Perhaps few things are as gratifying as learning to grow your own food — and for one homeowner, their small front yard became a veritable "food forest" in a relatively short time.
They posted photos of the area in the subreddit r/NoLawns, a page dedicated to the growing trend of replacing monoculture grass with native plants or food gardens such as this one.
"I turned my frontyard into a food forest," they wrote proudly. "You can grow a ton in a small space and have it look nice too."
Others were impressed with the abundance. "That's awesome!" one person wrote. "I'd love to do something like this."
The OP shared more details about what they planted. Their bounty includes an avocado tree, several stone fruit trees (apricots, nectarines, peaches, and more), and other plants and trees that produce tomatoes, zucchini, corn, pomegranates, cherries, guavas, figs, bananas, artichokes, asparagus, and much more. It's a mind-boggling amount of produce for any piece of land, let alone one small yard.
"I had always wanted to do this, but it took years," they wrote. "The previous owners had 1000s of river rocks everywhere." And while some areas had been worn down over two feet by the erosion, they said, they were still able to cultivate so much food — after planting everything by hand, to boot.
More and more homeowners have been embracing food gardening, though perhaps not often with this degree of dedication, and interest has remained steady, Spectrum News 1 North Carolina reported. The outlet paraphrased The National Gardening Association's annual research, which found that gardening is at a 17-year high, with more than 43% of Americans growing at least some food.
Growing food is a great way to save money, especially considering the cost of at-home food keeps increasing, per the Department of Agriculture. It's also healthier for you. Most fruits and vegetables begin losing nutrients 24 hours after being picked, according to Virtua Health, so garden-to-table dining provides more vitamins and nutrients than buying at the store, where most produce has traveled for days just to reach the shelves.
"Permaculture food forests are the future!!" one Redditor enthused.
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