Haeg, 38, grew up mowing his family's lawn in suburban Minneapolis, paying no mind to the garden out back. He earned an architecture degree from Carnegie Mellon University and worked in New York before moving to Los Angeles for a series of teaching jobs eight years ago.
He created Gardenlab at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena as a counterweight to computer labs, urging gardening with mixed success.
The Edible Estates idea hit him after the polarizing 2004 election. He wondered about common ground. The project "is at the convergence of all the issues we care about," Haeg says. Among them: where food comes from, pollution, food costs, globalization.
For Clarence Ridgley, the recent planting ends 22 years of manicuring his front lawn, yanking weeds here, edging there, fertilizing everywhere. But it won't end the friendly neighborhood banter over whose front yard is best.
Don Brock, across the street, claims to have won last year. This summer, Ridgley says, he'll "blow him out of the water" with a front yard lush with armloads of bounty to share, beyond the tomatoes he previously gave neighbors.
"I'm dying to see it in fruition. All of the neighbors are excited," said Brock, 56, adding this tease: "Mr. Ridgley is a very giving man, and I hope he continues in that tradition."
andrea.siegel@baltsun.com
EDIBLE IDEAS
Here's a look at some of what was planted to replace Clarence Ridgley's front lawn:
Trees:
Apple, cherry, fig, pear
Berries:
Raspberry, strawberry, blueberry
Grapes:
Green, purple
Veggies:
Bell peppers, broccoli, bush beans, cabbages, lettuces, pole beans, squash, tomatoes
Herbs:
Chamomile, fennel, parsley, peppermint sage, thyme
Edible flowers:
Borage, calendula, bachelor's buttons, lavender, nasturtium
