There has been a huge movement online that you may or may not have seen yet. It’s the idea of growing food, instead of lawns. Makes sense right. Lawns use chemicals to keep them alive and removing that chemical filled lawn and replacing it with fruit trees, vegetables, herbs and spices makes a lot of sense. For the most part it’s a one time investment that yields returns for years to come especially if you use the principles of permaculture.
Permaculture is the development of agricultural ecosystems intended to be sustainable and self-sufficient.
With that in mind, that’s truly the best route to grow if you want to turn the land around your home into a food forest. A food forest that you can walk through and receive plenty of tasty foods picked fresh from the ground, or tree branch.
There are five very important things to keep in mind when growing your own food and transforming your land into a food forest for the first time.
5 Things To Know Before Growing Food in Your Lawn
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Know Your Growing Zone!
What is a growing zone you might ask? Great question. A growing zone, also known as a hardiness zone, is a geographic area that is defined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) based on average annual minimum winter temperatures. Each zone is identified by a number and letter, and the zones are divided based on 10-degree Fahrenheit increments. The purpose of growing zones is to help gardeners and farmers select plants that are most likely to thrive in their specific climate. The USDA Hardiness Zone Map provides guidelines for plant selection, as different plants have different temperature requirements and can only grow successfully within certain temperature ranges.
Knowing your growing zone allows you to understand what will and what will not grow in the area that you are geographically located in. This is important as some plants will not thrive in the region you are in. If you know what will grow, you can just focus on those plants only.
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Learn About Soil Quality!
Soil quality is very important. The quality of the soil determines how fast and healthy something will grow on your land. If the soil is unhealthy or not rich in minerals and microbes you will have a hard time growing. Learning how to ‘build soil’ is an important trait. You’ll want to begin composting, as well as use many other techniques to build the health and quality of the soil up faster.
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Go With Permaculture! Here’s Why:
Permaculture is the most sustainable and automated way to grow food. There are permaculture food forests in almost every growing zone and climate. Permaculture allows you to grow food, set it and forget it! These foods come back yearly and seasonally and taste delicious. The best part is that the soil, food and taste are impeccable! Because what grows is seasonal and grows automatically, this set and forgetting allows you to enjoy life and have more amazing organic fruit just steps outside your door!
If you’re serious about converting your lawn into a permaculture food forest and having organic foods grow automatically on autopilot each year visit the Food Forest Abundance website. They offer free 30 minute strategy sessions which is a phone call with them where you can ask questions, understand the basics and how-to in order to turn your yard into a food producing mini-farm! You can click here to visit food forest abundance and claim your free 30 minute strategy session today!