Edible Landscaping

I have been interested in growing fruits and vegetables long before I heard of Rosalind Creasy or the concept of edible landscaping, but reading an article of hers really solidified it for me. As she puts it, people spend all this money putting in maples and azaelas when they could grow apples and blueberries: Also gorgeous, yummy-scented, and with good foliage, but it provides good food as well. When honeycrisp apples hit $3.99/lb this winter, I put 3 dwarf apples trees in to help save money and give us some good, local produce. They're pretty and smell great. The concept doesn't shun traditional plants, but rather encourages people to grow edibles among their inedible decorative plants. Not only does the combination look really cool but it's the environmentally responsible thing to do, what with the price of gas, the resources needed to ship produce around the world, and the cost of food. The geopolitics of food is obviously a complex issue and hey, we go to McDonald's, too (they have a playplace, what can I say...). But I think if most people could make even a small effort to grow some food, it would really make a difference. Especially schools. What better way to introduce the concepts of healthy eating and economics than to have students prepare meals they themselves helped grow? If anyone wants to chat more on the topic, I'm open, and I also recommend:




Happy Reading!