Suburban Conversion

Five years ago, in the middle of the real estate boom, I decided to sell my country home and move to the suburbs.

 I could say that I wanted to be closer to town because my daughter was getting older and more socially active, but honestly my wife and I just like to move. Trading eighty acres of paid for property may seem strange to some, but we made a lot of money on the sale and built a beautiful home much closer town. Well I never dreamed real estate values would tank as they have; change of plans. In the back of my mind I thought I would live in town for a few years, sell for a healthy profit and move again. We may move again, but it probably won’t be in a few years.

I have to admit that I love my new home. We are close to everything and the neighbors are nice. It took me a few years to shake the feeling that I was on public display when I mowed my lawn, but it doesn’t bother me anymore. My neighbors have really nice landscaping and I have worked very hard to make my yard look as tended as theirs. But what do you really get out of landscaping and grass cutting? It’s kind of like vacuuming; it looks nice when you do it, but it really has no value. Somewhere deep down I still possessed the primal urge to plant something to eat!

This is when I began what I like to call my “suburban conversion”. If I’m going to weed, prune and water why not do so to edible plants? By now you are probably envisioning the HOA busting neighbor that plows his front yard and fences it with hog wire; aluminum pie plates dangling from strings on metal posts surrounding a decomposing scarecrow clad in a flannel shirt. Five gallon buckets, barking dogs and shovels with broken handles overflowing the open and spidery garage? Well that is country life, and while it is kind of fun, it’s a good way to get ignored when you walk to the mailbox if you live in the suburbs!

So let's just say that this idea requires a little tact. Naturally the back yard is the ideal location for a vegetable garden, but one of the first rules of gardening is - you’ve got to plant where the sun is; in my case the front yard.  Personally I think the bright orange blooms of a zucchini plant are beautiful, but town folk are more accustomed to irises and azaleas. 

Pleasing the neighborhood was one thing, but keeping the roving band of starving goats, commonly referred to as deer, at bay proved to be the greatest task. In the country I planted for deer, but in town I planted for the DAMN deer. What they don’t eat they destroy, and this left only one option; an electric fence. Okay, I know you’re thinking dangling pie plates and Lifebouy soap again, but stay with me.

I think it is turning out just fine! It will take a little while for the new soil to be healthy enough to support a thriving garden, but I hope to have some produce in the process. Tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, Swiss Chard and more!

I don’t hold on to the notion that I will set myself free from the grocery store; I have tolerate neighbors, but I feel sure they would draw the line on a hog pen. But we are having lots of fun (and feeling a little more like our old selves) with our “Suburban Conversion”!