“Every year, 58 million Americans spend approximately $30 billion to maintain over 23 million acres of lawn, using more pesticides per acre than agriculture. According to Heather Flores, author of Food Not Lawns, the water consumed by U.S. lawns- 270 gallons/week- could support “81 million acres of organic vegetables, all summer long”. Perhaps its time to rethink the American yard. There are increasingly more groups- like Food Not Lawns, Edible Estates, locavores, 100 mile diet- urging homeowners to mow less and plant more.
In this video, Heather Flores- co-founder of the grassroots gardening group Food Not Lawns– took us for a tour of some more guerrilla gardens of Eugene, Oregon.
We also have a video blog on the lawns and native landscaping in the high desert of Sun Valley, Idaho.”
And very much the message too from Bill Mollison, for instance in “Introduction to Permaculture”, a charming book of what needs to be done ( 1991, rev. 1997 ), which had on the cover “before and after” drawings of one of the “little boxes” which Pete Seeger sang about in the early 1960s. There have been some moves even amongst the most blinkered urban dwellers, with the rise of the patio crops in tubs, but more power to anyone who can help to bring about this long overdue gardening revolution !
Hi everyone.
Incredible Edible began in Todmorden several years ago when citizens came together and started planting food all around their village. It has now spread to include their schools with a cirriculum at the high school and much more.
Excellent info.