The Edible Yard: Landscaping and Permaculture

Instead of heading to the market for fruits, vegetables, and herbs, imagine they are instantly accessible, and planted in a lovely way throughout the yard around the house.
The Edible Yard: Landscaping and Permaculture
JOHNNY JUMP-UPS: Violas are edible flowers. In Diane's Garden, they grow alongside lettuce plants. (Courtesy of Seed Savers Exchange )
3/13/2011
Updated:
3/13/2011
<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/gardena_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/gardena_medium.jpg" alt="JOHNNY JUMP-UPS: Violas are edible flowers. In Diane's Garden, they grow alongside lettuce plants. (Courtesy of Seed Savers Exchange )" title="JOHNNY JUMP-UPS: Violas are edible flowers. In Diane's Garden, they grow alongside lettuce plants. (Courtesy of Seed Savers Exchange )" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-122247"/></a>
JOHNNY JUMP-UPS: Violas are edible flowers. In Diane's Garden, they grow alongside lettuce plants. (Courtesy of Seed Savers Exchange )
Instead of heading to the market for fruits, vegetables, and herbs, imagine they are instantly accessible, and planted in a lovely way throughout the yard around the house.

Edible landscaping is an age-old art undergoing a recent revival. But it has existed for as long as gardening itself.

While some homeowners are realizing the benefits—spending more time in nature, saving on grocery bills, and controlling what, if any, pesticides and herbicides are used on their foods—others connect with deeper principles, such as the approach of permaculture.

Chandra Hartman, of CFH Design Studio and Moonlight Micro-Farms, says, “Many people are just waking up to the idea that our food supply may not be as secure as we once believed.”

CFH Design Studio is an architectural design business that Hartman began in 2000, focusing on coastal residential design. Moonlight Micro-Farms sells heirloom seeds, organic sprouts, and offers permaculture design that is geared toward aesthetic beauty and reclaiming a piece of our natural heritage.

Hartman says her own interest in edible landscaping is rooted in a desire to be self- and community-reliant in a time when our freedoms are being challenged by corporate control and environmental degradation.

She considers herself more of an ecological designer than a landscaper, “someone who likes to think about the what-ifs.”

The Essentials


Some gardeners and landscapers describe how to begin the process: Walk the yard. Map out a plan on paper. Study the percentage of sun exposure in each part of the yard. Plan accordingly with proper plants and soil types.

Hartman says that when a client expresses interest in edible landscaping, she must first determine if the site offers an opportunity for growing food and the client’s level of participation in the garden. Based on these two factors, she will determine the type and level of edible landscaping appropriate.

Hartman earned a degree in Sustainable Community Development from Prescott College, where she became interested in permaculture. She says, “The first ethic of permaculture is to care for the earth. I am constantly observing my immediate environment and thinking of ways to interact with it that will be mutually beneficial.”

A small, yet valuable niche, according to Harman, is the market for wild edibles. She says free food and medicine grows all around us and we don’t even know it. “This is a lost art – gathering or foraging – that I believe is important for us to re-learn before we completely lose our connection with nature.”


Follow the Leaders


<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/displaya_medium.JPG"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/displaya_medium.JPG" alt="SELF-RELIABILITY: Diane's Garden is shown here filled with flowers, herbs and vegetables - corn, Swiss chard, kale and onions.  (Courtesy of Seed Savers Exchange)" title="SELF-RELIABILITY: Diane's Garden is shown here filled with flowers, herbs and vegetables - corn, Swiss chard, kale and onions.  (Courtesy of Seed Savers Exchange)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-122248"/></a>
SELF-RELIABILITY: Diane's Garden is shown here filled with flowers, herbs and vegetables - corn, Swiss chard, kale and onions.  (Courtesy of Seed Savers Exchange)
There are plenty of inspiring gardens worth visiting, filled with great ideas that homeowners can borrow for their own landscapes. In some cases, entire communities embrace the concepts of edible landscaping and community gardens.

Serenbe, Georgia, for example, presents a wonderful model for sustainable community living. As the community’s website says, “At Serenbe, we hold the notion that a community is a living part of its natural surroundings, not something to be built at nature’s expense.”

Serenbe is a 1,000-acre community, 35 miles south of Atlanta, with a land plan calling for preservation of at least 70 percent of its acreage. The community has devoted 30 acres to its certified organic and biodynamic, Serenbe Farm.

A local market sells produce from the farm, allowing residents to feel comfortable and connected with the foods they eat – homeowners using edibles may also experience such rewards.

Another exemplary garden atmosphere can be found at Seed Savers Exchange, outside of Decorah, Iowa. Seed Savers is home to Heritage Farm, which includes their Preservation Gardens. The Preservation Gardens are planted on certified organic land with thousands of heirloom garden varieties.

Also at Heritage Farm is a display garden called “Diane’s Garden,” designed over the years to inspire people to incorporate edibles into their flower gardens and landscape.

Diane Ott Whealy, co-founder of Seed Savers Exchange, tends the garden. She says that combining flowers, herbs and vegetables, if done properly, can be as aesthetically pleasing as an annual flower bed.

“It’s smart, it’s functional, it’s beautiful,” says Ott Whealy. “When putting energy into growing something, it might as well be something that’s edible as well as beautiful.”

She believes homeowners can add appeal to their property by using well-designed, edible landscaping.

“Definitely, in this market, if homeowners are trying to set their property apart from the ordinary, this is a way to do it. People appreciate the beauty of it,” said Ott Whealy. “It adds diversity to the landscape.”