City Councilor Vicki Stack is hosting a meeting on April 18th dedicated to urban sustainability that involves producing food crops instead of traditional limited-benefit vegetation.

Mr. Quint Redmond will be a speaker, his website is www.agriburbia.com
We'll also be joined by Mr. James Bertini who hosts the website www.denverbackyardfarms.org

5 years ago, I converted my front yard to a fully xeric, food producing landscape. Replacing a lawn that requires mowing, fertilizing, and chemicals was a great choice for me and I don't live in a HOA that prevents it. It's very relaxing during the summer spending an hour in the front yard picking tiny weedlings from the raised vegetable beds and harvesting produce. As people walk by on their evening strolls, it's a chance to chat for a second as I don't have a roaring lawn mower going.

I got a lot of attention from neighbors when I first converted the yard with comments ranging from unique to great. The unique comment wasn't really a compliment but I forgive that neighbor. I built my large raised beds from rhyolite rocks I got from Oxford Recycling. It was the least expensive way I could find at $25 a ton. It's not as pretty as it could be but I'm more into functionality than winning an award for best looking front yard. I don't really trust landscape timber as it's preserved with chemicals and I didn't want to have to rebuild the beds, ever. My back yard looks a bit wilder, there I produce grapes, raspberries which are tasty and bring me bees, and native grasses which bring me ladybugs, no mower, pesticides or fertilizers are used.

Even if you have a shaded front yard you may be able to add some vegetable beds that are dedicated to cool crops like beets, lettuce, onions or other foods. Maybe that big old juniper bush could go that sits in what you always thought of as the unusable part of the front yard.

I'd love to add a greenhouse to the property so I can grow tasty tomatoes in the winter but I'm limited because of Lakewood zoning codes. That's another factor that will be covered in Councilor Stack's meeting. How can we encourage real sustainability in home food production and what is limiting us now.

Hopefully you'll join the meeting, learn something new or teach something. Bring pictures if you're already into this type of sustainability, it's your chance to show off your smart growth.

Saturday, April 18th, 10:30 - 12:00
Lakewood Library at 20th Ave. and Miller St.