Have you ever grown vegetables in your front yard before? Do people take your vegetables? I totally would plant veggies out front if we didn’t have deer grazing out there all the time. I think it would be cool to have pumpkins growing down the hillside, and zucchini plants in the front yard instead of the ugly Oompa Loopma trees we have planted.
I think the last picture is my favorite. How about you? Which one do you like?
~Mavis
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LaToya says
I suggested this to my husband because we don’t get enough sun in the backyard to grow anything and it makes me 🙁 But I wondered about that – will people take our goods? Think we’re going to do a smallish/close to the house area next year and see how it goes.
Mavis says
Well according to everyone else here people looting vegetables isn’t a problem. I say give it a try LaToya.
Carol Milburn says
Our Apricot tree is picked clean by visitors every year. We wanted to plant strawberries in the front but I know they would get taken. If it’s not people taking our food, it’s the deer, raccoons and opossums. And we live on a city street, in town on a large lot. But we’re still planning on some fruit or veggies out there. We have fruit trees and a creek. So try something. Look for deer resistant plants.
Kathy says
My mom had cherry bushes in her front yard but they didn’t produce anything. My sister, who lives with Mom, is planting herbs this coming spring, among the flower bulbs she put in this fall. Don’t think anyone will take anything, they didn’t from the rest of the garden around the house (no fenced in yard.)
I am drawn to the last house as well. Like the house a bit more then the garden ha ha.
Elizabeth says
I like 1 , 3 and 4 the best. Cozy, homey. We were in Madison on Saturday and I know there are lots of front yard gardens there in the little small spaces.
Tawnya says
Its interesting how many cities will cite you for growing in your front. I had a friend get cited in California. However where we live in Eastern WA it would be encouraged. A friend did it in Leavenworth and all her veggies were fine. Nothing came up missing. I garden in a community garden that has 24/7 public access and never had anything come up missing. A tip on deer. My parents had a group of dear that lived near my parents home. They planted marigolds and the dear stayed away. Except for the tomato plants. They always ate the tops off those but my dad got AMAZING tomato’s from it so he didn’t mind. I live in a downstairs apt and my landlord loves my veggie gardens. They face a public walk area and make everything look like a real home. He said he has had people inquire about living here after they see my gardens. I have never had an issue with veggies coming up missing.
Katie says
Our front yard is the only place we have dirt (the back yard is all grass) and the only place we get some shade (that’s important in Idaho). We’ve had veggies out there 2 years now and have never had a problem with people taking them. Even as a kid I would plant tomatoes and zucchini in the front yard because the climate was just a better place for them. I say if your CCR’s don’t prohibit it, GO FOR IT! 🙂
suzanne says
Haha! Like the HH would go for that anyway.
Mavis says
🙂
Lisa says
The majority of my veggie garden is in the front yard. When I originally designed the front yard the area was all grass bordered with a perennial cutting garden and an heirloom flower garden (that still isn’t finished). I plopped in the vegetable garden in the East lawn. My first drawing was of a neatly spaced grid-like series of raised beds. Then I realized this was my front yard and having something so linear in the front yard was not my style. I revised the plan and there is a winding path, beds set askew and of different heights. This is the original drawing, but it has been modified over the years. I’ve added more raised beds where in-ground planting used to be and the crops get rotated about.
http://www.sproutingoff.com/page/24/?s=garden+plan
I’ve only ever had an issue with my pumpkins. The first year I planted them in the long bed near the street and the neighbor boys decided it would be fun to smash a few. Only 2 though. I also had someone come up into the garden and take a watermelon. It was my only watermelon I’ve ever grown that was amounting to a reasonable size. I was angry.
That was the first year and I haven’t had an issue since. My neighbors love my garden, but the crazy Korean lady across the street hates it when I put the poly-tunnel on the early season bed. Of course she also tells me that I should take out my veggie garden and put in flowers so she has something pretty to look at. I smile and nod and make a point to not tell her that the azalea trees she purchased at Costco won’t make it through the winter.
Mavis says
Ha! Love the crazy neighbor. 🙂 I should come photograph your garden next summer. Maybe you can give me some pointers.
Deborah says
I do grow vegetables in my front, but have to keep them in the “flower beds”. The HH at this house also likes his grass. I grew squash in the bed closest to the front door and all of the neighbors thought that I had a new type of flower with big yellow blooms. We have never had a problem with people taking vegetables. But like you the neighbors start hiding from us when the lettuce starts coming in. LOL!
Katie B. says
We have a front yard garden. It’s the only place we have full sun. 3 raised beds and no one has taken anything yet. we are in SC and still have peppers producing alongside the red cabbage, bok choy, lettuces, radish, beets, carrots, and more. Lots of weird looks and comments from walkers, but no stealing 🙂 I encourage everyone to try it out!
Susie says
We have all shade in the backyard, so we’ve discussed the practicality of planting out front. Pretty sure the neighbors would find it aesthetically unpleasing, but then again, many of their front yards leave a lot to be desired. Stopped & talked to a guy we saw gardening in his front yard (another part of town) & he said that he’d gotten a few comments at first, now everyone loves it.
Michel Beauchamp says
Mavis Hello, we are the owners of these gardens you present here (no 5). We love your website and your articles. For our part, it’s our first year and we are delighted with this project. Nobody came to steal vegetables and we share with our neighbors a lot. For us, the way we develop our garden is to help create a microclimate in order to better harvests, because we are in Quebec, north of Montreal, and the climate is rather cold sometimes. Walkways stone river collects the sun’s heat during the day and redistributes it in the evening. The square raised bed can warm the earth from the garden faster too. We encourage everyone to make a garden in front because it allows us to talk with neighbors and allow children to better know and taste the vegetables.
Here’s another interesting look of the garden :
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=429213953800889&set=a.414617975260487.103569.381607171894901&type=1&theater
Mavis says
Your garden is amazing, thank your for leaving a comment so I could see additional pictures. 🙂
Carol Milburn says
Our Apricot tree is picked clean by visitors every year. We wanted to plant strawberries in the front but I know they would get taken. If it’s not people taking our food, it’s the deer, raccoons and opossums. And we live on a city street, in town on a large lot. But we’re still planning on some fruit or veggies out there. We have fruit trees and a creek. So try something. Look for deer resistant plants.