Tired of mowing your lawn, only to have it shoot up again after a rainy week? Use Seattle’s climate to your advantage and replace your grass with a vegetable garden. Rainy springs and not-too-hot summers will provide gardens with plenty of water and sunshine for a good harvest. If you are curious about putting in a vegetable garden but do not have the time or desire to maintain it, there are companies in Washington and elsewhere along the west coast that will actually plant and maintain one in your yard. These edible landscaping companies aim to create sustainable organic gardens in individual yards and minimize the environmental effects of food production.

Though edible landscaping companies are fairly new on the scene, supporting local produce and interest in sharing crops are not. Community supported agriculture, where people combine their money to pay for a farmer, supplies, and production costs in exchange for a share of the crop yield, is an idea that emerged in Germany, Switzerland, and Japan in the 1960s. After coming to the United States in the 1980s, this idea is one of the roots of edible landscaping. Many edible landscaping companies today provide a similar exchange between individual gardens so that you can participate even without a garden of your own.

Replacing your lawn with a vegetable garden has benefits both environmental and personal. Most edible landscaping companies use compost instead of fertilizer to keep soil nourished. They also incorporate local plants that will grow well in the region, so gardens require less work to maintain year to year. Instead of grass which requires lots of water, especially in the summer, these gardens conserve water using drip irrigation systems. The time and transportation costs that go into buying produce at the grocery store – transporting produce from its source, gas to drive there, and time out of your day – starts to add up quickly. Produce from your backyard is fresh and easily accessible. When vegetables come from your own garden, you know the source and can be certain that they are organic. Overall, edible gardens are healthy, low-cost options that also conserve resources and as an added bonus, many of these edible crops are very pretty while blooming.

Interview w/ Seattle Urban Farm Company Owner Colin McCrate

Q. What is the most common plant requested by customers in Seattle? Does it differ by season?
A.Yes, there's definitely a difference between seasons. Tomatoes are the most common– not ideal in climate though, the summers are not hot/long enough. People really like heirloom tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes are popular too – they are small, ripen up better than larger tomato types. Other popular vegetables include sugar snap peas, carrots and broccoli. People ask for a variety of fruit including raspberries, strawberries, blueberries (grow particularly well when managed properly).

Q. How do you approach a job? Basic model (style/design), what to take into account for individual gardens?
A. A variety of aspects are taken into account when we approach a job. The location has to have enough exposure. Otherwise, each garden is tailored to its specific conditions. We deal with different slope, flat, raised (cedar, stone) beds, different soil conditions – depleted needs. Obviously the size of garden your gardening experience, budget and the amount of materials needed are going to effect how we go about the job. We also address your involvement in the garden – some people need everything done, some just need setting up and some advice to get started.

Q. Why are edible gardens a good idea?
A. Ultimately more they're more satisfying. They're also good for environment, provide a healthy food source, and cuts down on transportation costs. You become more connected with your food and what you're eating. You connect with the plants, understand system and there connection to the land.

Q. What vegetables are available for a winter harvest?
A. Planted in late summer/fall for late harvest: certain varieties of cauliflower/broccoli/cabbage, kale (November harvest, late fall). Salad greens (romaine, leaf lettuce) grow well in plastic enclosure, grow slowly. In Seattle we are lucky that we can get some harvest most of the year; late summer/early fall is best time (Aug-Oct with September the best); can be March-Nov if well planned.

Q. Average cost of putting in a garden? What amount of space is the minimum you can work with?
A. All over the map – garden can be anything from several hundred (small garden) to several thousand (redo landscape) $500-5000. General rule: $1000-2000 to plan, install and labor.

Q. Areas served? Travel outside of Seattle to create gardens or consult with customers in other cities?
A. Mostly in city, but basically anybody who is interested; we'll do some consulting. Sometimes work on big properties outside city, rural/suburban land for inexperienced people; they write up a plan for turning a pasture into a workable garden.

Q. How did you personally become interested in edible gardens?
A. I fell into it; in college, living in an intentional community with a garden, got into it first season and got addicted! I enjoy the whole process: preparing the soil, planting the seeds, watching them grow, preventing them from getting killed by anything, harvesting, etc.

Q.  Who are your customers?
A. We get calls from every neighborhood. We get a lot are young families with first home and young kids –They want to get their kids involved in the process as well as teaching them to eat healthy but also we get a lot of single people and retirees.

Q. You advocate chickens gardens and yards, tell us about it?
A. City ordinance allows chickens/domestic fowl and there are a few thousand households in the city with chickens, becoming popular. It offers a real pastoral connection, a real farm feeling. We initially got into it because people asked; it has quickly became a fun side project.

List of Organizations and Gardens:

Many companies along the west coast will help you design and plant your own edible garden. If there is not one that serves your area, visit the websites for helpful tips and gardening resources.

Local:
Seattle Urban Farm Company (Seattle) 
10306 Mary Ave. NW
Seattle, WA 98177
206.816.9740
colin@seattleurbanfarmco.com
Founded in 2007, Seattle Urban Farm Company not only plants and maintains gardens but will also help people install coops to raise chickens.

Terra Commons (Olympia) 
Located near The Evergreen State College
360.339.3329
terracommons@gmail.com
Through the Edible Forest Garden Demonstration Project, Terra Commons creates public gardens to show people how edible gardens work and encourage them to try one in their own yard.

Seattle Tilth Association (Seattle)
4649 Sunnyside Avenue N, Room 120
Seattle, WA 98103
206.633.0451
tilth@seattletilth.org
To encourage organic gardening and local food production, Seattle Tilth offers an annual edible plant sale as well as resources for organic gardening. Visit one of their demonstration gardens in Wallingford (at the Good Shepherd Center) or Mount Baker (at Bradner Gardens Park) and get inspired to create one in your own yard.

University of Washington Farm (Seattle) 
University of Washington Campus
uwfarm@u.washington.edu
Created in 2004, the farm encourages people to think about the effects of food production and demonstrates solutions for the negative environmental effects. Check out the organically grown vegetables in the demonstration garden on South Campus.

West Coast:
All Edibles (Berkeley) 
all.edibles@gmail.com
All Edibles helps you plan and plant your garden, then provides you with detailed instructions and resources to encourage you to maintain it yourself. Located in the East Bay they provide abundance of nutritious food, help you save money and resources, and help people become more invested in their land and in their communities.

Fritz Haeg (Los Angeles) 
2538 Sundown Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90065
323.255.5998
assistant@fritzhaeg.com
Since 2005, Fritz Haeg has been creating gardens in locations around the country and in England through the Edible Estates project. The six gardens to date – Salina, KS; Lakewood, CA; Maplewood, NJ; Austin, TX; Baltimore, MD; and London, England – serve as regional examples to encourage people to install their own.

Your Backyard Farmer (Portland)
7527 SE Ramona
Portland, OR 97206
farmers@yourbackyardfarmer.com
Started in 2006, Your Backyard Farmer has options for how much or how little you would like to be involved with your garden. They will set up everything and come by for weekly maintenance (you can help, too) or they will set up monthly educational sessions with you to help you take care of your garden.

GROWINGGARDENS (Portland)
2003 NE 42nd Avenue #3
Portland, OR 97213
503.284.8420
Started in 1996, the organization plants gardens for low-income families with a particular focus on educating these families so they can maintain the gardens in the future. They also offer classes and a youth program called Youth Grow.

Homegrown (Los Angeles) 
marta@homegrownlosangeles.com
The company focuses on utilizing the space available, whether it is a window sill or an entire yard. They also offer classes covering a wide variety of topics, including companion planting, helpful insects, and growing your own wine.

MyFarm (San Francisco) 
MyFarm designs their gardens to be their own self-sustaining ecosystems so that they are easy to maintain. They also distribute food between individual gardens in the area, similar to community supported agriculture, so you can sign up even if you do not have a garden.

The Edible Schoolyard (Berkeley) 
Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School
1781 Rose Street
Berkeley, CA 94703
510.558.1335
info@edibleschoolyard.org
The program, which began in 1994, not only educates middle school students about gardening but also makes the school’s lunches out of the garden’s harvest. Berkeley chef Alice Waters, who has used local ingredients at her restaurant Chez Panisse since its opening in 1971, founded the Edible Schoolyard program.