My front yard is B-O-R-I-N-G! The only thing growing in my front yard are weeds (and a little oak tree I planted 2 years ago). Since we bought our house in 2007 I've been dreaming of converting every inch of space into an edible paradise. The front yard has always been a challenge because it faces West and gets direct, non-filtered Florida sun from the early afternoon until sunset. While many gardeners would think the full sun is beneficial, I've found that isn't the case here in FL. Last year we had several plants die of sunburn. Seriously. I didn't even know it was possible for a plant to get a sunburn. And when you hear people crack about frying an egg outside they aren't kidding. You can set a tray of unbaked cookies in your dash and it will get hot enough to bake them. I'm off on a tangent....
Anyway, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about revamping the front yard to an edible food forest to share with my community and have decided I must figure out how to get this done. Nothing would make me more proud than to be able to offer folks in need a means to feed themselves and their families! There are so many unemployed (myself included) and elderly people in St Pete that aren't able to afford quality, nutritious food. I'd love to bring them by my front yard and tell them, "Take what you need." Can you imagine the sense of community you'd have where everyone is working towards the same goal? I want to help. There has to be some sort of group or company that could get things started or point me in the right direction. Must do more research.
It's been 4 long years of dreaming and over-planning and I still haven't made any changes however there are a few things that I feel should happen before I begin.
1. Install rain gutters - I tried digging a bed up against my house last summer. The rain from the roof poured into the bed in sheets and washed all my soil down the sidewalk. Also, I have rainbarrels I need to set up and need to add gutters to harvest this valuable source of water.
2. Paint the house - My house is an ugly, boring white on white. It's hideous. We planned on painting it as soon as we had the money, but life got in the way and it still hasn't been done.
3. Treat for termites - Everyone in St Pete has subterranean termites. They creep me out. Every time I move a planter I see an entire city of these creatures eating away at my mulch. (Better mulch than my house I guess.) I want them GONE.
4. Start the garden - Ideally I'd like to do this all in one shot, but know it's not physically possible for me. It's going to take me a long time to convert the yard into a beautiful, bountiful fruit, nut and veggie garden and I'll have to learn a great deal of patience.
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