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© Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

Imagine a yard full of many kinds of edible plants.  Would you believe you can grow oranges and tangelos?  Sure!  You’ve seen that.  In Phoenix, half your friends are giving away citrus at this time of year.  But what if you could make all the trees, the hedges and the flowerbeds all provide good food?  And this is exactly what Greg Peterson has done.  On a normal urban lot of less than 1/3 acre.  In Phoenix.  Where it’s really hot almost half of the year.

I met Greg many years ago in an experimental choir.  He was so genuine and articulate that I knew he would succeed when he started seeing his urban ecology mission as the Urban Farm.  He was gradually easing ornamental and water-greedy plants out of his yard, while replacing those with fruit trees and edible lower landscaping.  When you go through the gate that says “Urban Farm”, you begin to see more elements of the plan.

Greg and his colleague, landscape designer Kristin Parsons, collaborated on the creation of a beautiful site plan showing all the parts and processes integrated on the Urban Farm.  You can get guides, seeds, trees, and other plants, in season, from the organization.  Greg has now been developing the site and the programs for 32 years.

In the back yard, the gently arching branches above you are white mulberries.  They are getting heavy with fruit, so the branches are beginning to hang.  I wonder how the fruit is best harvested and how long it takes?

Touring the site, much color and beauty is provided by nasturtiums, which range from pale yellow to orange.  The varieties here are edible: the stems, leaves and flowers.  They are known to have a slightly peppery taste.  They clearly make great ground cover, and sometimes they climb on other plants, giving the impression that they are shrubs.

Other residents of the Urban Farm include chickens of several breeds.  The chickens, which are all laying hens, love to munch bugs and also fallen mulberry fruit.  Yum yum!

Eat your yard, urban farming

The Urban Farm tour I took this week really made me think about how I can incorporate edibles into my Feng Shui Garden– nasturtiums first, for sure!  If you would like to check out The Urban Farm, you can easily start with their Facebook page.  Just use the email and links there to connect with their programs.  To connect with designer Kristin Parsons, her consulting and classes, check out http://www.cultivatedllc.com, or email kristin@cultivatedllc.com .  Really, what could be more fun than eating your yard?

And that’s both me and you, Healthy Happy and Loving Lifesm!

Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert, holistic healer, and award-winning author who celebrates life.  She has a longtime natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within:  Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine.  The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office.   They are also available in Scottsdale, Arizona, at the Franciscan Renewal Center bookstore and at the bookstore at St. Barnabas on the Desert Episcopal Church. Or simply email us to order:  kebba@kebba.com .  Thank you!

Happy healthy loving life

Books by Kebba Buckley Button