Who has their veggies in the front yard.

I am moving my vegetable garden into beds in the front yard. (Gasp! It can't be done, can it? Surely not here in the US).

I am interested, for those of you who have your vegetable garden in the front yard, how you and your neighbors like it?

Good for you! We don't (no front yard, or not much), but I surely wish more people did so I wouldn't have to crane my neck so much to see their gardens. :)

I can see the HOAs turning pale even now...

I didn't even think of the HOA's. I live in an older neighborhood so the rules and regulations aren't that strict.

The HOA here might approve a small bed, as I see several homes with raised flower beds in the middle of the front lawns. However, there is another factor that needs to be considered re edible crops, and that is heavy metal emissions (cadmium, lead, etc.) from vehicular traffic. These emission particulates tendto move at low levels and to sink into soils rather than dIsperse into the air. Several studieshave recommended that food crops not be planted within 25 feet of the curb. Having the soil tested for the presence of these elements would be a wise precaution. Yuska

Excellent suggestion!

I see several vegetable garden in fronts in seveal houses around here..
Mine is backyard. I would like to start garden in front.. we have large front yard.. Why not? LOL..

I got one on the side of the yard which is clearly visible from the street...but I love to defy the HOA since they are relatively powerless in Texas.
Debbie (who has always been a rebel....even without a cause; or maybe just because)

I had tomatoes in my front yard in Asheville for several years.It was the only area that got enough sun. At first my housemate was aghast, but after tasting the tomatoes, gave in.

We did have a hedge, and very little traffic on our dead-end street.

edited for typo

This message was edited Apr 28, 2006 1:29 PM

Now the beans are up to the top of the privacy fence...may have to rig something up to the house eaves and make a tunnel; I bet they'll love that! LOL
Debbie

I have 4 nut trees in the front yard...one black walnut, one English walnut, and two pecans.
Behind some tall hibiscus and day lillies I have a place for four melons.

I'm going grow corn in the front yard this year. I'm hoping the proximity to the road will disuade the racoons from stealing the ears before I get them.

I just put my garden in the front yard also. Wasn't thinking about emissions from cars.If i would have read that may have found another place. Will get the most sun there. Neighbor had his close to the road last year and garden did great. Oh well after all the work i have put into it, can't move it now. Will let everybody know how it does later. If it has an effect just look for pictures of me i will be the green and yellow maybe purple guy.
Good luck and God Bless,
Keith

I want to put my garden in the front yard but it is on a very busy main street and I was concerned about heavy metals.

Apparently, yard theft is big here in Salem. Those ******** may get my solar lights, but they will never get my tomatoes!

Debbie,

HOA's are pretty much powerless in Texas? I think ours (too new to do much damage yet) is pretty useless. My mom's in Texas is VERY strict, even sending out letters of violation they can't back up by the rules and regulations?! Just based on committee preference. They don't want my parents full size van in their driveway (???) saying it fits the recreational or trailer criteria section 8b of paragraph blah blah. LOL. I almost didn't buy my house because there was an HOA but silly me, believed the salesman who said gov't regulation was making all new neighborhoods HOA governed to keep up values. *Shrug. We don't have trouble with them....much. Just do what we want to as long as it doesn't bother the neighbors closest to us. We always ask. And share what we have in the garden so they don't mind. =)

I grew vege's in the front yard of my first house. It was the only place that got all day sun, but after a few people laughed at me I threw in some annuals to make it look like a potager of sorts. Didn't worry about car emissions - it was too windy. LOL

jburesh,
I live in a suburb of a major city and have found racoon tracks in my sunroom that is attached in the back of my house! We have an eight foot privacy fence, so I have no idea how they dog in. We used to keep the dog food there and I couldn't figure out why my DH kept taking the tops off the trashcans filled with dogfood! LOL So I don't know how much luck you are going to have with your corn!

I'll see if I can find out more infor on heavy metals.

I found this about lead.
Lead in Garden Soils and Plants

"The most serious source of exposure to soil lead is through direct ingestion (eating) of contaminated soil or dust. In general, plants do not absorb or accumulate lead. However, in soils testing high in lead, it is possible for some lead to be taken up. Studies have shown that lead does not readily accumulate in the fruiting parts of vegetable and fruit crops (e.g., corn, beans, squash, tomatoes, strawberries, apples). Higher concentrations are more likely to be found in leafy vegetables (e.g., lettuce) and on the surface of root crops (e.g., carrots).

Since plants do not take up large quantities of soil lead, the lead levels in soil considered safe for plants will be much higher than soil lead levels where eating of soil is a concern (pica). Generally, it has been considered safe to use garden produce grown in soils with total lead levels less than 300 ppm. The risk of lead poisoning through the food chain increases as the soil lead level rises above this concentration. Even at soil levels above 300 ppm, most of the risk is from lead contaminated soil or dust deposits on the plants rather than from uptake of lead by the plant.
Removing Lead on Roots, Leaves, or Fruits

There is more concern about lead contamination from external lead on unwashed produce than from actual uptake by the plant itself. If your garden is close to busy streets or highways, remove outer leaves of leafy crops, peel all root crops, and thoroughly wash the remaining produce in water containing vinegar(1 percent) or soap (0.5 percent)."

from Lead in the Home Garden and Urban Soil Environment

I don't care for the view of my neighbors property. I was thinking about planting all my corn up and down the whole property line. It's approx 400 ft. long, and runs north and south. A couple rows would make a good privacy screen that we could eat too. Would only want 2 rows. I suppose with the prevailing winds being from the south, at least some of it would polinate sufficiently. That would save room in my garden too, and make more room for other stuff.

Alamo--Texas HOA's lost a big lawsuit 2 years ago where they took a poor old ladies' house because she couldn't make her HOA dues. There was such a public outcry that the court decision was reversed and since then; they are, for all intensive purposes DOA. They can send all kinds of complaint letters but can't legally do anything anymore.
Debbie

There's a plus mark for TX!

I have artichokes in my front yard and various herbs as perennials. This year I'll add a couple of tomatoes, cucumbers, probably a squash, and maybe a couple of luffas to train on the 6' fence. They'll join roses, petunias, rosemary, salvias, foxglove, and newly planted perennials - echinacea, coreopsis, and gaura. I thought it would be good to use the vegetables to fill in spaces where the perennials will be when full size, and take advantage of the extra watering I'll be doing while the xeric plants get established.

Of course, there are no HOAs here. I had to rack my brain to figure out the initials!
I have a cousin in Lincoln, CA in a development where all plantings have to be approved by the HOA. Can you imagine? Even house colors and how Christmas decorations are placed! gives me shivers....

I agree with you on HOA's. My husband an I bought a 35 year old home. New ones had these terrible HOA's.

According to my city. No weeds can be over 3' in the front yard and this does NOT include veggies, shrubs, and flowers. So it looks like there are no rules about not planting veggies in the front yard here. I just got an estimate for a short fence in the front and my husband has agreed to make raised beds for me (he hates the lawn). And we are going to get peagravel for the walking areas. I won't be able to plant much this year, but next year....

I am glad so many people are using edible landscaping in the front yards as well as the back. Although I haven't seen any of those gardens here yet. I did find 3 1/2 foot corn that would look good. I also found 12' red corn called bloody butcher.

Peggie K you could plant that!

My mother always grew her squash and tomatoes in the front yard and got lots of comments from admirers who wanted to know what those "exotic vines" were. But the neighbor kids (and us since they were already doing it) snatched all the tomatoes.

HOAs are a waste of breathable air (maybe I'll dress up like on for halloween this year and scare the neighbors) . I will never live in a neighborhood that has one, nor will I live within any city's limits.

I hate the lawn too Mobi. Eventually I hope to have neat rows of raised beds instead. With a patch reserved that is big enough for a badminton net.

i had to figure out that HOA too. glad we don't live anywhere near one. we're a half mile off the public road and 7 mi from the nearest town of a few 100 population. i'm putting my new garden a mile back in the woods on the far end of our place next to the neighbors house so they can help me harvest it. they've lived back there without electric or runnin water for years, I'm putting in solar pumped water for them and the garden.

That's a long way to go for your veggies!

i have my septic fields in the frnt of my house so didn't want to have a garden there in case i ever had to had it redone and it only gets the morning sun.

Yes why not so I used to had that on side of my trailer and see other people do that in front yard and point is sometime they see and come their yard to steal veggies most at night what a shame.

It is a shame. Because most gardeners would love to share their bounty if the people just asked. I wonder if that might happen, but then if I think, if they are so desperate to steal a tomato out of my garden then they are welcome to it. Although, I doubt most people are taking it because they are hungry but just like the taste. But then I'm sure there are some who are hungry.

I think about that guy who wrote "A Child Called It" and how his mother starved him. So if there is someone who is hungry and steal stuff from the garden, I'm not going to worry. No one should have to hungry in this country!

I'm not too worried here as no one has stolen my garden ornaments.

Not to be cynical, but I suspect most people steal stuff because they like to steal stuff. The pears on the trees in my front yard disappear every year because every teenager within a 3 mile radius comes by to pick them off and throw them at his friends. /erk If someone was truly hungry, they would be more than welcome to the fruit. Actually, I've told my mostly elderly neighbors that they can have whatever they want and to help themselves, and I bring a sack of fruit over to them every so often. I'm fine with sharing...stealing my stuff makes me furious, however.

pam

One of those motion-detector sprinklers, phuggins? Wouldn't that be fun?

Hey...that's not a bad idea...the deer are a problem, too, I can always claim wet kids are an inadvertant casualty of friendly fire. :)

pam

The bush type zucchini puts out a beautiful flush of yellow blossoms that are very attractive in the front yard. As the squash grows, you can fling them at stray raccoons, teenagers, etc.

Also, years ago a book came out called ? Edible Landscaping by Rosealind (Roselyn) (sp) Creasey that I checked out several times from the library. There were many pictures, charts, etc. of landscaping that mixed veg with flowers and shrubs. You might like to check it out.

I've been reading her series on edible gardens. She has her veggies in the front yard of her home.