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  • From: Harvey Ussery <huboxwood@earthlink.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] FOOD NOT LAWNS! Can you dig it!?!?
  • Date: Tue, 30 May 2006 20:29:16 +0000

FOOD NOT LAWNS! Can you dig it!?!?
By Tobias Policha
From the Winter 2000 issue of Green Anarchy
http://www.proactiveecology.org/

The vast expanse of forever-green American lawn is not only the most resource
intensive agricultural crop in the world, but also an obscene icon to our
arrogant privilege and total alienation from a life in harmony with nature.


Last year I started doing 3 things to reclaim my lawns as a productive asset (instead of a labor sink producing nothing):

1) Divided the lawns into 5 plots, and rotated the waterfowl flock (ducks & geese) over the plots in succession, protecting/confining them with electric net fencing, providing bathing/drinking water in a 50-gal sheep waterer filled by float-operated valve on long supply hoses. Turned lawn grass into winter meals & high-quality cooking fat--neat trick.

2) Overseeded the lawn areas in fall with the same mixed clovers/grasses blend I use to overseed the pasture each year. In the spring, did not mow, but allowed grass to get 6-12 inches high, then mowed with a scythe, raked, and used the "take" in compost heap and as mulches. (Long-stem grass is infinitely superior for both uses to chopped-up grass from a power mower.)

3) Started converting part of the front lawn to "forest garden": Laid down a "kill mulch" in a generous crescent around 3 established kaki (Oriental) persimmons. Now interplanting the 3 persimmons with currant and gooseberry, with a mixed herbaceous planting at ground level (lupines, baptisia, skirret, sorrel, milkvetch, violets, etc.). Check out the concept of the "forest garden" to get an idea of my approach to turning a lawn into a mini-Eden.

~Harvey
--
Harvey in northern Va
www.themodernhomestead.us




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