 |
| As featured in August/September issue of Organic Gardening |
Cristina Santiestevan is the outlaw gardener. Her HOA (homeowners association) says she can't grow veggies in her front yard and she breaks the rules.
She has tons of tips and tricks for people with the same problem on how to grow veggies on the sly by including flowers and just making her garden pretty.
She says: "There’s really nothing special about my yard or my house or me. This is a typical suburban yard in a typical suburban neighborhood. My soil sucks after years of chemicals (the previous owners left their arsenal in the shed — I’m sure they thought they were being helpful), and it’ll be a while before I have the rich, deep, organic soil I dream of. Some of the plants are thriving, and some of them are not. And, none of this is fancy. I built the front path with bricks a friend had leftover from a previous project. The stone border around the garden is built of stones I collected — one at a time — from my parents’ property. The vast majority of these plants were started from seed.
My point is that none of this is fancy or expensive or perfect. There is nothing special about this place that allowed me to do this. Anyone can do this. Anyone can plant an edible garden in their front yard. In fact, a lot of people are already doing this. It’s becoming a trend, and I couldn’t be more thrilled."
She's inspired me to grow veggies in the front as well as the back. How about you? Do you grow veggies?
