Your Edible Yard

Crystal Stevens

Description

Unleash the potential of your yard by transforming it into a beautiful and vibrant space offering a continuous supply of food

• Author is the co-founder of Flourish eARTh Farm, author, art teacher, master gardener and certified herbalist
• She has 13 years farming and gardening experience
• She is a well-known speaker and presents at conferences across the US
• Author of two previous books which have sold 2500
• Covers practical methods of edible landscaping, foodscaping, container gardening, and gardening for beginning homesteaders
• Teaches readers to create beautiful, eye-catching landscapes full of fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers
• Covers the basics of edible landscaping including simple ways of integrating edible plants into existing gardens
• Includes information on how to control weeds, build healthy soil, ensure a continuous harvest
• Illustrated with color photographs and water colour paintings
• Showcases over 24 beautiful edible yards in full-color photos
• Discusses laws preventing edible front yards and ways to work within those laws including integrating pollinator or monarch habitats, forming gardening alliances with neighbors, getting petitions signed, and joining neighborhood beautification organizations
• Covers the effects of chemical pesticides including the warnings on the labels as well as dangerous side effects and environmental effects
• Provides natural alternatives to chemical pesticides including several recipes for DIY natural and non-toxic pesticides
• Includes the basics of permaculture and the importance of using permaculture principles to design edible landscapes
• Discusses garden preparation, building raised beds and hardscapes, as well as natural ways to kill weeds
• Planting charts for fruits, veggies, flowers, and herbs.
  • Each plant listed will also have a sidebar of when to plant, days to maturity, how to harvest, when to harvest, how to save seed and a recipe
  • Covers culinary herbs, medicinal herbs, edible flowers, mushroom inoculation, fruits, vegetables, and wild edibles integrated into the landscape.
• Also discusses routine garden maintenance such as weeding, watering, pruning, thinning, deadheading, cutting plants back and overwintering your garden.
• The final section will provide full-color photos with simple instructions on methods of preserving the harvest
• 15-20 recipes on fermentation, freezing, drying, and making simple medicines such as tinctures, teas, and salves.
• Focus is for growing zones 5-8

Audience:
Beginning gardeners, urban gardeners, garden clubs, young families, health living advocates, students

Canada:
Growing zones 5-8 means everything along the border plus along the oceans on each side and quite a bit of BC!

Unleash the potential of your yard by transforming it into a beautiful and vibrant space offering a continuous supply of food

Journey into the good food movement by unleashing the potential of your yard, transforming it into a beautiful and vibrant space that offers a continuous supply of food.

Using dozens of beautiful color photographs and watercolor planting charts, infographics, and landscaping designs, Your Edible Yard is the comprehensive how-to guide you need to turn your yard into a bountiful feast.
It features:

• Practical gardening methods and maintenance from weeding to wintering, including foodscaping, container gardening, and saving seeds
• Permaculture principles including soil building techniques, garden preparation, raised beds, and natural/non-toxic DIY pesticide alternatives
• How to integrate culinary and medicinal herbs, edible flowers, mushrooms, fruits, vegetables, and wild edibles
• Gardening resources: where to go for help, buy seeds, and source supplies on a budget
• Instructions on preserving, fermenting, freezing, drying, and making simple medicines
• General tips, such as how to find loopholes in laws preventing edible front yards.

Whether you're a beginner or experienced gardener in the city, the suburbs, or the country, this manual is the A-Z guide for how to make use of the space you have, highlighting the colorful and abundant array that edible landscapes promise.

Dedication and Acknowledgments
Introduction

Chapter 1: The Detriment of the Lawn Obsession
Chapter 2: It Shouldn't Be a Crime to Grow Vegetables!
Chapter 3: Building Healthy Soils with Compost and Vermicompost
Chapter 4: Permaculture in Your Yard/Bed Prep
Chapter 5: Your Edible Yard — Natural Alternatives to Herbicides and Pesticides
Chapter 6: Choosing the Right Plants
Chapter 7: Edible Landscaping Designs
Chapter 8: Edible Landscape Showcase
Chapter 9: Yard-to-Table Recipes and Preserving the Harvest
Chapter 10: DIY Herbal Remedies and Recipes

Notes
Index
About the Author
A Note about the Publisher

Sujets

• Contenedor
• Herb
• Edible flowers
• Home garden
• Perennial plant
• Trellis
• Sustainable living
• Container
• Fruit tree
• Landscape architecture
• Nut
• Biodiversity
• Medicine
• Gardening
• Compost
• Privacy
• Landscape
• Urban
• NUT Container
• Conteneur

Informations

• Publié par: New Society Publishers
• Date de parution: 18 février 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781771423113
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

Praise for Your Edible Yard
Millions of people are waking up and realizing that our grassy lawns no longer make sense when we can instead be producing our own healthy, organic food right at home. But many of those millions just don t know how to take the practical steps forward. In Your Edible Yard , Crystal lays out the path for us to turn our bland yards into the gardens of our dreams, full of healthy food, while saving us money at the grocery store and precious environmental resources. This book has the potential to change the landscaping of our nation and the design of our lives.
- Rob Greenfield, author, Dude Making a Difference
A beautiful synthesis of organic, regenerative, and permaculture practices for an abundant yard anywhere.
- Matt Powers, author and educator at ThePermacultureStudent.com
Too many people, even in the overdeveloped world, find themselves in food deserts, deprived of good, nutritious, fresh food on a daily basis. Crystal Stevens shows us that food insecurity is completely unnecessary. All the food we could ever want lies just outside our doorstep and gathering and preserving it the permaculture way can be carefree and delightful.
- Albert Bates, author, The Post Petroleum Survival Guide and Cookbook and The Biochar Solution
We are at a turning point in our society. Increasing climate changes are creating global food shortages, which are predicted to become more widespread in the very near future. Pending power outages will soon leave neighborhoods without much food ...unless we get creative and take action. Your Edible Yard is a timely, clear, inspiring, and valuable resource for anyone interested in the why and how of getting started in transitioning your yard from lawn to edible garden. Now is the time to create local food security, health, and the community connections that help us to thrive....through organic, locally grown food.
- Zen Honeycutt, founding executive director of Moms Across America, and author, Unstoppable
Crystal provides the tools, knowledge, and confidence for homeowners to transform their property into productive edible gardens. Her book is filled with gardening tips to assist small scale farming practices that can be practiced in any back yard or front yard setting.
- Jere Gettle, founder and owner of Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company
This thorough and well-illustrated manual is a rich source of information for anyone looking for ways to incorporate permaculture practices into their gardens. With the emphasis on working with nature to grow diverse plantings that support a thriving community of living things, building healthy soil, and recycling waste, this will be a useful resource for any gardener.
- Linda Gilkeson, author, Backyard Bounty
Growing food changes who you are; you ll eat better, feel better, and live better. Give yourself to this book; it s the omen you ve been waiting for.
- MaryJane Butters, farmer, author, and editor, MaryJanesFarm magazine

Copyright 2020 by Crystal Stevens.
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Diane McIntosh. Cover Image Kaitie Adams.
All images Crystal Stevens unless otherwise noted.
Printed in Canada. First printing January 2020.
Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of Your Edible Yard should be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below. To order directly from the publishers, please call toll-free (North America) 1-800-567-6772, or order online at www.newsociety.com
Any other inquiries can be directed by mail to:
New Society Publishers
P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0, Canada
[phone]
L IBRARY AND A RCHIVES C ANADA C ATALOGUING IN P UBLICATION
Title: Your edible yard : landscaping with fruits and vegetables / Crystal Stevens. Names: Stevens, Crystal, author.
Description: Includes index.
Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20190214406 | Canadiana (ebook)
20190214414 | ISBN 9780865719224
(softcover) | ISBN 9781550927153 (PDF) | ISBN 9781771423113 (EPUB)
Subjects: LCSH: Edible landscaping. | LCSH: Natural landscaping. | LCSH: Gardens-Design. | LCSH:
Plants, Edible. | LCSH: Vegetable gardening. | LCSH: Fruit-culture.
Classification: LCC SB475.9.E35 S74 2020 | DDC 712.6-dc23

New Society Publishers mission is to publish books that contribute in fundamental ways to building an ecologically sustainable and just society, and to do so with the least possible impact on the environment, in a manner that models this vision.
Contents
D EDICATION AND A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
I NTRODUCTION
C HAPTER 1: The Detriment of the Lawn Obsession
C HAPTER 2: It Shouldn t Be a Crime to Grow Vegetables!
C HAPTER 3: Building Healthy Soils with Compost and Vermicompost
C HAPTER 4: Permaculture in Your Yard/Bed Prep
C HAPTER 5: Your Edible Yard - Natural Alternatives to Herbicides and Pesticides
C HAPTER 6: Choosing the Right Plants
C HAPTER 7: Edible Landscaping Designs
C HAPTER 8: Edible Landscape Showcase
C HAPTER 9: Yard-to-Table Recipes and Preserving the Harvest
C HAPTER 10: DIY Herbal Remedies and Recipes
N OTES
I NDEX
A BOUT THE A UTHOR
A N OTE ABOUT THE P UBLISHER
Dedication and Acknowledgments
T HIS BOOK IS DEDICATED to my loving father, Carl V. Moore, from whom I inherited my love for nature and the great outdoors, the spirit of adventure, a strong work ethic, endless ambition, and his giant stack of Mother Earth News magazines.
This book is dedicated to my family, friends, and mentors.
To my children, Cay and Iris, for the infinite love, joy, and inspiration they bring to my life daily. I am grateful and honored to be their mother.
To my husband, Eric Stevens, for his love, patience, support, and encouragement. His altruistic spirit and desire to make the world a better place inspires me greatly. This book would not have been possible without him.
To my mother, Cathy Moore, and her husband, Steven McGehee, who continue to encourage and support our family in all of our endeavors and for their generosity, dedication to family, and unconditional support. To my sister, Candice Pyle, and her husband, Dustin, for endless support and filling my heart with joy. To my niece, Cali Moore, for her humor, love, support, and all her hard work. Her strength and resilience are inspiring. To my nephews, Tysen and Mason, for the love and humor. To my brother, Jason Crawford, for being a pillar of strength in our lives and for giving me loving support and encouragement. To my niece, Kaya Crawford, who lights up our lives. To my in-laws, Ann and Barry Stevens, for the wonderful support throughout the years and for raising such an amazing, thoughtful, creative, and loving son. To the entire Stevens family: for the unconditional love and support.
To all my dearest friends, mentors, and teachers: for sculpting my path, filling my life with purpose, and direction, and the endless inspiration you bring to this world.
To the entire team at New Society Publishers: for their continued support and for believing in the work that I do.
To everyone at La Vista Farm, EarthDance Organic Farm School, Slow Food St. Louis, Tower Grove Farmers Market, Permaculture Design Course, and all of our wonderful farmer friends: for their dedication to the good food movement. A special thanks to Robert Riley, Ingrid Witovet, Tradd Cotter, Meredith Leigh, and the Mother Earth News family: for the inspiration and humor.
A special thanks to JB Lester of the Healthy Planet magazine, Feast magazine family, Daniel Romano, Jean Ponzi, Byron Clemens, Beatrice Buder, Ray Feick, Rich Rodriguez, Jim Scheff, Stephen Brooks, Serene Bardol, Brandy and Joe Heller, Elnora Martinez, Erica Cunningham, Katie Canale, Chelsea Burdge, Kelley Powers, Heather Barth, Carolyn Crews, Pandora Thomas, Jason Gerhardt, Gibron Jones, David Bohlen, Molly Rockamann, Rachel Levi, Monica Pless, Michael Neu, Matt Lebon, Jessi Bloom, Sydney Woodward, John VanDeusen Edwards, Aur Beck, Terry Winkleman, Jere Gettle, Vandana Shiva, Winona LaDuke, Wil Allen, Rosemary Gladstar, and Lupe Grios for opening my eyes and sculpting my path.
A special thanks to Kaitie Adams for her friendship and the book cover photo.
A special thanks to Heather Jo Flores and everyone at the Permaculture Women s Guild for their dedication to the Earth.
A special thanks to Molly Hayden and Jeremy Buddemeir, my dear friends who happen to be editors.
A huge shout-out to my editor and friend, Elena Makansi, for her insight throughout the book. Check out ElenaMakansi.com
Introduction: Building Resilient Communities Through Food
R ESILIENT COMMUNITIES begin with food; they begin with seeds of change.
Imagine a world where no one is starving, where tree-lined streets are filled with mulberries, peaches, and juneberries in the summer, and apples, pears, persimmons, and pawpaws in the fall; where every neighborhood has a thriving community garden; where children collect and trade seeds; and where edible landscaping and bountiful gardens replace lawns.
Imagine a surplus of food, and that children could have access to healthy fresh foods in their schools through school gardens and edible landscaping programs. Imagine if every home could have a front and backyard thriving with edibles and medicinals. What if you were able to walk a few feet out your front door to harvest your favorite seasonal fruits, vegetables, flowers, and herbs. Think of the possibilities if every apartment building had balcony gardens and rooftop gardens. Picture community garden spaces at churches, homeless shelters, and prisons.
Individuals around the world are rising to the occasion of a food revolution as a way of buildi