Reading an article in the paper yesterday made me think about how we have been expanding our vegetable gardens and reducing the size of the lawn.  The article talks about how residential developments are being planned around working farms.  Well, how about re-thinking your yard to consider the whole area as a garden?!?  Why limit the tomatoes and chives  to the vegetable garden?  Why not mix the vegetables and herbs in with the traditional shrub plantings.  How about adding more fruit trees in with the other ornamental plantings.  Pots, planters and raised beds are all opportunities for expanding our gardening talents and vegetable crop yield.

Vegetables in the garden

This is a great time to get started.  Garden centers are having end of the season sales.  Plant prices are reduced and there is still a good variety of plants to choose from.  You can still plant vegetables and have a crop to harvest this fall.  We just planted beans and spinach and they are starting to come up.  This generates interest and definitely adds to the conversation.

There are other great ideas for thinking outside of the (garden) box in the Wall Street Journal article “An Apple Tree Grows in Suburbia”  by Stephanie Simon

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903392904576510492421141056.html?mod=ITP_thejournalreport_0