Dana and Sarah’s Garden of Eden

Turning a patchy lawn into edible abundance

Our 2,400 - straight - foot backyard veggie garden is located in Los Angeles ( Zone 10B ) . It is an edible garden of Eden that features over 100heirloom varietiesof vegetables , fruit , and herbs . We are growing many rare varieties that are listed inSlow Foods ’ Ark of Tasteliving catalog of foods facing extinction . to boot , we have planted 24 citrus andfruit trees .

In the midst of a world-wide pandemic , when we were in lockdown due to COVID-19 , the stake in gardening rocket . In 2020 , our ten - older film pick up over 1 million sight . We set up a backyard garden to instruct how to grow food using no - till organic horticulture principles . Our original goal was to grow our own solid food and share our journey from planting to harvest home on Facebook and Instagram ( @backtoedengardening ) .

When we moved to Los Angeles two years ago , the backyard was a patchy grass lawn overgrow with pertinacious weeds . The dirt was so compact you could not dig a hole with a shovel . In 2020 , we applied over 10 loads of arborist woodwind instrument chips to every bare inch of our property . We diligently spread the wood chips over the control surface of the soil as a sheetmulch , nevertilling , mixing , or stir up the soil . We applied a layer at least 4 inches thick on the annualvegetable gardenplot and 4 inch mysterious around our recurrent plants and yield trees . Within 6 month we transform the backyard into a riotous , sustainable , comestible ecosystem with goodly soil that grows nutritious - dense food for thought yr - round .

All of the loads of woodwind chips we receive were deliver for free from local tree - trim back caller through the websiteChipDrop . Arborist wood chips are a copious , renewable natural imagination that are moot a green wastefulness by - merchandise from pruning tree diagram limb . Typically , freshly chipped offshoot , phonograph needle , and leaves are an idealsoil microbe – feeding mixture of atomic number 6 from the Sir Henry Joseph Wood and N from the novel green leafage . Wood chip are an abundant , low-cost , and ecologically sustainable material that has tremendous potential drop to rejuvenate soil , suppress weeds , boost plant life growth , andconserve water .

Living in a drought - stricken state , we know our big challenge is conserving pee . In 2020 , Los Angeles received less than 6 inches of rain , the 7th - driest time of year in record account . consider this , it is quite unbelievable that we only need to water established plant in our garden once a week in the heat of summer . It is essential to deliver water by cover the dirt with mulch .

We are uprise everything fromapplestozucchiniusing regenerative organic agriculture principles . We know our food system can not count on monocultures for the future of nutrient . One of the perks of growing your own nutrient is plant varieties you ca n’t buy in the food market computer memory . We plant uncommon , heirloom , open - pollinated , non - GMO seed and rarified fruit trees . Our promise is to barrack growers to increase biodiversity within their gardens .

In increase to our urban garden , we produce ball - put chickens who help reduce pests course andfertilizethe garden organically . We make our own compost with kitchen fighting , green yard waste , Natalie Wood chip shot , and chickenmanure .

We are consistently overflowing with an teemingness of produce and eggs and adjudicate to freely share the harvesting with our community . This summertime , we are host a “ Garden to Table Crop Swap , ” where other gardeners in our neighborhood can contribute a selection offruits or vegetablesto share with other growers . We place a table in the garden for everyone to share their harvesting .

Our garden reflects our deep passion for get and have goodish solid food . Our garden is colourful , open , and always change and growing , which is something we strain for in our daily lives . Our gardening precept are in railway line with our environmental interest in rectify ground , economise water system , increasing biodiversity , and sequestering carbon .

Hosting a Garden to Table Crop Swap in Los Angeles

Harvesting blue devil curled scotchkaleto make a cock-a-hoop salad to share with our community

A vast selection ofheirloom tomatoesripened on the vine

An heirloom Italian Costata Romanesco zucchinisquashgrowing on the vine

Our Washington navel point orange tree is growing strong and salubrious in the midst of a citrus quarantine .

Harvesting immature beans with our dog , Anika

Have photos to share ? We ’d love to see your garden , a particular collection of plants you get it on , or a fantastic garden you had the chance to inspect !

To submit , send 5 - 10 photos to[email protected]along with some entropy about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos . We ’d be intimate to hear where you are located , how long you ’ve been gardening , succeeder you are proud of , failures you learned from , hope for the future , favorite plants , or funny story from your garden .

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woman holding a large harvest of kale

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