15 April 2017

I have a lawn

Photo of a little boy sitting cross-legged in a homemade tent on a small lawn
Seven year old in a willow wand/bedsheet tent we made
Though my food yields would no doubt be bigger without it, some of my property is still given over to grass. 

We live in a mild, rainy climate which can support a lawn quite easily, with no extra watering.  When I first moved to this house, the lawn out back was substantially larger than it is now;  it covered more than half the garden, with small flowerbeds around most of the edges.  Gradually we made those beds larger, and eventually dug up the grass in the back corner for a veg plot (now given over to perennials, both ornamental and edible).  There is still a sizeable portion of lawn, however.

When I first mentioned the possibility of digging out the lawn to replace with veg beds, the husband was not convinced.  He thought we should keep some of it for recreational purposes, and I admit, having a bit of lawn to sit on during sunny days is nice.  The lawn is also a good source of chicken food which they harvest themselves, as long as we fence them in.  It's not all just for looks, you know!

But a few years later, he told me that he would agree to replacing the grass entirely if I wished.  And really, I do want to add more veg beds--I never have enough room to plant everything I want! 

At the moment, I've got all the sunny locations near the house in veg production.  Moving past the big patio and to the back of the garage is the last place (in full sun, that is) not in food production:  it houses the umbrella-style clothes line on a patch of lawn.  This autumn, I may move the clothes line to a slightly shadier place (still part sun) on the remaining lawn, and dig that patch over.  It would add another 2m x 2m ish bed for growing some veg, and hopefully increase my yields. 

The only downside is that this new bed would be detached from all the other veg beds, and not visible from the house.  I like having all the beds close to the house where I can keep an eye on them for pests or other problems. 

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