farming the suburbs

...Unlike traditional home gardeners who devote a corner of the yard to a few rows of vegetables, a new crop of minifarmers is tearing up the whole yard and planting foods such as arugula and kohlrabi that restaurants might want to buy. The locally grown food movement has also created a new market for front-yard farmers.

... "Land is very expensive in the country, so people are saying, 'why not just start growing in the backyard?' "

Whole article here -

http://futurerealestate.blogspot.com/2008/04/green-acres-ii-when-neighbors-become.html

Whatever brings awareness to sustainability is good. Many restaurants like Niel Perry have their own growing ventures and even Jamie Oliver is trend setting by hiring a good gardener to ghost grow for him. Veggie matter is always going to be better than Red Rooster!

ps - love your signature!

I have only just added a small veggie patch and mainly for sumer veggies ect.... hve a few winter ones in and hopefully get a few collies and caggages

My daughter is big into backyard sustainability. She is only just learning her way, but very proud of every effort, and has little Miss 2 out there "helping" with her "wittle wake". Another generation of gardeners in the making!

There's a movement of city farming. It has a name which I can't remember but which is trademarked by some American outfit. I'll post about it if I ever remember what it's called. The city of Havana in Cuba now grows 70% of its food in backyards, on rooftop terraces, vacant blocks of land, parks etc. They had to or starve after the collapse of the Soviet Union cut off their access to oil!

My intention is to eventually have a good part my yard under cultivation and maybe sell excess to local restaurants. It's a slow process but little by little the lawn disappears - no more mowing!

I have read the blog/website and it's driving me crazy that I can't remember where I found the link. It was amazing what this family did with their backyard and front lawn. It was a wonderful edible jungle!

My aim, too, is to slowly be able to eat more and more of my vegetables and fruit from my garden. I am still finding out what works and what doesn't. It's great fun!

I looked at the link in Fran's post and sure enough, there it was - Spin Farming. Is it me or this just a backyard veggie growing under a new name?

Looks to me like some enterprising Spin Doctor has found a way to market how to workshops!

Let's not use it. I don't like adopted Americanisms - LOL
What's wrong with backyard sustainablilty. Is it too hard for them to say?
Better still - produce gardening.
Cheers, Jan - feeling good after a good work out with the rotary hoe

Produce gardening, I like that siri. The winter catalogue from Diggers has a spread on cutting greenhouse emissions and features the city of Havana, Cuba with its huertos populares (people's gardens). Looks good.

Don't know the term 'spin gardening' Raymondo or didn't take note. Wondering about the idea of growing something for someone else. I imagine this is like an order - please supply with so many organic lettuce per week at such and such a price. So someone who is entirely clueless about gardening can advertise or answer an urban gardener's advertisement about supplying them with certain produce. I suppose you could extend this to teaching skills - the how tos of sustainable gardening/growing organic vegetables etc.

well this is my little patch that was put together earlier this year, sorry about the pic, it was dark last night

I found the old windmill last week in a bin

Nice patch. Cute windmill.

Very "Ocker' Thee.

Love it Thee - but now we have to landscape the vegie bed to keep up you

Any spare wire hanging around folks? - http://www.wirelady.com/berrienwirerecyclepage.html

Fun site! These could form the basis for some pretend topiary too!

very cool, but I would not know where to start and get myself into a bloody tangled mess

My ideal landscaping feature in the veg patch would be one of those corrugated iron sheep! Real urban farming :-)

Along with a pig, cow and a few ducks and chooks as well Oh to have more room