Edible Landscaping
I'm Charlie Nardozzi. People have been growing edible plants near their homes for food and beauty for thousands of years. The ancient Persians, Egyptians, and many Asian cultures integrated edible plants into their pleasure gardens and installed them close to their living space. It was only during the Renaissance that the idea arose to separate utilitarian plants (food) from non-utilitarian flowers. Upper-class people saw growing only flowers near their home as a way to show off their wealth and power. They were so wealthy they could use their land to grow plants simply for pleasure and hide the edibles somewhere else. Home gardeners for years followed the agricultural model and planted their edibles, both vegetables and fruit trees, in long boring rows and devoid of flowers as they felt, incorrectly, that it was more efficient. Now we know that most beneficial insects need pollen and nectar at some time in their life cycle to reproduce so when you add flowers you actually cut down on pest damage and aid production. Flowers such as alyssum, thyme, cosmos, and marigolds, and natives such as echinacea, aster, and coreopsis, are not just beautiful they help control pests. And how about getting rid of all those straight lines? When you make your garden beds curved or plant in geometric configurations you'll find they are no harder to maintain then straight lines, and instead of being a ho-hum square, the garden will now have a sense of place, a destination.
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Edible Landscaping
- 2. A Real Edible Landscape
- 5. Growing Your Own Food “By 2050 there will be 9 billion people on the planet. We’ll have to produce more food in the next 50 years than all of mankind has produced in the last 10,000 years combined.”
- 7. Saving Money Vegetable Yields Dollars/Pound Value Lettuce 10 pounds $2.00 $20.00 Leeks 10 pounds $1.50 $15.00 Onions 16 pounds $1.50 $24.00 Carrots 16 pounds $1.50 $24.00 Peppers 30 pounds $1.50 $45.00 Cabbages 18 pounds $1.00 $18.00 Peas (double row) 8 pounds $3.00 $24.00 Broccoli 16 pounds $2.50 $40.00 Sweet corn 50 ears $0.50 each $25.00 Pole beans 12 pounds $1.50 $18.00 Potatoes 25 pounds $1.00 $25.00 Cucumbers 10 pounds $2.00 $20.00 Tomatoes 80 pounds $2.00 $160.00 Eggplant 12 pounds $2.00 $24.00 Cauliflower 8 pounds $3.00 $24.00 Beets 12 pounds $1.50 $18.00 Summer squash/zucchini 25 pounds $2.00 $50.00 Winter squash (bush) 15 pounds $2.00 $30.00 Totals 338 pounds $604.00
- 8. Gross National Garden Product •40 million households growing food •Average garden produces $600 worth of produce •Gross National Garden Product : 24 billion dollars!
- 10. Diagram of What You Have
- 11. Bubble Diagram of What You Want
- 12. Design Concepts
- 14. Edible Side Yard
- 15. Edible Backyard
- 16. Attractive Small Space Options
- 17. Raised Bed
- 18. Keyhole Bed
- 20. Polyculture Bed
- 21. Garden in any nook
- 22. … or Cranny
- 23. Edible Hedge
- 24. Edible Vines
- 26. Berries Near the House
- 27. Edible Barrier
- 30. Dwarf Trees
- 31. Apples
- 34. El Dorado peach
- 36. Container Lemon
- 37. Figs
- 40. Serviceberries
- 41. Persimmon
- 42. Paw Paw
- 43. Paw Paw fruit
- 44. Paw Paw Flesh
- 45. Mulberries
- 46. Nut Trees
- 47. Edible Shrubs
- 48. Blueberries
- 53. Gooseberry Plant
- 55. Elderberry
- 56. Elderberry Shrub
- 58. Nanking cherry
- 59. Aronia
- 60. Edible Vines
- 61. Grapes
- 63. Hardy Kiwi Vine
- 64. Hardy Kiwi Fruit
- 65. Hops
- 67. Eat Your Flowers
- 68. Pansy/Viola
- 69. Daylilies
- 70. Tulips
- 71. Sunflower
- 72. Edible Weeds
- 74. Redbor Kale
- 75. Lettuces
- 78. Purple Asparagus
- 79. Golden Sweet Snow Pea
- 81. Red Noodle Asparagus Bean