My parents have always had a big vegetable garden, and they could use it to predict the economy with one vegetable: zucchini. They always ended up with way too many. So my dad would take them to work, and leave them in the break room for anyone who wanted them. When the economy was good, they were untouched. When the economy was bad, a few would be gone. During recessions, etc. they would all be gone. They were all gone again, last summer.
In the early 1980's my Grandfather owned the lot across the street of his home and he turned into a large garden and orchard with beehives throughout. Today there are 3 large homes where his hobby garden/orchard once was. His strawberry patch alone was as large as most city backyards. When he passed I inherited his heavily worn copy of the book titled "How to Grow Fruits and Vegetables by the Organic Method. He bought that book in the 1970's.
My 2025 trend will be to grow more veg to help feed my family, 2024 i was at around 70%, this was helped by taking some of your advise via your videos.
I've been using my front yard for vegetable growing for a few years now here in the US. The vegetables is grown in ground and mixed in with perennial plants and shrubs. The perennials are mostly toward the front, the street side, and vegetables are closer to the house. Gives me the best of both worlds as I convert my front yard from lawn to garden.
I started growing food at home because home grown food TASTES better. I never ate strawberries before; now I eat the ones I grow. Store bought fruit and carrots are always bitter. However, I joke all the time about my $500. Tomatoes! It costs SOOOO much for me to grow anything, because of where I live. Also it's almost a full time job, so I consider gardening my exercise. It really keeps my activity level high and the weight off.
💯 I have had those $500 tomatoes in the past as well and tomatoes from my back yard is so much better than the store I don’t even eat them out of season except for the ones I’ve dehydrated myself for salads. Last year I went more Back to Eden and Hubby and the neighbors said I had the sweetest tomatoes ever. Like you I never eat store strawberries, but the ones I got from the little plant I bought in impulse last year were so nice-as long as I got to them before the chipmunks and squirrels. 😊 I started way too late in my 70s and I’m the only one interested in doing it so it isn’t easy, but it’s the only thing that gets me out of the house in the summer so it’s healthy in more ways than one.
I am in Surrey, BC. I converted my front yard to garden four or five years ago. It’s a mix of raised beds and perennial fruits with flowers all around them. I have had only positive responses. There are older neighbours that walk daily to see what is growing. I’ve even had people use my yard as a photo backdrop! I’m also lucky enough to do two-three crops a year (zone 8b will do that!). Just picked cabbage, carrots, bok choy and mizuna yesterday.
I think the movement to grow your own veg is fueled as much by the desire to eat chemical free, as it is an economic choice. At least in the US, more consumers are becoming aware of the chemicals used to grow by big ag, and also fossil fuels consumed by shipping long distances.
When you said “especially when your the only one in the household growing food”, hit massively home lol. In the UK is not unknown to use the front yard to grow a garden, no one bats an eyelid. You can have lawn, flower garden, herbs, veggies, a seating area for coffee/tea, a bramble patch, yeah it’s whatever. Sadly, these are more and more utilised for parking though, but mainly as our towns and cities are not built for the vast amounts of cars each household has, especially when each household has more adults at home when kids cant afford to move out or people are house sharing to save on rental costs.
I walk around my neighborhood nearly every day and I noticed a huge uptick in front yard good gardens last summer. I always have a few tomatoe plants out front because that’s where I get the most sun.
You predicted a garden trend… front yard gardens. Presently, I do all of my gardening in the backyard, mine, my neighbour’s and a few friends. But you got me thinking, maybe I will put a raised bed in my front yard next year and see if the neighbours take notice. 👨🌾 👍
Suggestion: Plant large pots of sweet potatoes up and down the sides of the driveway to start so as not to shock any neighbours, lol. They remain green, beautiful, & trailing right up until harvest. So many compliments by passersby as the pots looked like ornamentals. When asked what they were, the reply pleasantly surprised everyone! I also had patio tomatoes in a bit pot, & planted flowers all around it! Gorgeous! Get neighbors used to this idea slowly, and they won't even notice 😉 Choose plants that look pretty and lush the entire season & surround with a LOT of flowers. Add more vegs every year. Voilà. Edible front yard landscaping! ❤
@@GardeningInCanada it’s not something you see a lot of. Considered to be a bit of a rebel thing you know. But if done properly/aesthetically can help “stimulate” a conversation because neighbours just don’t know that the locals are growing their own food and they can too! I’m all too willing to help them get started, so thanks for the reminder! 😀
You left out Trend number 6, selling your excess food. A smaller version of a Market Garden, either a farm gate sales situation or reko, where many people get together on one website and sell their produce or crafts or meat at one time in one place by appointment.
We have an online market in my town. Lots of local vendors with everything from bee products, veg, meat, crochet etc. It’s awesome, I get what I need from there before I go to the grocery store!
1. Adaptation gardening is a game changer upside-down world. Landrace 2. Hay gardening with chickens and sheep for no water no weed no fert . Im gardening all winter laying hay with sheep
When I lived in Vancouver CA, I loved going for walks in predominantly Chinese neighbourhoods to look at their front yard gardens. They're just so much prettier to me than any lawn could ever be.
Thank you for mentioning getting overwhelmed. 😅. I did it to myself last spring, complicated by deciding to retire. I am planning on fixing the pots I am allowed to plant soon, then plan what I can grow. I am looking forward to this turn in my life. ❤
I wish I could put in a front yard veggie garden. Unfortunately, we live in an HOA and they have strict rules on what we can do with our front yard. the most I am able to do is put in a pollinator flower bed. But, at least it leads the b ees to my backyard for my veggie beds.
I run a food forest nursery in central florida, and business is pretty darn good, even in December (2024) so I think you're correct on that one (but it is super-reassuring to hear it)
I’ve been obsessed with the idea of food forests for years now. I think, why plant a non fruiting tree when you could plant a fruiting tree? I just started planning a food forest myself last year. So far I only have a handful of trees planted but I plan on getting more this year.
I want to create food forest in my yard. The land I’m on has a small forested area that is mostly wild/native edible plants. I want to switch the less productive ones for cultivated versions that will be more substantial food sources. (Wild blackberries & raspberries that are only big enough for birds, wild cherry trees that have small bitter fruits, wild blueberries, etc.) Because where I live is pretty well forested, it wouldn’t be eliminating the natural ecosystem, there would still be plenty of wild & native plants for the local wildlife, but rather clearing out a small section & “upgrading” it to be slightly more purposeful to my family.
Been perennial gardening for over 30 years and worked in garden centers for many years and I can definitively say perennial gardens are NOT low maintenance if you don't want them to quickly transform to unsightly messes of spent and dying vegetation. Weeding even with consistent mulching, plant division, deadheading and spring and fall clean up are either equal or more extensive than with annuals
Front yard garden is on my agenda. I need to get the grass smothered ASAP if I’m going to do it. No veggies. I put a raised bed with peppers and deer ate them. Sunflowers eaten. Patty Pan squash eaten before it even flowered. My side yard garden has a high fence. So, will do wildflowers. I’m copying one I saw in the Seattle Times, who also mentioned a Canadian wildflower company “Wildflower Farms”. From the Seattle Times, “Eric-Lee Mader’s Port Townsend front yard is a shifting tapestry of flowers including self heal (Prunella vulgaris), creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum), white clover (Trifolium repens), meadowfoam (Limnanthes alba) and baby blue eyes (Nemophila menziesii).” Hopefully mine will be too. Meadowfoam (Poached Egg Plant) was the one I knew I definitely wanted as it’s native in Oregon. I even have local honey made by bees near commercial Meadowfoam for the makeup industry.
The front yard conversion is also because lawns are (slowly) losing their golden image. My city has pushed for no watering summer grass for more than a decade - if you have a green lawn people get mad at your water waste. When brown grass is cool grass, a garden seems not so bad.
That absolutely meshes with what I see, both in my local garden groups and online. When I was a kid, I thought front yard vegies were weird. Now in my 50s, I love it. As you said - with yards shrinking, grow your own beans or squash or whatever! (But add some flowers for the pollinators please!)
I added some native, perennial early Spring flowers in between my raspberries. These flowers start blooming before the raspberries get their leaves and flowers and invite the bumble bees, which pollinate my early blooming blueberries and then hang around to pollinate the raspberries as well, and then continue to pollinate my cucumbers and zucchinis. In between the blueberries, I planted grape Hyacinths, which act as companion plants. They grow well in the acidic soil that the blueberries need and they invite the bumblebees. It's such a pretty sight when everything is blooming. And when there is nothing more to pollinate in the back yard, they move to my front perennial flower garden. For the flying insects, my back and my front garden is like an oasis. Everybody else just grows grass and trees like maples or black walnut, which is a food supply for oodles and oodles of squirrels. I call them glorified rats with bushy tails. I hate how they dig in my lawn, in the blueberries and even in my pots. Every Spring I pull out at least a dozen of black walnut seedlings from the nuts that the squirrels hid in my gardens and lawn. If I didn't pull them out while they are small, soon my yard would turn into a black walnut forest. I encourage my neighbours to do the same.
If I might suggest, how do you feel about delving into breeding? I'd be interested to know how viable it is to do some backyard mad science and end up with a more cold-tolerant tomato or a sweeter radish after x-number of generations.
I would not call it mad science lol, I am growing tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots etc, and I collect the seeds (or let them go to seeds), and I find the germination rate and cold tolerance is much better :)
Today is the 23rd , I got ahead of cabbage, and I took off the outer leaves. And my cat started eating the small piece I pulled off. Talk about a 2 for 1. And yes I bring them in Grass whatever is growing at the time. Amazing. Is the the chlorophyll or something in the leaves that they like? I do know that you are not an animal doctor. Is the simple question from you know WNC.
My dog loves cooked broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatos, and both winter and summer squash but not peas, corn or string beans. I think our pets need the real vitamins and roughage that comes from veggies, but texture and ease of eating may be limiting factors.
My focus for 2025 will be lots of flowers and more veggies that not only grow well for me but store well. This past garden season I grew way more flowers and herbs which attracted a lot of pollinators. I noticed better fruiting of tomatoes and cukes in the greenhouse planted with calendula, heliotrope and lots of basil. I ended up with an overwhelming amount of tomatoes and I just made my last batch of salsa this week. I will definitely trade some tomato space for more winter squash in 2025. I also noticed that some tomatoes store better than others. KBX, Green Zebra and Romas keep very well! For 2025 a friend and I combined seed potato orders coming from Bowden AB, and I have a seed order with more flowers, herbs, onions and shallots on the way. I’m still cooking with red onions and shallots that I keep in the basement. It’ll be nice to have more onions, shallots and potatoes next year since we cook with them pretty regularly.
I'd love to see more about food-landscape crossover. Maybe with these trends it will show up. My front yard is "landscaped" with herbs and strawberries but due to city and HOA limits I cant put out full garden beds and eliminate the grass. I have to be sneaky. In spaces where the powers-that-be have no say, I still want it to be pretty. Food forest gets close but is usually production focused not aesthetic. And, as you said, is based on perennials that I dont have so much room for.
@@CWorgen5732 I've done garlic and things against my front walk but its pretty hidden from the road. I did get letters about the mint that got bushy Its not even the neighbors. They give me all their fall leaves and bring kids\grands by to pick strawberries in summer. The HOA management company sends cars around to look for violations. 🤬
I have been gardening since I lived in Central America and got used to taking care of plants in a very challenging place (bugs, lots of bugs, including leaf cutter ants that eat the garden in a night) and it's easier really wet or pretty dry. Then I lived in NC for 5 unfortunate years but I gardened and grew a lot of squash and peppers. I had aquaponics systems in both places. Now I rent a room in VA by the Chesapeake Bay. It's a very different place to garden. Last summer I grew some squash and peppers and basil. This next year I intend to grow more veggies here, unless I can move. If I can figure out how to support myself in Central America I'm gone to stay.
I would love to be able to rip up my front yard and convert it mainly into a garden, but I'm in my late 60s with health issues. Would it make my house more sellable in, say, five years? Yes, I could see some of these trends being explored more with people being fed up with high grocery prices. Even more use of community garden areas could benefit from Forest Planting.
Many countries, if not most, already grow vegetables and fruit in the front of their house. Most don't have a front lawn. Canada is just starting to catch up 😀 You can't eat your front lawn so.... 🤔😉
Me too. I am in my mid 60’s. … We have built some nice planter boxes that are 3 and 4 feet tall. … Don’t have to Bend over to plant or harvest things. … The food forest is great and if planting dwarf verities of trees makes it easier for us older people to reach the fruit easily. Need a five and ten year plan but don’t look at the time it takes, just start now and then the counting can start. Before you know it, you will be eating the fruits of your labour.
If your going to sell your home to a family consider grass to run and play on, perhaps a garden bed to run around. A backyard that is easy to secure like with locking gates is good.
@@robertavillella6485 Turf does have uses, it makes more oxygen than random plants and that is something you can breath. It slows erosion, filters ground water and remains at a cooler temperature than bare soil.
Ha. I grafted a empire apple onto my crab apple tree 2 years ago. I am hoping it fruits this year. I guess I am a head of the curve. Thanks for the video
This video is right on. …. We are doing a Food Forest for exactly what you pointed out. On the outside layer is where the annuals go. …. The low maintenance for us is just adding irrigation. … Number three for us is for our one Apple where will be grafting two or three more verities on it. … Double cropping is what we are planning base on our zucchini yield from last year. … You really did nail this right on. … Would love to convert the front yard but my Pammy said “no” to that. Loved this video. You got it all right.
They sure are. … James has a good one but when I went to PEI, I actually got to walk through a food forest. It was just amazing. They had lots of irrigation (drip).
If you plan it out with the right plants spacings etc. You get a ton of food. … You start with the fruit tree (8 feet apart of each other) depending on the canapé diameter. Then the part shade perennials, then your low grow perennial then your annuals. … Very productive but planning is a must for what types of plants, water needs of each plant, light needs and nutrient needs. … At least in my area food forests work very well.
Well yes, anything with trees requires a decent amount of space. It all depends on what’s important for you. For me, fresh fruit is most important so it’s worth it. If your goal is calorie density you’d probably do better with just a field of potatoes.
starting haskups and fig and dwarf orange and Morongo in containers for a couple of years ..Sask Canada.. xing finger oh and a hydroponics stand 35 spots For lettuces Bok choi.$.70 on vevor .Glad I found your channel...
Fiddle futz!! What a great description. Moved from BC to NS in summer ‘24, now have property to grow. Heading towards a food forest idea, have been watching and learning for a few years. Still overwhelming but very exciting. Thanks for helping with your knowledge.
In Britain I've noticed a few allotment youtubers mentioning calendulas. I'm probably reading too much into a small amount of data, but maybe it is a response to the dismal Summer that we had in 2024 to grow calendulas instead of French marigolds.
As a child, My grandfather grafted 3 different kinds of apples on a tree. It wasn’t till I was much older that I realized that not all apple trees grew this way. 😂
My front yard is very shady because it is small and the orientation, nothing grow on it, even grass is not interested 😂😂😂 i will try clover next year. Back yard is where i grow everything.
Hi I have just found your channel. I am wondering if there is something I can do to get rid of scab in my garden. The past two years my potatoes have been covered in scab . It's very disappointing as I like to eat the skin.
I recently saw a video where they stated nicotine is not that bad or addictive it's all the chemicals that go in producing crops an de manufacturing of the cigarettes(making it cancerous ). I'm a little worried about the producing-crops-part. I guess farmers use the same stuff to produce veggies, not?
Scary. This definitely tastes like last cycle when the Bitcoin bulls kept promising greatere heights only to then ride ito the bottom. If not for that I'd be super optimistic right now. But the early end to the bull market last time has scarred my soul.
As several other commentators said, there is really nothing new in this video. Someone said it could have been made in 2015. I would say 1975 because that’s when I became aware of these “trends.” And I know from talking older people that most of this is from the 50’s, because that’s when they became aware. Most likely from way before them. And now, more people are aware, again. What I would appreciate is this time, all gardeners actually take this to the next level? Please? Make it not just socially accepted, but normal, as well. Thanks, from a longtime, very concerned, gardener.
I will be soooo trendy this year yeeee In 2021 we rented a sod cutter and got rid of all the front yart grass. We have 8 plum trees and many perennials there and berry bushes. Still flowering, looks pretty for others. In my opinion nobody wants to see rows of potatoes just like that, i don't want to push my neighbours buttons. The backyard has 20ish fruit trees, grapes, berries and little raised bed here and there, some flowers here and there. It is a forest for sure, kinda food forest. Next to the driveway i have a wider concrete strip, not used for cars, full sun, so i had tomatoes in containers in 2024, and a little pumkin tunnel in 2023 (my kid fit under it) This last fall i got rid of the boulevard grass, planted 300 daffodils, last year i had zinnias and pumpkins, cheap plants to test my neighbours 😂😂 Luckily we have great neighbours, we collect their rainwater too. The whole neighbourhood loves what we did, i'm superhappy this is trend and i will be not the weirdo 😂😂 For next year we will not do annual petunias, or just a few, all the containers will be edible If you guys want to see pictures, in on Instagram you can find me @fruitsandflowersbeaumont Zone3, south of Edmonton
My parents have always had a big vegetable garden, and they could use it to predict the economy with one vegetable: zucchini.
They always ended up with way too many. So my dad would take them to work, and leave them in the break room for anyone who wanted them.
When the economy was good, they were untouched.
When the economy was bad, a few would be gone.
During recessions, etc. they would all be gone.
They were all gone again, last summer.
Wow! That’s actually so smart.
Smart man !
i brought a huge bin of peppers to work. they were 100% taken before the end of the shift.
In the early 1980's my Grandfather owned the lot across the street of his home and he turned into a large garden and orchard with beehives throughout. Today there are 3 large homes where his hobby garden/orchard once was. His strawberry patch alone was as large as most city backyards. When he passed I inherited his heavily worn copy of the book titled "How to Grow Fruits and Vegetables by the Organic Method. He bought that book in the 1970's.
That is so cool!
My 2025 trend will be to grow more veg to help feed my family, 2024 i was at around 70%, this was helped by taking some of your advise via your videos.
Thats interesting! How big is your garden? 🤔
I've been using my front yard for vegetable growing for a few years now here in the US. The vegetables is grown in ground and mixed in with perennial plants and shrubs. The perennials are mostly toward the front, the street side, and vegetables are closer to the house. Gives me the best of both worlds as I convert my front yard from lawn to garden.
That's a great idea.
I started growing food at home because home grown food TASTES better. I never ate strawberries before; now I eat the ones I grow. Store bought fruit and carrots are always bitter. However, I joke all the time about my $500. Tomatoes! It costs SOOOO much for me to grow anything, because of where I live. Also it's almost a full time job, so I consider gardening my exercise. It really keeps my activity level high and the weight off.
💯 I have had those $500 tomatoes in the past as well and tomatoes from my back yard is so much better than the store I don’t even eat them out of season except for the ones I’ve dehydrated myself for salads. Last year I went more Back to Eden and Hubby and the neighbors said I had the sweetest tomatoes ever. Like you I never eat store strawberries, but the ones I got from the little plant I bought in impulse last year were so nice-as long as I got to them before the chipmunks and squirrels. 😊 I started way too late in my 70s and I’m the only one interested in doing it so it isn’t easy, but it’s the only thing that gets me out of the house in the summer so it’s healthy in more ways than one.
I am in Surrey, BC. I converted my front yard to garden four or five years ago. It’s a mix of raised beds and perennial fruits with flowers all around them. I have had only positive responses. There are older neighbours that walk daily to see what is growing. I’ve even had people use my yard as a photo backdrop!
I’m also lucky enough to do two-three crops a year (zone 8b will do that!). Just picked cabbage, carrots, bok choy and mizuna yesterday.
I think the movement to grow your own veg is fueled as much by the desire to eat chemical free, as it is an economic choice. At least in the US, more consumers are becoming aware of the chemicals used to grow by big ag, and also fossil fuels consumed by shipping long distances.
Absolutely! And I love that people are becoming more conscious of where their food comes from.
When you said “especially when your the only one in the household growing food”, hit massively home lol. In the UK is not unknown to use the front yard to grow a garden, no one bats an eyelid. You can have lawn, flower garden, herbs, veggies, a seating area for coffee/tea, a bramble patch, yeah it’s whatever. Sadly, these are more and more utilised for parking though, but mainly as our towns and cities are not built for the vast amounts of cars each household has, especially when each household has more adults at home when kids cant afford to move out or people are house sharing to save on rental costs.
Oh wow!
I walk around my neighborhood nearly every day and I noticed a huge uptick in front yard good gardens last summer. I always have a few tomatoe plants out front because that’s where I get the most sun.
I've noticed that too!
You predicted a garden trend… front yard gardens. Presently, I do all of my gardening in the backyard, mine, my neighbour’s and a few friends. But you got me thinking, maybe I will put a raised bed in my front yard next year and see if the neighbours take notice. 👨🌾 👍
Suggestion: Plant large pots of sweet potatoes up and down the sides of the driveway to start so as not to shock any neighbours, lol. They remain green, beautiful, & trailing right up until harvest. So many compliments by passersby as the pots looked like ornamentals. When asked what they were, the reply pleasantly surprised everyone! I also had patio tomatoes in a bit pot, & planted flowers all around it! Gorgeous! Get neighbors used to this idea slowly, and they won't even notice 😉 Choose plants that look pretty and lush the entire season & surround with a LOT of flowers. Add more vegs every year. Voilà. Edible front yard landscaping! ❤
@ I’m a big fan of container growing!! Had so many peppers I could hardly preserve them all!! 😀
I love the idea of the front yard garden!
@@GardeningInCanada it’s not something you see a lot of. Considered to be a bit of a rebel thing you know. But if done properly/aesthetically can help “stimulate” a conversation because neighbours just don’t know that the locals are growing their own food and they can too! I’m all too willing to help them get started, so thanks for the reminder! 😀
@@robertavillella6485 I like your idea with the sweet potatoes.
You left out Trend number 6, selling your excess food. A smaller version of a Market Garden, either a farm gate sales situation or reko, where many people get together on one website and sell their produce or crafts or meat at one time in one place by appointment.
That’s actually a really good point
We have an online market in my town. Lots of local vendors with everything from bee products, veg, meat, crochet etc. It’s awesome, I get what I need from there before I go to the grocery store!
1. Adaptation gardening is a game changer upside-down world. Landrace
2. Hay gardening with chickens and sheep for no water no weed no fert . Im gardening all winter laying hay with sheep
When I lived in Vancouver CA, I loved going for walks in predominantly Chinese neighbourhoods to look at their front yard gardens. They're just so much prettier to me than any lawn could ever be.
Thank you for mentioning getting overwhelmed. 😅. I did it to myself last spring, complicated by deciding to retire. I am planning on fixing the pots I am allowed to plant soon, then plan what I can grow. I am looking forward to this turn in my life. ❤
I’m happy to hear you are looking forward to this new chapter. 😊
I wish I could put in a front yard veggie garden. Unfortunately, we live in an HOA and they have strict rules on what we can do with our front yard. the most I am able to do is put in a pollinator flower bed. But, at least it leads the b ees to my backyard for my veggie beds.
I run a food forest nursery in central florida, and business is pretty darn good, even in December (2024) so I think you're correct on that one (but it is super-reassuring to hear it)
Spot on for me! Starting a front yard fruit food forest come spring. Been reading a lot of permaculture. Overwhelmed but determined
I’ve been obsessed with the idea of food forests for years now. I think, why plant a non fruiting tree when you could plant a fruiting tree? I just started planning a food forest myself last year. So far I only have a handful of trees planted but I plan on getting more this year.
Because oaks are amazing centers of biodiversity that can boost your garden's productivity.
I want to create food forest in my yard. The land I’m on has a small forested area that is mostly wild/native edible plants. I want to switch the less productive ones for cultivated versions that will be more substantial food sources. (Wild blackberries & raspberries that are only big enough for birds, wild cherry trees that have small bitter fruits, wild blueberries, etc.) Because where I live is pretty well forested, it wouldn’t be eliminating the natural ecosystem, there would still be plenty of wild & native plants for the local wildlife, but rather clearing out a small section & “upgrading” it to be slightly more purposeful to my family.
Been perennial gardening for over 30 years and worked in garden centers for many years and I can definitively say perennial gardens are NOT low maintenance if you don't want them to quickly transform to unsightly messes of spent and dying vegetation. Weeding even with consistent mulching, plant division, deadheading and spring and fall clean up are either equal or more extensive than with annuals
Front yard garden is on my agenda. I need to get the grass smothered ASAP if I’m going to do it. No veggies. I put a raised bed with peppers and deer ate them. Sunflowers eaten. Patty Pan squash eaten before it even flowered. My side yard garden has a high fence.
So, will do wildflowers. I’m copying one I saw in the Seattle Times, who also mentioned a Canadian wildflower company “Wildflower Farms”. From the Seattle Times, “Eric-Lee Mader’s Port Townsend front yard is a shifting tapestry of flowers including self heal (Prunella vulgaris), creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum), white clover (Trifolium repens), meadowfoam (Limnanthes alba) and baby blue eyes (Nemophila menziesii).” Hopefully mine will be too. Meadowfoam (Poached Egg Plant) was the one I knew I definitely wanted as it’s native in Oregon. I even have local honey made by bees near commercial Meadowfoam for the makeup industry.
The front yard conversion is also because lawns are (slowly) losing their golden image. My city has pushed for no watering summer grass for more than a decade - if you have a green lawn people get mad at your water waste. When brown grass is cool grass, a garden seems not so bad.
That’s so interesting!
Veggie garden beds and food forests are the way to go given current times!
Yes, current times and all times. You can never be too food secure! 😊
That's definitely the appropriate application
I started a food forest in my front yard this past summer. Looks like I'm on track!
That absolutely meshes with what I see, both in my local garden groups and online.
When I was a kid, I thought front yard vegies were weird. Now in my 50s, I love it.
As you said - with yards shrinking, grow your own beans or squash or whatever!
(But add some flowers for the pollinators please!)
I added some native, perennial early Spring flowers in between my raspberries. These flowers start blooming before the raspberries get their leaves and flowers and invite the bumble bees, which pollinate my early blooming blueberries and then hang around to pollinate the raspberries as well, and then continue to pollinate my cucumbers and zucchinis. In between the blueberries, I planted grape Hyacinths, which act as companion plants. They grow well in the acidic soil that the blueberries need and they invite the bumblebees. It's such a pretty sight when everything is blooming. And when there is nothing more to pollinate in the back yard, they move to my front perennial flower garden. For the flying insects, my back and my front garden is like an oasis. Everybody else just grows grass and trees like maples or black walnut, which is a food supply for oodles and oodles of squirrels. I call them glorified rats with bushy tails. I hate how they dig in my lawn, in the blueberries and even in my pots. Every Spring I pull out at least a dozen of black walnut seedlings from the nuts that the squirrels hid in my gardens and lawn. If I didn't pull them out while they are small, soon my yard would turn into a black walnut forest. I encourage my neighbours to do the same.
If I might suggest, how do you feel about delving into breeding? I'd be interested to know how viable it is to do some backyard mad science and end up with a more cold-tolerant tomato or a sweeter radish after x-number of generations.
I would not call it mad science lol, I am growing tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots etc, and I collect the seeds (or let them go to seeds), and I find the germination rate and cold tolerance is much better :)
Search “Landrace gardening” and you will find kindred spirits!
Yea! I definitely can
Yes to grafting!
Pruning for smaller spaces as a follow up. Which works for senior gardeners who cant climb.
Never thought of that!
Today is the 23rd , I got ahead of cabbage, and I took off the outer leaves. And my cat started eating the small piece I pulled off. Talk about a 2 for 1. And yes I bring them in Grass whatever is growing at the time. Amazing. Is the the chlorophyll or something in the leaves that they like?
I do know that you are not an animal doctor. Is the simple question from you know WNC.
My dog loves cooked broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatos, and both winter and summer squash but not peas, corn or string beans. I think our pets need the real vitamins and roughage that comes from veggies, but texture and ease of eating may be limiting factors.
My focus for 2025 will be lots of flowers and more veggies that not only grow well for me but store well. This past garden season I grew way more flowers and herbs which attracted a lot of pollinators. I noticed better fruiting of tomatoes and cukes in the greenhouse planted with calendula, heliotrope and lots of basil. I ended up with an overwhelming amount of tomatoes and I just made my last batch of salsa this week. I will definitely trade some tomato space for more winter squash in 2025. I also noticed that some tomatoes store better than others. KBX, Green Zebra and Romas keep very well! For 2025 a friend and I combined seed potato orders coming from Bowden AB, and I have a seed order with more flowers, herbs, onions and shallots on the way. I’m still cooking with red onions and shallots that I keep in the basement. It’ll be nice to have more onions, shallots and potatoes next year since we cook with them pretty regularly.
I'd love to see more about food-landscape crossover. Maybe with these trends it will show up. My front yard is "landscaped" with herbs and strawberries but due to city and HOA limits I cant put out full garden beds and eliminate the grass. I have to be sneaky.
In spaces where the powers-that-be have no say, I still want it to be pretty. Food forest gets close but is usually production focused not aesthetic. And, as you said, is based on perennials that I dont have so much room for.
Search “Edible landscaping” for lots of ideas to thwart HOA rules!
That is definitely the appropriate application!
There are some gorgeous lacy kales out there. I wonder if they would allow leeks, sweet potatoes, asparagus, or espaliered trees?
@@CWorgen5732 I've done garlic and things against my front walk but its pretty hidden from the road. I did get letters about the mint that got bushy
Its not even the neighbors. They give me all their fall leaves and bring kids\grands by to pick strawberries in summer. The HOA management company sends cars around to look for violations. 🤬
I have been gardening since I lived in Central America and got used to taking care of plants in a very challenging place (bugs, lots of bugs, including leaf cutter ants that eat the garden in a night) and it's easier really wet or pretty dry. Then I lived in NC for 5 unfortunate years but I gardened and grew a lot of squash and peppers. I had aquaponics systems in both places.
Now I rent a room in VA by the Chesapeake Bay. It's a very different place to garden. Last summer I grew some squash and peppers and basil. This next year I intend to grow more veggies here, unless I can move. If I can figure out how to support myself in Central America I'm gone to stay.
That's awesome that you're so passionate about growing your own food! And do not give up regardless of location ❤️
@GardeningInCanada I grow other plants indoors that smell like skunks 😜
I would love to be able to rip up my front yard and convert it mainly into a garden, but I'm in my late 60s with health issues. Would it make my house more sellable in, say, five years? Yes, I could see some of these trends being explored more with people being fed up with high grocery prices. Even more use of community garden areas could benefit from Forest Planting.
Many countries, if not most, already grow vegetables and fruit in the front of their house. Most don't have a front lawn. Canada is just starting to catch up 😀 You can't eat your front lawn so.... 🤔😉
Me too. I am in my mid 60’s. … We have built some nice planter boxes that are 3 and 4 feet tall. … Don’t have to Bend over to plant or harvest things. … The food forest is great and if planting dwarf verities of trees makes it easier for us older people to reach the fruit easily. Need a five and ten year plan but don’t look at the time it takes, just start now and then the counting can start. Before you know it, you will be eating the fruits of your labour.
If your going to sell your home to a family consider grass to run and play on, perhaps a garden bed to run around.
A backyard that is easy to secure like with locking gates is good.
@@robertavillella6485 Turf does have uses, it makes more oxygen than random plants and that is something you can breath.
It slows erosion, filters ground water and remains at a cooler temperature than bare soil.
It’s so hard to say. If it is upkept I am sure it would be fine. But like Roberta said some countries are more into it than others
I have been slowly converting my back yard to a food forest and I love having the perennials. I would like to start on the front yard by we have deer!
onions and garlic
Have you tried bobbex ? Lol
Ha. I grafted a empire apple onto my crab apple tree 2 years ago. I am hoping it fruits this year. I guess I am a head of the curve. Thanks for the video
GAME CHANGING love the click bait it gets me every time. Merry Christmas!
Potatoes on the bottom tomatoes on the top grafting ❤❤❤❤❤❤grafting Clippers
This video is right on. …. We are doing a Food Forest for exactly what you pointed out. On the outside layer is where the annuals go. …. The low maintenance for us is just adding irrigation. … Number three for us is for our one Apple where will be grafting two or three more verities on it. … Double cropping is what we are planning base on our zucchini yield from last year. … You really did nail this right on. … Would love to convert the front yard but my Pammy said “no” to that. Loved this video. You got it all right.
That's amazing! Food forests are so cool.
They sure are. … James has a good one but when I went to PEI, I actually got to walk through a food forest. It was just amazing. They had lots of irrigation (drip).
I'm not all that taken with food forests. Some of the videos I've seen seem to produce a minimal amount of food from a maximal amount of space.
If you plan it out with the right plants spacings etc. You get a ton of food. … You start with the fruit tree (8 feet apart of each other) depending on the canapé diameter. Then the part shade perennials, then your low grow perennial then your annuals. … Very productive but planning is a must for what types of plants, water needs of each plant, light needs and nutrient needs. … At least in my area food forests work very well.
Well yes, anything with trees requires a decent amount of space. It all depends on what’s important for you. For me, fresh fruit is most important so it’s worth it. If your goal is calorie density you’d probably do better with just a field of potatoes.
Fruit trees do take time to start producing yields. Years. Patience will reward you “maximally.”
High/Low double cropping❤. Front yard food❤. 2025🎉🎉🎉
2025 goals?
@@GardeningInCanada yep! thanks for promoting rebellion against front yard lawns. 😁
starting haskups and fig and dwarf orange and Morongo in containers for a couple of years ..Sask Canada.. xing finger oh and a hydroponics stand 35 spots For lettuces Bok choi.$.70 on vevor .Glad I found your channel...
Fiddle futz!! What a great description. Moved from BC to NS in summer ‘24, now have property to grow. Heading towards a food forest idea, have been watching and learning for a few years. Still overwhelming but very exciting. Thanks for helping with your knowledge.
Merry Christmas,
In Britain I've noticed a few allotment youtubers mentioning calendulas. I'm probably reading too much into a small amount of data, but maybe it is a response to the dismal Summer that we had in 2024 to grow calendulas instead of French marigolds.
Well, I was shopping for a zone 5 pear tree like 3 weeks ago so... yeah, you're probably right
useful information
So very very nice information about trends ❤
Thank you! I hope they inspire you.
I wanna graft pretty funky things!
🧫👩🔬
@ can’t wait to see what you have in store. I learn so much from you it’s overwhelmingly good.
I'm thinking of adding a dwarf apple or pear tree (zone 5b), but my space is small. I'd love some suggestions.
Have you explored aquaponics at all...would be fun if you had space
I have done indoors years ago!
As a child, My grandfather grafted 3 different kinds of apples on a tree. It wasn’t till I was much older that I realized that not all apple trees grew this way. 😂
My prediction would be growing indoors (balconies and patios). People that don't have land but want start growing their own food.
Am getting a third greenhouse and will make my business legal and official.
I am so jealous
What kind of greenhouses do you have ?
What do you think about reptile bark for pods in arizona
My front yard is very shady because it is small and the orientation, nothing grow on it, even grass is not interested 😂😂😂 i will try clover next year. Back yard is where i grow everything.
Hi I have just found your channel. I am wondering if there is something I can do to get rid of scab in my garden. The past two years my potatoes have been covered in scab . It's very disappointing as I like to eat the skin.
Do you have a video on the black spot on roses.... please
I recently saw a video where they stated nicotine is not that bad or addictive it's all the chemicals that go in producing crops an de manufacturing of the cigarettes(making it cancerous ). I'm a little worried about the producing-crops-part. I guess farmers use the same stuff to produce veggies, not?
How about starting seeds every 10 days
You have to have decent neighbors for a front yard garden to work in my area. I dont have decent neighbors lol.
I know, not everyone is lucky enough to have good neighbors 😭
Anyone with experience growing fig trees in Canada, zone 5 Ontario? Which variety is cold hardy?
Chicago fig maybe
Thank you.
Happy winter solstice.
Happy Solstice to you too!
Have you been hitting the gym something happened cuz you got it going on❤
How did growing luffas work out for you? Were you able to grow them?😊
❤
Scary. This definitely tastes like last cycle when the Bitcoin bulls kept promising greatere heights only to then ride ito the bottom. If not for that I'd be super optimistic right now. But the early end to the bull market last time has scarred my soul.
💚💚
❤️❤️❤️
As several other commentators said, there is really nothing new in this video. Someone said it could have been made in 2015. I would say 1975 because that’s when I became aware of these “trends.” And I know from talking older people that most of this is from the 50’s, because that’s when they became aware. Most likely from way before them. And now, more people are aware, again. What I would appreciate is this time, all gardeners actually take this to the next level? Please? Make it not just socially accepted, but normal, as well. Thanks, from a longtime, very concerned, gardener.
It’s kind of like fashion trends, things fade in and out over time. Example 16th century all “lawns” were clover.
I will be soooo trendy this year yeeee
In 2021 we rented a sod cutter and got rid of all the front yart grass. We have 8 plum trees and many perennials there and berry bushes. Still flowering, looks pretty for others.
In my opinion nobody wants to see rows of potatoes just like that, i don't want to push my neighbours buttons.
The backyard has 20ish fruit trees, grapes, berries and little raised bed here and there, some flowers here and there. It is a forest for sure, kinda food forest.
Next to the driveway i have a wider concrete strip, not used for cars, full sun, so i had tomatoes in containers in 2024, and a little pumkin tunnel in 2023 (my kid fit under it)
This last fall i got rid of the boulevard grass, planted 300 daffodils, last year i had zinnias and pumpkins, cheap plants to test my neighbours 😂😂
Luckily we have great neighbours, we collect their rainwater too. The whole neighbourhood loves what we did, i'm superhappy this is trend and i will be not the weirdo 😂😂
For next year we will not do annual petunias, or just a few, all the containers will be edible
If you guys want to see pictures, in on Instagram you can find me @fruitsandflowersbeaumont
Zone3, south of Edmonton