Edible Landscaping

Ongoing threats to global food security have spawned a new generation of gardeners with a purpose. Perhaps you've already made the decision to garden sustainably by growing organic vegetables or using natural herbicides and pesticides on your flower beds. Perhaps you have already begun to capture rainwater or better yet, recycle grey water from your house to nourish the garden. You're composting (good on you!) and have given some thought to saving heritage seeds.

You may even have begun an herb garden for medicinal teas. All in all, you figure, you're a pretty savvy gardener, doing all the right things to help combat the effects of climate change on our collective food security.

The new ethics of sustainable gardening has grown in popularity and is spreading quickly across North America and Europe. City folks are seeding their rooftops, planting patio potatoes and mixing cabbages and oregano in with the nasturtiums and lilies. Wait a minute, nasturtiums and lilies are edible, aren't they? Indeed! Go for it. It's not all about necessity. Gardening is still fun, after all.

So what do the terms permaculture, forest gardening and edible landscaping mean anyway?

Permaculture is to grow food by reproducing the patterns and habits of nature and disturbing the landscape as little as possible. Forest gardening encourages non-timber forest produce like mushrooms for example, where the spoors are deposited in naturally rotting logs. Edible landscaping, simply put, replaces plants that are strictly ornamental with plants that produce food.

In other words, the new gardener plants very little that can't be eaten when the going gets rough. Instead of planting an ornamental cherry, for example, plant a fruit bearing one. The day might come when you can't find cherry pies and jams on the local supermarket shelf.



How is that different from the garden my great grandfather kept, you ask? There's very little difference, especially if your grandfather lived during Great Depression or the latter years of WWII, when food shortages were all too common and Victory Gardens became a means to insure survival.

Today's conscientious gardener recognizes the growing threat to world food security and is taking matters into his own hands. In American and a few western Canadian cities, a growing movement promotes turning "lawns to gardens" to create productive land out of decorative, water hogging lawns.

Many families now provide all their own fresh fruits and vegetables from small urban house lots. What's more, they support the local economy by trading with neighbors or selling their surplus at local markets. Today's smart gardener grows healthy, fresh food anywhere he or she can.

Start small if you must. After all, sprinkling a few carrot seeds along a border for your prize dahlias can only be a good thing. Be forewarned, however. You may just find you've become addicted to the whole idea of self-sufficiency.

One final thing. This spring, don't be surprised to find that your neighbor's once manicured lawn has become a garden of edible delights, smelling of damp, rich earth, strawberries and dill. Promise not to kick him soundly when he comes over in the fall to share his own wine, made from his very own grapes!

Reference Links

The Urban Farmer CA (photo credit above)
Edible Landscapes in Toronto
Just for Starters
Pacific Permaculture CA
How to Do It
Someone Else to Do It


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The Eastern Shore Current is an eclectic Blog for Nova Scotia's Highway 7 Online. Visit the website!