Most Americans probably never stop to think of it, but those handsome, chemically enhanced front-yard lawns are a fairly worthless waste of space, a paean to the color green that produces nothing but toil. That space could be an aesthetically pleasing and productive vegetable garden. From Corinne Asturias‘ San Francisco Chronicle essay:

“The truth is, we’ve never loved our lawn or the concept of lawns. They permeate the American dream and dominate our midcentury, suburban development in San Jose. Space hogs, water suckers and giant leaf collectors that have to be blown, mown and doused in chemicals with a great ruckus to look good, what is the point of a lawn other than to say: we have land, time and money to waste? When our kids were young the home turf had its benefits: a landing pad for soccer balls and dogs and skateboards, and a display carpet for the annual holiday tree.

But lately, its uselessness had started to gnaw at us. And staring at the newly dead zone out front, I realized that in all the years living in this home, I’d never even thought about what I wanted for the sunny space occupied by my lawn. My imagination started to roam and a rebellious vision took shape: the organic vegetable garden I’d always wanted but couldn’t plant out back because of three dogs, two tortoises and not enough sun.” (Thanks Time.)