Champs Elysée in Paris

Champs Elysée before:
Champs Elysée after:
Would over 800,000 Vancouverites spend a Sunday on a holiday weekend looking at vegetables and plants? Probably not...but in Paris they did on May 23, at Nature Capitale

Normally, this blog focuses on edibles in front yards and lanes, but with this entry I'm taking the liberty of extending the scope to include vegetables literally ON the street. Champs Elysee was covered with wheat and other edible plants, such as corn, lettuce, beets, garlic, peas, chard, and rape seed.





And to top it all off--an edible pyramid of raw veggies in sustainable wooden cases!

Metamorphosis--from Mud to Meals

Along the front sidewalk is a colorful border of various plants and stones in this photo taken on April 22, camouflaging what may be happening behind it. I first noticed that this garden was undergoing a change last fall when the grass disappeared, and two apple trees were planted. The 6th photo on the blog of November 17, 2009 shows one of the apple trees with a yellow tag and a muddy-looking front yard.
Then intricate pathways of a contrasting mulch, and markings for plants were created, for what may very well be vegetables because of the short rows. The tiny areas will be easy to weed and harvest. Some plantings took place by mid-April. On the second photo, you can see the "whip" of one of the apple trees.


Maybe getting weary of all those dandelions, this gardener has decided to take on the additional project of removing the grass on the boulevard! The second photo shows the progress as of April 28. That may be another fruit tree, too. More on this (hopefully) edible garden later!

The Way of a Gardener--An Evening with Des Kennedy

Those of you who live in the lower mainland of BC may be interested in The Way of a Gardener: A Life's Journey, a new book by Des Kennedy and/or the evening event on May 27 at Books to Cooks.

A New Boulevard Garden with Vegetables

These avid gardeners have had plantings on the boulevard for many years, but in March 2010 they began a bold expansion to establish a garden on the entire boulevard across 1.5 lots in cooperation with their experienced neighbors. Two huge piles of soil are ready to be dispersed:


After much labor, the boulevard was leveled but not quite a blank slate due to the pre-existing plants (including a native salmon berry bush). However, an appreciably increased space for growing sun-loving plants has been created.

A few days later, cheerful flowers appeared, edging the beds.

With these hilled-up rows, it appears that vegetables will be planted.
Work over the weekend resulted in the transplanting of zucchini and carefully labeled rows of onions and other vegetables.

This new boulevard garden is definitely both a neat and attractive addition to the landscaping of this block.

Front Yard Garden Story in Courier

City drops hammer on front yard garden

This is the title of an article in the April 30, 2010 issue of the Vancouver Courier about a front yard vegetable garden that was not tidy enough for some neighbors.