Front yard veggies

Yesterday I saw yet another front yard veggie garden – I love this trend! Is it a trend? In Takoma Park it seems these gems are popping up all over, in my neighborhood especially. There’s one next door, across the street, katty-corner, two down the avenue and, of course, my own.

I dug my garden out of the zoysia grass when I moved in five years ago, cutting up the lawn and replacing it with bags of organic soil I hauled up the 27 steps to my yard. The result has been moderately successful – I’ve grown all sorts of greens (lettuce, arugula, spinach, chard, collards), green beans, sugar snaps, peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, parsley, cilantro, eggplant, carrots, beets. I am currently overrun by weeds, but that has nothing to do with poor soil and everything to do with neglect.

My best crops this year are eggplant, jalapeños, and bell peppers, which are turning red just as I’d hoped. Talk about a great sandwich ingredient – roasted red bell peppers and roasted eggplant on a nice, artisanal bread spread with pesto from the garden basil, and maybe a bit of mozzarella or goat cheese – like a bite of late summer.

How to roast a pepper
Wash the pepper but keep it whole. Set the toaster oven on broil (or the oven, if you don’t have a toaster oven, or use the grill if you’ve got stuff going already). Set the pepper under (or on) the heat, turning as each side blisters and/or turns black. To blister the entire pepper will take 10-15 minutes. When it’s ready, remove it with tongs, place it in a paper bag and fold over the top. Leave it for 5 minutes or so, then remove and peel away the skin. The flesh will be nice and soft and sweet, great for slicing up in a sandwich, as a pizza topping, or as a “sinker” in a salad. (To roast the eggplant, slice and spread with olive oil, then place on the grill, or set under the broiler until slightly tender).

Shameless plug: I learned about other, quite beautiful and inspiring garden options when I wrote an article about people who ditch their lawns and instead choose ornamentals and natives. This choice is often all about aesthetics, but many people turn away from grass because more plantings provides food and shelter for wildlife, and minimize runoff that can pollute our waterways. The article, which features five examples of lovely lawnless homes, is in the current issue of Bethesda Magazine. (Sorry, no link to this particular article, but you can get it on newsstands)