Yeah, so ... as it turns out, I'm a lunatic. More on that later. Well, actually it'll become apparent as you continue reading.
Every year I tackle a big project. Stupid big. Permanent injury big. 4 years ago it was throwing out/selling everything we own and redoing our house. 3 years ago it was ripping out and redoing the entire backyard. And last year it was building the Architectural Digest inspired chicken coop.
Keep in mind, I do these things myself. I don't hire someone. Because I'm cheap. And stupid. And quite frankly don't trust other people to do things the way I want them done. And I'm cheap.
And as you may have guessed, every fall when I finish up my major project I say, I AM NOT DOING THIS AGAIN! I am going to enjoy one SINGLE summer of my life!!! I'm going to lounge and drink beverages because I WANT to, not because I have to replenish electrolytes.
So this year I've decided to rip out my entire front yard, bushes, lawn and various plantings ... and put in a front yard vegetable garden.
Because I never listen to myself. As I mentioned earlier, I'm not all that smart, so clearly my judgement is not to be trusted.
This decision came in several parts. A few years ago I knew the front bushes would have to come out. They were just too big and couldn't be contained. I didn't plant em there so it's not like they had any sentimental value. Last year I noticed the grubs had won the war with my lawn. I planned to throw down some nematodes, see how it did this year and rip it up next year if I had to.
Then about a week ago the weather got really warm in Southern Ontario. Armageddon warm. So the fella and I headed outside to rip all the shrubs out.
In fact, it was warm enough that I started thinking about gardening. And vegetables. And how I'd much rather eat a carrot than a blue spruce. So while we were pulling everything out I decided to grow a few vegetables and stick them in front of my house amongst the replacement shrubs and trees.
And then I decided the replacement shrubs and trees could suck it. I'm growing vegetables! All vegetables all the time! I'm not going to try to hide them in the perennials, I'm not sneaking them in around the side of some bushes, I am overtly and proudly growing vegetables. I may even get a rocking chair and learn to whittle wood out on my porch.
I started my own vegetable garden in my parent's house when I was about 12 and have missed having one ever since moving into this house. Sadly, the only place around my house that gets sun is the front yard and it never occurred to me to, you know, rip everything out of the front yard and replace it all with vegetables. Because that's what crazy people do. Next thing you know, I'd be shoving petunias in an old toilet and entering it in the floral competition at the county fair.
Well. Turns out I'm crazy. A lunatic in fact. Because I am in fact giving my yard one summer of vegetable heaven. If my front yard vegetable garden experiment works out, I'll continue with it. If not, I'll go back to the way it was with shrubs and bushes.
Of course the trick will be to make it look good. Charming. I do have some vanity when it comes to my front yard, you know. I'm not a complete loon. The existing flower beds around the outside of the lawn will stay the same, other than the removal of a few asshead roses that die every year around June 24th and present as angry bare twigs until the next spring. Those will be pulled out.
New lawn will be put down, and all the beds around the house will be reserved for vegetables.
I don't think I've ever been so excited in my life.
Here is what we accomplished in about half a day. Not even ...
To look at a picture of the front of my house it doesn't look all that alarming, but it is well on its way to being a mess.
The grass looks like it recently underwent chemotherapy. It's of no use to anyone other than the grubs, skunks and trolls. I plan to eventually get rid of all the grass at some point, I'm not quite brave enough just yet.
Everything needed to come out.
And it did. Hey look! We have a porch! And a nice one.
Before ...
During ...
After ...
To give you a bit of perspective, this is the mess as seen from the roof.
There are a few steps left.
1. Remove all and cart away all the brush.
2. Dig up the sod and dispose of it. I'll probably throw it in the backyard for the chickens to have fun on.
3. Level out the grass area and plan the size of the beds.
4. Lay down the new sod.
5. PLANT THE VEGETABLES.
6. Sit around and wait for a few months.
7. EAT THE VEGETABLES.
So, that's the gist of the plan, give or take that's how it should all go.
I'll keep you updated on a week by week and possibly day by day basis. I was actually going to hold off on this post until the whole thing was completed, much like the chicken coop. But I decided against it for one reason and one reason alone.
I hope, from the bottom of my lunatic heart, that this post inspires you. If you have a plant you hate, a bush that does nothing but anger you, roses or trees or twigs that need constant care and attention. GET RID OF THEM. Try, even if just for this year, a front yard vegetable garden.
Look at Cubits and Twig & Tree for heirloom vegetable inspiration.
Need help starting your own seeds from scratch? Take a look here at my "Starting Seeds" post.
I'm pretty proud of myself here. I've always wanted a vegetable garden and really the only thing that was stopping me was convention. You just don't turn your front lawn into a vegetable patch. Well. Yes. If you want to, yes you do.
Because I figure, if I'm going to screw around and devote hours of attention, watering and feeding a plant in my garden, it should at least return the favour eventually, and feed me.
GO TO DAY 2 of The Front Yard Vegetable Garden
GO TO The Front Yard Vegetable Garden REVEAL
Stay tuned for the rest of this continuing saga including what vegetables I've chosen to grow in the small space I have, vegetable growing tips for YOU and the finished product with ideas on how you can incorporate vegetables into your home no matter where you live.
Sally
Here's a link to my facebook album "My little farm"
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/32217_10150218333350641_669045640_12913901_4684253_n.jpg
Karen
AH!! That's so cute!! Only one pic came up, but it's GREAT. ~ karen
christine
cabbages....beautiful!
Sally
Holy Cow (or goat, whatever)!!! The weather down here in GA is so warm that I'm planting my little farm (all 50 square feet of it) this weekend. I can grow so much food in those little raised beds that by the end of the season I'm whispering, "just die now...I can't eat/freeze/jar any more". My friends and family turn and run away when they see me coming at them with arm loads of tomatoes. I live up against a National forest and have wild herds of deer and it was only when my genius type hub came up with the idea of putting the beds in an old dog pen that I was able to grow my veggies. I'll see if I can figure out how to post or email you a photo of my "farm". You are gonna rock this, I have NO doubt!
jen
You're nuts!!
...and I love it!
Pat
When I moved into my early 1970s house, I turned the large front yard of grass into all shrubs, trees and perennials. Backyard is the same. No lawns to mow, chemicals to add, etc. Love it. And when I am away for a month in the summer, my neighbour just turns on the soaker hoses now and then. In a couple of years, when I retire, I plan to turn a portion of the front yard, which gets the best sunlight, into a veg. garden. I will be watching your big project for inspiration! You go girl!!!!
nicole
ohmygoodness, KAREN! you are also MY hero.. or, maybe more-so living out my dreams a few years ahead of me!!!
it has been my life-long DREAM (after i outgrew my dream to marry a dairy farmer) to a) have a few of my very own chickens in my backyard b) grow a big ol veggie garden full of heirloom veggie's and c) to be an avid DIY'er... and you are basically all of the things i strive towards... what an inspiration. :)
i'm looking forward to your post on tips and tricks to grow veggie's anywhere... b/c i live in an apartment right by the lake, and last year the wind kept knocking over my tomato plants on my balcony, and my herbs got scorched... so, i've resorted to just being a regular at the burlington farmer's market to acquire my fresh veggies and fruits!
anywho... i LOVE reading your blog, and look forward to hearing more about your garden!
Heather-Mae
I'd be tempted to skip the grass all together (why mow?) and plant veggies everywhere! Your lovely white picket fence will keep the neighbourhood association from complaining too loudly. :)
Sebette
The chickens could make short work of the grubs and churning and fertilizing of those beds and lawn. Are you allowed to bring them around front? You would be rewarded with even yummier eggs.
Karen
Sebette - No. Sadly the chickens have to be kept quite ... inconspicious. :) ~ karen
AmieM
I love this idea. And, Karen, here in Guelph you would be the oddity if you had a grass front lawn in some of the neighbourhoods. Efficiency of space is everything! So why not plant a vegetable garden that you can get more enjoyment out of? And your neighbours shouldn't be worried about how it looks, not with a stunner of a chicken coop already in the backyard!
Good luck, and this is inspiration for the future homebuyers :)
Cindy @ Design Love
Karen,
I can't believe how great your house looks without those bushes hiding all the beautiful details of your porch! Just a word of advice, Don't wear your bikini while weeding your garden or you may cause an accident! lol.
I am excited to see your project come together.
Cindy
sarah
That porch is awesome!!! I love "open-ness". You have inspired to bite the bullet and get rid of my oversized, double reclining couch. It is just overpowering my small living room.
Karen
Sarah - LOL. Omg. I thought you were going to say you had a double reclining couch on your front porch! ~ karen
Jenny
Oh, how I wish my husband would let me get rid of my two double reclining loveseats! They drown my small living room, too.
Deb
The "after" photo, of your porch minus the overgrown shrubbery, literally took my breath away! What a BEAUTIFUL porch! Green with envy, I am! Can't wait for pictures of your front yard potager project in progress!
Karen
Thanks Deb. I felt kind of bad pulling out perfectly healthy shrubs, but ... they had to go. ~ karen
Thera
Oh how exciting! I am also thinking of doing a front veggie patch with traditional veggies, but we don't have a pretty white picket fence and we have a steep 3-4' slope, so I am still brain storming.
We also have a balcony off the master and we got some long planters last year, one will be our Asian Garden I think. Bok Choy, bean sprouts, watercress etc. I have no clue if these will grow in Ontario, but I am going to give it a go! Your Seeding post was great btw and sending good garden energy south to Hamilton!
Lisa
What a TOTAL coincidence! I'm helping a friend do exactly the same in the new house she bought late last summer!! The front yard is the only place she gets enough sun.
The only difference in our plans appears to be that I think a few small shrubs for some winter interest so it doesn't just die back to a barren landscape. And it will be a place for christmas lights and birds.
I was thinking maybe a dwarf lilac, red twig dogwood, something.... I'm also throwing in a few native perennials that flower and attract bees. False indigo is one of my faves.
Maybe I'll see if I can drag my friend off to the nursery one evening this week!
Karen
Lisa - Come the fall when plants/shrubs are on sale, I'll look for something like dwarf globe cedars or something. Don't even know if such a thing exists, LOL. I agree .. I like to have some evergreen so winter isn't so pathetic looking. I'll see how the garden grows before I decide on anything though! ~ karen
karla
Lisa - I love my red twig dogwood, but it is NOT small. Luckily I put it in the woodland section of my garden, because it really is barely civilized. Just so you know....
Jen H.
the end of this post should read "brought to you by the Little House on the Prairie series"
awesome
Karen
Hah! Oh Little House ... I love you so. ~ karen
Debbie Neal
Fabulous! I have a side yard garden with asparagus ( as I am nor the ass-paragus Queen) and lots of lettuce and veggies and herbs.I
found some of those things on the side of the road that you attach to the backs of doors to hold jars in your pantry so I went back and got them in my car. I wired them the the back of a fence that gets lots of sun and start seeds in those little desposable pots you get at the garden center. That is now my seed nursery!
Melissa Leach
Awesomeness personified! Can't wait to see your garden grow. Love the idea of views from the roof top.
Kera
I am planting veggies in my flower beds this year, too. Mostly peppers because I do have a big sunny backyard garden. Can't wait to see what you do!
Susan Sutherland
Did you ever watch the British comedy a few years back called Good Neighbours? That's the first thing I thought about when I read your post this morning. They did have uppity neighbours to contend with so I hope your neighbours are supportive of all your innovations. Your porch looks so much better without the shrubs and tree and I think your garden is going to be amazing. My condo corporation would frown on me doing something similar so I'll live vicariously through yours!
Karen
Susan - My neighbours are supportive of my chickens, LOL ... so I'm (pretty) sure they'll like the garden. :) ~ karen
Barbie
I LOVE your porch! It is BEAUTIMOUS! All those shrubs covering it up just didn't do it justice at all! What do you have growing on the trellis's on each end? Looks like whatever it is it provides a nice privacy barrier and is a good climber.
I am SO looking forward to watching this project unfold! I LOVE my garden.
Karen
Hi Barbie - The left sided trellis is covered with a huge Climbing Hydrangea and the other side is 2 or 3 varieties of Clematis. ~ karen!