curious? This is a post on eating your lawn… No, I’m not suggesting that you turn into a goat and eat your grass, I’m suggesting that you replace your lawn with home-grown produce!

I was recently browsing around over at Chow.com and read a post on people turning their suburban front yards into mini farms – and with great success!

So, I thought I’d do a little bit of research…

Some of the tips that I found were great reminders of our tendency to be over-achievers… what can we say, we are only human!

1 – start small!
Just because you have decided to take the plunge into mini-farming, doesn’t mean that you need to tear out the entire lawn in the first week! Take your time and learn as you go. Start with a raised bed – build the bed, fill it with good soil, and start out planting your favorite fruit or veggies in it. Don’t get too carried away the first season either! You need to grow just as your garden does!

Another thought in this front – make sure that you remove the grass UNDER the raised bed before filling it with dirt! My first attempt at this was a failure due to my being too lazy to till or dig up the grass. All I grew were grass and weeds that first year – the carrots & onions I planted just didn’t have anywhere to go because the grass under them was waaaaay too lush and thick.

On a personal side note… if you are planning to eat the things growing in your yard, I recommend NOT using herbicides and pesticides on them. If it is designed to kill organisms, do you really want to chance it? Keep in mind that YOU ARE AN ORGANISM TOO!

Decide what fruits and vegetables you are wanting to grow. This will determine the height of your finished beds. If you are planting root vegetables, you may want to go a little taller, but if you are planting tomatoes, you need to make sure that they will have some sort of support to climb, but they don’t necessarily need the depth of soil that root vegetables do.

Check with your local garden center for tips on your area – some plants will do really well, while others may need a bit more coaxing to grow. Their livelihood is plants and how to grow them, so utilize their knowledge!

2 – Plan out your garden before you start digging anything up.
Knowing what produce you want to grow will help you choose where to put your bed – do your chosen plants need full sun? Do they need partial shade? Are they dry soil plants or wet? All of these things need to be thought of before you dig in and built a bed. Plant the full sun starts in one area that is in full sun. Make sure that they also have the same water requirements. If you are wanting some partial shade plants, group them together as well. It is also good to keep in mind that some of your newly planted goodies will provide shade for some others.

3 – Choose the right spot
Once you have chosen the plants you want and figured out the water/light needs that they have, take a hard look at your lot and find the perfect place to build your raised bed. Mark out the area that you are planning to use with string and make sure that it looks right. If you are using seedlings, it is a good idea to set them out in the portioned off area (still in their pots) to make sure you like the look of it. Keep in mind that they will get bigger!

4 – Build your bed
There are lots of ways to build raised beds – you can use pre-treated wood, cinder block, brick, railroad ties… you name it! Keep in mind that anything that is coming in contact with the dirt will come in contact with your food, so if you choose used railroad ties, make sure you line them in the inside to keep the chemicals out of your produce.

Dig up the grass or till it down in to remove it, and add it to your compost pile or yard waste bin. Dig down a bit further around the edges to create a good foundation for your retaining walls. Tamp this down, and if you want, you can add in some sand or gravel for good measure. Build the walls of your bed, and fill it with good quality soil.

If your plantings will need support, now is the time to put that in as well. Add in some trellis or wire if they need to climb, and keep in mind that since you are replacing part of your yard, your neighbors would appreciate if it looked good!

Follow the planting instructions for each individual plant – some need to start in cold weather, other need to wait until it warms up. If you have room inside, you can start many warm weather plants in peat pots indoors and move them out as the danger of frost passes.

Mulch is a good idea too. It helps keep the moisture in the soil and can keep some of the weeds at bay. Choose your mulch carefully though – some wood chips are highly acidic, and not all plants like that. Grass clippings can make a good mulch as well, and compost is always good!

Make sure you keep the weeds down and the slugs out (if you have them) and enjoy the bounty of your mini farm! If you are like most backyard farmers, you will have some excess produce that many friends and neighbors will gladly take off of your hands!

After the growing season is over, plant a cover crop to keep it looking nice, and start planning what to grow next year…