Early Book Review: The Edible Front Yard by Ivette Soler

The Edible Front Yard: The Mow-Less, Grow-More Plan for a Beautiful, Bountiful Garden by Ivette Soler is a wonderful resource for gardeners that are tired of mowing, want to grow their own food, and/or want to garden in a even more environmentally friendly method. While I am not ready to dig up my front lawn and replace it entirely with edible plants, I still learned a great deal from this book. The garden designs are both beautiful and doable, something that can be said of all designs featured in gardening books. The full color photographs were perfectly paired with the instructions and informational text. I enjoyed reading this book, and was inspired in my own gardening.

There is a movement which is slowly and quietly growing among gardeners. Front lawns are slowly disappearing, and gardens fill of plants that offer beauty and food. The economic climate and rising ecological awareness are fuel for this movement. The Edible Front Yard talks about this movement and how readers can take part in it. A functional garden does not mean that it is an ugly garden; in fact many of the suggested food producers and herbs are as beautiful as any other plant. The Edible Front Yard offered ideas, stories, and suggestions in regards to plant choices, plant combinations, and hardscape elements. If you are not sure on what hardscape means, it is simply the items in your landscape that at not necessarily organic; this includes pathways, trellises, fences, patios, and so on. Soler offers readers details on how to redo the entire yard, or how to take small areas to best utilize the yard to grow food while providing wonderful curb appeal. There are also mentions of the possible hurdles in making such a change, such as concerned neighbors, as well as suggestions on how to minimalize the possibilities of these issues. Step by step instructions for making the complete leap into a garden taking over the entire front yard or starting with smaller, simpler changes are easy to understand and implement. I have some great ideas on what to do with my front and back yard gardens come the next planting season. I am eager to get started.

The Edible Front Yard is a fantastic resource for creating an edible garden worthy to take center stage in your front yard. I highly recommend this book to anyone considering making big changes in how they care for their yard and garden in order to do so in a greener way. Even gardeners looking for new design ideas and information on growing a variety of edibles throughout their property can make great use of this. Inspiration can be found here for big and small changes.