thrown at us if he caught their attention he became a silly waving fool.  (A) was amazed by the horses and carriages and was thrilled to get to pet one.  His squealing grin was priceless.  We ran into an acquaintance on the walk back to the car and Abe the Babe gave his collection of trinkets to her two little girls that missed the parade.  I love that he shared so generously and am so grateful that that stuff didn't make it into the endless number of things I wish were easier to get rid of pile at the house.

It's funny, earlier in the day (G) and I were reminiscing about how our pre-kid Saint Patty's Days were so fun.  As I looked around at the people doing the pub crawls and partying, I realized how much more fun I was having just hanging with my boys and enjoying their company and (A)'s excitement at all these new things.  It really is amazing how parenthood changes one's perceptions.