Gourmet Gardens: Designing Your Own Foodscape
Do you have a vegetable garden? Many of us don’t because we don’t have the space. But have you ever though about growing food in your landscape? I’m not talking about tearing out those flowers and shrubs to convert into a vegetable garden. I’m talking about incorporating plants to create an edible landscape. It’s called foodscaping, and here is how to start!
About Foodscaping
I’ve known about this concept for a while and decided to take a deep dive into this topic over the summer. I follow Brie Arthur, aka the “plant lady” on YouTube. I bought her book, The Foodscape Revolution and found myself intrigued by how she “gets her groceries” by growing her own vegetables, just by adding them to her existing landscape and not using a traditional dedicated vegetable garden space.
Arthur Believes gardening with ornamentals can be engaging and fun, but gardening to grow food is where is where the true power of transformation lies. You can get into this game with a few $1 packets of seeds from the dollar store, and it doesn’t require any special tools or set of skills. You just need the desire and can-do attitude.
How to Get Started
Once you’re ready to incorporate edibles in your landscape, there are some key points to consider to get the best results. Spend a few minutes to learn the requirements for the cops you want to grow.
Look for existing bed space that gets the most sun
Most vegetable require about six hours of sunlight each day, so look for the existing bed space that gets the most sun. That said, here in Memphis, TN, be careful with tender crops like lettuce or arugula. Too much hot summer can do them in, but they might be great candidates to grow on the northern, shady side of your place.
Consider the size the edible plants will grow to
That way you can tuck plants into where they will have enough space to reach their mature size among the ornamental plants
Start small
Gardening should be fun - Something to look forward to! So, get creative in how you mix your plants, and don’t bite off more than you can chew. Even if all you do to begin is sprinkle lettuce seeds around your rose bushes, you will have an easy crop that will feed you for months (and it will look pretty to boot!) As you get more comfortable and experiment with a few vegetables, you can add more crops from season to season.
Invest in good soil
Good soil doesn’t have to be expensive but it does have to be intentional. You can either purchase compost or make it your yourself. Improve the soil of your beds with organic matter - fresh compost! I save leaves and garden debris each year, and if you haven’t got any (or the space), Happy Frog is a compost brand that I like.
Keep the critters at bay
You can naturally keep the critters at bay by planting garlic - which is attractive in the garden and easy to grow (and mammals - like moles - hate garlic). They also hate arugula and onion bulbs. The foliage of potato vine is poisonous to them. Plant these to keep garden pests from encroaching further into the beds where you might have tomatoes, lettuce, or carrots tucked away
Work within the landscaping you already have
There are many beautiful edible plants. Swiss chard, kale, fennel, lettuce 0 the list goes on and on. You just need to identify where those plants will receive enough light and space.
It’s ok to experiment
If you aren’t sure which spot might be best, just experiment! Seeds are very inexpensive, and seedlings certainly won’t break the bank either. If one of your plants doesn’t perform well, try a different spot next year. Remember - failing is learning what not to do next time.
I have loved doing this, and I hope you will too!
Here is a link to this article in Fine Gardening Magazine which will give you some great ideas of different vegetables to incorporate into your landscape: https://www.finegardening.com/article/grow-food-in-your-landscape
And here is a link to Brie Arthur’s YouTube channel if you would like to check our more of her content :)
www.youtube.com/@BrieThePlantLady
Good luck!
