Kill Your Lawn

If you live in Southern California and don’t reside in an underground water park, you’ve probably heard that California is not doing so hot in terms of the water supply. Although we have been in a drought for years, we might actually start to see significant lifestyle forced upon us due to the increasingly drastic situation of the drought. Luckily for us Californians, there are plenty of plants available that we can replace our lawns and unsustainable plants with – plants that require little to no watering in order to grow and give us beautiful fruits, vegetables and aromas.

The idea of planting a dry garden is rather enticing for aspiring chefs such as myself who want to learn to cook with sustainable ingredients that grow well in our relatively arid environment.  There’s an abundance of fruit trees, herbs, vegetables and aromatics that thrive in California’s diverse coastal climates. If you’re not sure what to grow, just take a peek around the neighborhood. Right here in Berkeley persimmon trees are loaded with bright orange beauties that are keeping us full until the local apple and pear trees are ready to shed their nearly ripened fruit for the awaiting masses.

For the winter, a single citrus tree can provide an entire household and friends with enough fruit leftover to make several jars of jam. For those of you who are more interested in looking at your garden instead of eating it, California is full of gorgeous, native desert plants as well as an impressive array of aromatic herbs that are not only appealing to the eye, but to the olfactories as well. My personal favorites are black sage, hummingbird sage and mule fat.

There are a number of ways to learn which plants are low maintenance, which bear fruit and during what time of year to plant/harvest the myriad dry garden plants that can be found in California. One idea is to go to a local farmers market and talk to vendors. Oftentimes farmers markets will even have a free booth where you can ask an expert gardener advice on any topic related to organic and sustainable farming in California.

There’s another great resource that I’m sure you brainiacs out there can guess at – that’s right – the internet! Websites like the California Native Plant Society and californiagardens.com both offer extensive lists of almost every native plant conceivable. Furthermore, if you live in the Bay Area and are stuck in an apartment without a garden (like me), there’s a good chance that there’s a community garden near your apartment where you can rent a piece of land out for a small fee and reap the benefits of being able to harvest a myriad of foods.

Tending to a crop of sustainable plants is not only good for the environment; it’s a wonderful way to spend sunny afternoons alone or with loved ones. So stop waiting and make it happen. Kill your lawn and plant yourself your very own “Garden of Eatin’”.