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Steve and Anita Buchanan
Monmouth County, NJ

For a couple of years now we've tried our hand at backyard gardening. I would characterize our efforts as spotty at best, with feasts and famines being experienced every year depending on the vegetable. Last year we watched with great curiosity as our neighbor Wendy installed and planted several garden boxes in her own front yard. She had them completely planted and was watering them within a couple of hours. In sharp contrast, we had spent three full days digging up sod, trying to enrich soils and had not managed to plant one thing. Over the summer we watched as her front yard became a veritable garden of Eden. Our garden paled by comparison.
This spring we asked Wendy to set some up in our yard, and within a couple of hours, our garden boxes were up and running (no sod-busting required). In addition to some of the starter plants we'd purchased from a local nursery, Wendy suggested and planted some vegetables we never thought of growing (from her extensive seed library.) The layout was thoughtful, and when the garden matured, her placement took advantage of every inch of soil and sunlight without overcrowding. She even made some suggestions that helped our existing garden become more productive.
All summer we've enjoyed great vegetables in such variety that we rarely needed to visit the vegetable aisle at our grocery. Wendy followed up with emails discussing topics like "green" pest and disease control and how to prepare gardens to extend productivity into the fall and winter. Its late October, and while the tomatoes, cucumbers and cantaloupes are done, we're still enjoying fresh spinach, lettuce, carrots, arugula, chard, broccoli, kale and brussel sprouts as colder weather approaches.
We recommend 'The Front Yard Farmer' to anyone contemplating starting a new garden or expanding an existing one. The garden plots are very beautiful to behold. Even now in the middle of October, we still have bright orange nasturtium flowers cascading across our garden's edge. Beyond the obvious benefits of growing fresh, delicious, nutritious food, the entire family feels great about the tiny step we have taken to lower our carbon footprint.