Edible Landscaping in the Desert Southwest: Wheelbarrow to Plate

By Catherine Crowley

You can have a totally edible garden in the Desert Southwest (and other similar year-round climates). Edible fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers can be as decorative in the garden as they are on the dinner table. Change your ornamental garden into a treasure for the eye, a safe environment for family and pets -- and you can eat it too!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: May 11, 2010
• ISBN: 9780557469512

Book preview

U

Introduction

Do you remember the fragrant warmth of your grandmother’s kitchen? Or perhaps it was an aunt or uncle whose kitchen table held the homey comforts of good food, lovingly prepared — it perfumed the air with the gentle dignity of a quieter, wholesome time, no matter how simple the fare.

We are a technically advanced society, filled with the wizardry of our genius. The race forward into prosperity and success envelops us with haste. Miniature phones, huge vehicles, and interactive video connect us to others, but not with them. Relationships can be created, fostered, and ended, all on the Internet, without once meeting a person face-to-face. Food wrapped in plastic, microwaved into heat (but not warmth), and hastily eaten nourishes us but does not nurture us.

When and where do we find the quiet, wholesome time to nurture not only our family, but ourselves?

Back to my grandmother’s kitchen.

My grandmother grew things in her garden and cooked things in her kitchen. My mother and father, happily, were excellent cooks, but it was my grandmother’s kitchen that had soul. All the wonderful memories have coalesced into two major, nurturing traditions: gardening and cooking.

I have taken those two wonderful old fashioned ideas, added herbs, time-saving tips and modern health concerns, and created Herbs 2 U.

And I am having an herbalicious time!

The fragrances that surround me when I tour my gardens — brushing against the basil and rosemary, stopping to smell the orange blossoms, treading lightly on my lavender thyme, and picking the flowers of savory — relax, refresh and inspire me.

I take those things from my gardens and bring them into the kitchen, to perfume the air with their aromas, anticipating the warmth and flavor of herb-infused foods, prepared simply and quickly,

And served with quiet dignity.

Welcome to my gardens and cooking ideas. Here you will find ways to garden in the Desert Southwest; add color, form, texture, fragrance and flavor to your landscaping; bring the bounty into the kitchen, and create tasty, healthy, and fragrant meals. Some are very simple, some low fat/low salt, some meatless, and some are gourmet — all will bring an herbalicious time to you and your family.

Expect the unexpected, and the comfortingly familiar.

Why Edible Landscaping?

Why Edible Landscaping?

Simply put, it is a ‘two-fer’ — you have pleasing-to-the-eye, fragrant plants that are usable in your cooking. Edible landscaping provides other benefits: safety for your children, pets, and you; habitat for hummingbirds, butterflies, bees; and fragrant decorations for potpourri and bouquets.

And, of course, there is nothing quite like harvesting from your own garden and bringing the bounty into your own kitchen.

This book is aimed at the gardener and cook who have been vegetable, fruit or ornamental gardening. Most of the edible plants in this book require more water than Xeriscape gardening. The focus is then to maximize your gardening efforts and water resources.

If your gardens are primarily Xeriscape, many desert and native plants are both decorative and edible (the whole Prickly Pear plant is edible — the flowers* of Yucca, Ocotillo and Chuparosa are edible). In Arizona all plants and animals on public lands are protected, so you need to grow your own. There are several books on desert edible plants for Xeriscape gardening which can be found at the book stores at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum and the Desert Botanical Garden.

Do keep in mind that in some cases the suggested plants may have slightly different growing characteristics from the strictly ornamental plants, e.g., they may not flower — but instead provide a steady source of green. (Ex. substitute lemon grass for