Grow food, not lawns

Around where I live, fairly well all of the houses are standalone buildings with reasonable sized yards.

Some of them have impeccable lawns. I can tell, because our house is two storey. And there’s some very nice green areas on google maps.

One neighbour around the corner is different though. No open green space there. It’s all cover up. “Messy”.

Because they have a permaculture-based system running. It’s pretty awesome.

A family friend built a new house with no lawn. Raised garden beds and wildflowers. Their opinion was that the ground was meant to grow food, not grass. And food for bees counted as well.

Plus, they lived next to a large public park.

And there’s the rub: Access to excellent public spaces is critical if we are going to give up our tiny backyard fiefdoms of manicured pasture and make some good (food) come from the dirt instead.

Food first, front and centre

It’s a close call to say which is the heart of the home: The fridge, the stove, the kitchen table, or the pantry.*

Either way, it’s food first.

But the face we present to our neighbours, the front of our home is usually more like: A garage, a fence, a hedge, or some pillars**.

What about putting food first on the face of our houses?

There’s a few ways we could do this (for starters): A half-height fence with raised garden beds/planter boxes along the street front, a vegetable garden instead of the front lawn, an openable kitchen window directly onto a street with our coffee machine immediately next to it, or a bee-friendly flower garden***.

What would you rather see when you’re walking down your street?

*I might also accept a fireplace, but they’re still much better with a liquid in hand. Don’t you dare bring the television into this.

**One of my favourite things is two-storey pillars on the entrance to a 200 square metre home.

***I don’t think this is too long a bow: bees are essential to food production. And they make honey.

Street food for the soul

It's good to share food with friends. To connect, and reconnect. Reminisce and dream.

It's good to share food with people.

If food is such a foundational element to establish connection between people, why are the spaces where we can share food so limited, outside our homes? Does this limit our potential for connection?

What could a more open food-sharing space look like? Perhaps:

• Movie nights at the local cafe with cake and coffee before and/or after.
• Inviting people in the fish and chip shop on a Friday night to eat with you at the local park.
• Street party barbecues.
• Sitting at the bus stop with a thermos of tea and a spare cup.
• Joining someone sitting alone at a cafe.
• Inviting the neighbours around for birthday cake.

Food brings people together. Bring food, gather people.