http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/06/21/lawngarden.ART_ART_06-21-09_B1_M1E8A8L.html?sid=101

ERIC ALBRECHT | DISPATCH
Kelly Sandman, left, neighbor Justin Rooney and his wife, Allison Collins, show off the garden that fills their front yards. The couples began it last year after learning about permaculture.
When Allison Collins has a yen for a tomato, she pops out her front door, pulls one off the vine and tosses it in her mouth.

"They're especially rewarding," Collins said as she and neighbor Kelly Sandman and a couple of friendly cats meandered through what used to be their front lawn on W. Como Avenue.

The grass is gone, replaced with a terraced garden that runs from front doors to the curb and from driveway to driveway of their Clintonville homes.
"I think it's so much more interesting and beautiful," Sandman said as she stooped to run her fingers through the spikes of a rosemary plant, releasing its scent.

Eighteen months ago, a garden in their front yards wasn't even a thought. Then, Sandman's husband, Michael, 41, and Collins' husband, Justin Rooney, 35, went to a free lecture about permaculture, a way of living self-sufficiently in cooperation with nature. That led to a workshop on the subject and, early in spring 2008, the decision to replace their grass with flowers and food-bearing plants.

"The lawn seemed like overrated ornamentation," Collins said. "And I wondered, why are we working so hard to grow things in the backyard when our front yard is south-facing?"
That means the front yards of the two bungalows at the north end of Clinton-Como Park get plenty of sun while the backyards are shady.

So the four homeowners set to work, burying the grass with mulch, sticks and newspapers; threading wide strips of old carpet through the grass to create swales (slight depressions to gather water); building two raised beds with bricks; and finally, planting a wide collection of plants.

Collins ticks off a few: tomatoes, potatoes, corn, strawberries, radishes, carrots, sunflowers, herbs and lettuce greens of many varieties. They added raspberry and blueberry bushes and pear, plum, apricot, peach and apple trees.
"It raised a few eyebrows when we started putting it in last year," Collins acknowledged. "At first, it looked like someone had turfed our lawn. But now, it seems to be a bit of a tourist attraction."

Bicyclists ride by and shout their approval. People walking by stop and ask about the crops. So many people are interested that they've put a poster under glass near the curb explaining what permaculture is.

"I'm sure there are some really nice people who just haven't said anything who are thinking, 'Your yard looks like crap,'  " Mrs. Sandman said.
Both couples had little experience with gardens when they started. Collins, 37, is a massage therapist, and her husband is a cook. Sandman, 33, is a woodworker; her husband is a software programmer.

Now, each can walk through the garden and identify nearly every growing thing. That includes weeds, which they mostly allow to grow to aerate and replenish the soil. If they pull one up or cut it off, they leave it in the garden so it decomposes -- "chop and drop," as Collins calls it.

This year, they've added four rain barrels and several beehives to the mix and watched as many plants popped up unannounced, reseeding themselves from the past year's crop.
They hope their methods catch on, although they know that many people aren't ready to give up their lawns.