The Beauty of the Suburban Garden: A Guide to Producing Food On A Small Scale

Now, I'm no dummy. But stumbling through my new experiments in willow weaving, broad bean growing, and the harried-looking remnants of my beets and swiss chard, I do wonder sometimes. For years, book series like the Complete Idiot's Guides and the Dummies series have been catering to people like me: people who fumble our way through a myriad of gardening quandaries, gradually accumulating knowledge and producing food until we somehow find ourselves in the position of expert instead of dummy.

For new gardeners who are just beginning to produce food, playing in the suburban garden is a good way to begin. It's local and easy and an excellent entry point to food gardening. Recently, I interviewed avid suburban gardener Chris McLaughlin about her adventures with vegetables, chickens, and goats, all within the confines of a smaller garden. McLaughlin is the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Heirloom Vegetables and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Composting. The Idiot's Guides are a series of reference books that features core concepts about gardening and other practical topics.

Why move into food gardening? It's a way to exercise, increase the beauty of a lot, get together as a family, and put food on the table. Gardening is an ever-shifting thing. The landscape is always changing, and you can participate in the "growing, shifting, and adding." Gardening doesn't need to be an expensive hobby, yet it can result in tasty and healthy food for your family.

For the beginning gardener, community resources are key to producing food and building a successful vegetable garden. McLaughlin recommends your local cooperative extension office and other community education centers as resource people. Master gardeners have a deep understanding of the plants and food crops that thrive in your particular area. Join gardening groups and start to trade seeds, cuttings, and extra plants. This makes gardening a very inexpensive hobby. If you are in an area that is well-served by nurseries or garden centers, Chris recommends finding a nursery and building a relationship with the staff over time. Community matters, and soon those same staff will be giving you gardening tips.

McLaughlin is an advocate for suburban food gardens, but not just for the pleasure of gardening. "The biggest thing for me is that it empowers people," she says. "It's no small thing to grow something and feed yourself with it." It's a matter of control over the home economy, budget, and food sources. McLaughlin points out that the suburban yard is a perfect size for the beginning gardener. It's not so large that it's overwhelming, yet it's a large enough parcel of land to give people a taste of successful food growing.