Already have done. Very common here in the southwest to have crops in the front of the house - often that's the best exposure. Only the prissypants object to it - and it's far more climate sensible than using hardscape and raising the ambient temperature umpteen degrees.

in many places front yards are desirable because they create the necessary psychic space between public and private life. In order to intrude, someone must cross a barrier however small in order to make contact with you. Granted, it makes little sense to create a monoculture manicured by a two-stroke motor and a whirling Blade but, there are fixes for the two-stroke motor.

like sustainable, community is a zero content word used to mean something when it really means nothing at all.

I put a vegetable garden in my front yard last year. Our backyard is mostly shady, so the front yard was the only viable option for the garden. I love having it in front. It is a great conversation starter with neighbors walking by, and makes it a nice place to sit and drink coffee or ice tea when the weather is nice.

Asked to give his opinion of the future of the environmental movement, he responds by saying he doesn't like the word "sustainable"? While demonstrating a complete misunderstanding of the definition in an environmental context. If that's big thinking...

But I'd kind of like to hear from someone who actually LIVES in a house with a lawn, instead of from an artiste talking down to those who do.

I live in the burbs. I moved here because of closeness to work, and now the family is rooted here. I'm contemplating a front lawn garden.

However, I'd like to hear from someone who has done this as far as practicalities, not art. Someone who has actually picked up a shovel and spent days in the sun digging up sod and sprinkler systems, and amending the soil, and so on... all the reasons I haven't done this project yet, and keep putting it off to some ethereal next year... this is a helluva lot of work. I'd like to hear from someone who has had to deal with a neighborhood association, objections from neighbors, etc.

I feel like this piece has shades of the urban/suburban snootiness I've heard so often. The assumption that anyone who would choose to live in the burbs might as well go have their heads examined at the same time. I guess what I'd like is a tone of inclusiveness, collaboration, and dirty-hands gardening practicality rather than gardening as art or gardening as a political statement.

I've been telling the wife we ought to have a front-yard garden because that would take advantage of the plentiful sun in the front yard, and reduce the amount of grass that we are in thrall to.

I suspect the way to win over, or at least get past the neighbors, would be to put that front-yard garden in a bed that is attarctively trimmed with rock or fencing, or if you wanted to spend the up-front money, a brick-wall planter bed about two feet high. Then it would become an ornament. An expensive one, to be sure, but probably no worse than what people do in the name of sod and shrubbery.

By the way, has anybody here seen the documentary film "Gimme Green"? You can go to its web site for a look at the lawn obsession.

My family relocated to the suburbs of Boise ID a few years ago, using the rising real estate prices in California to finance a new larger home close to schools and parks. So at 40, I had my first sprinkler system and lawn, and I must admit I sometimes feel that I'm now enslaved to that damn lawn. I use "green" fertilizers, but still have to mow and weed and worry about every little brown patch, as well as fix sprinkler heads when they decide to malfunction. In this area, we're starting to get more interest in xeriscaping, which is replacing the lawn with native plants more suitable to the dry climate. The thought of a vegetable garden is also very tempting.

Sorry, dude... my tiny front lawn is not socially alienating. It's my personal space. If I want to be nose to nose with people all the time, I'll move to China. Until then, leave my lawn alone... although, growing food in the front yard appeals to me right now!

A nice front yard is inviting not alienating. Where do you come up with this nonsense? It isn't difficult to keep a front yard green without using chemicals or a large amount of water. Just plant the right species for your climate and use organic fertilizers. You can even mow it with a push mower and eliminate the air pollution as well as get some good exercise. Some people actually use both there front and back lawns for parties, kids playing, pets, etc. If you want to have a hideous, inefficient "food factory" in your front lawn, please don't move to my neighborhood. What type of food would you grow that would need less water then your properly installed lawn? I really think you should stick to making art. If you are really trying to save water (resources), you should just put rocks in your front yard and buy local produce from an organic farmer.

I know there is a clause in our homeowners association agreement that prohibits us from tearing up the front yard and putting in crops. But the association hasn't met in three years, as far as I know. So we are doing it little by little, lining the front yard with beets and peppers interspersed with perennial flowers and herbs, and filling up the back and side yards too.

What next? A chicken coop? That wouldn't be artsy though, huh? Maybe a goat...