Is it tacky to grow tomatoes in the front yard?

In My Humble Opinion
21

My granddaddy used to grow his on the side of the house. It was almost in the front. His little 'maters and green beans and squash had their own little bed right there beside the house, and while not in plain view, you could see them if you happened to look in that direction.

He couldn’t use any of the real front yard space due to my grandmama growing every flower and type of plant known to mankind in the other fifty-gajillion flower beds that surrounded their house. Flowers always took priority over food, in her eyes.

'Cept when she wanted 'maters. That’s why he always got to have his little garden. Tackiness didn’t matter then.

22

I dug out dafidols to the horror of my nieghbor on the morning sun side of the house. I translpanted them beautiful dafs, gave some to her and exclaimed" You can’t eat dafidols" and planted beefsteak tomatoes.

I bet I was the only Boeing employee in circa 1978 that walked home fast on a thirty-minute lunch (punching out) and ate a freshly picked beefsteak tomatoe with cottage cheese.

You’ve got to make your own conditions.

23

There was a full on veggie garden in the front yard of a house a few doors down from me. I always liked it. It was owned by an couple in their 70’s who recently moved. They had this colorful sign in front that said, “The Magic Garden.” How cute is that? I miss it.

Haj

24

I’ll bet that you can grow those tomatoes in a way that will make them look trim and tidy. A frame to grow them on and some green twist ties will go a long way toward making them more presentable than most I’ve grown!

Wow!..sun-ripened tomatoes with salt and pepper sprinkled on them, so juicy that you have to eat them bending over. It will be well worth it!

25

I like the idea, just some things to be mindful of:

  1. If your front yard is fairly close to the street, be sure to wash 'em very well prior to eating. Auto and truck exhausts contain heavy metals that are toxic and they can easily cover the skins with a dusting of sorts. Just a little soap and water bath will do.

  2. When I was a restless pre-adolescent kid a few hundred years ago, ripe tomatoes were for the plucking and smashing. Things today have changed probably, but just in case. . .

Other then that I envy that eastern heat for growing tomatoes and I am sure yours will be delicious.

26

And I bet neither of them have ever grown tomatos!

27

Just call me Tack-eela from now on then, cause I’ve got 'em in my front yard.
I’ve got a big full garden in back w/ watermelons, peas, onions, t-maters, squash, peppers and much more. BUT, I’ve got a couple of big planters on my front deck with some prize tomato plants growing. (Damn that’s gonna be nice to just walk out the front door and pick a perfect vine ripe tomato.)

I can sit on my deck in the evening and prune and baby them while having a margarita and a cigar. Meanwhile, the boss is watering the lettuce she has around the goldfish pond.

BTW I’ve already got tomatoes coming on. and hell w/ them ignorant asses. Grow and give 'em a couple of really good ones when they’re ripe. That’ll shut em up for good. They’ll probably want you to show em how next year.

28

I believe the theory is that the front is for display and the back or side for utility. This is why the grand entrance is in front and servants enter at the back or the side. Likewise, one presented ones wife at dinners but kept the mistress more discretely. While it might coincidentally be expressed in “today’s stuck-up suburban standards”, it reflects an older idea of propriety that is at the very least Edwardian in vintage.

That being said, the USA has been famous for “inappropriate” use of publically-visible spaces (using the White House lawn for sheep, for example). So, if you’re in the USA, at least this sort of “tacky” has a long cultural tradition.

29

My grandmother saved up dozens of one-litre milk cartons, and started her tomato plants in them. I thought that was pretty tacky. I’m sure she tied them up with pantyhose as well. She had a lovely raspberry bush in the front yard that didn’t look at all out of place.

Tomatoes are fine, but sweet peas have such pretty flowers.

30

Why couldn’t you do both flowers and tomatoes? The flowers will look all socially acceptable while camouflaging the tomatoes. The best of both worlds.

I don’t have enough sun to grow tomatoes. When your bumper crop comes in, send me a few!

You people are soooooo lucky!

31

[snob]I vote tacky[/snob]

Depends on the neighborhood I guess…I’ve never seen a tomato garden out front of a Sutton Place townhouse before but assume in trailer parks they’re quite common.

The italians in my neck of the woods grow them where ever there’s southern exposure…if that’s the front of the house, so be it. But you can spot the classier pads, they plant their vegetables in one of these beautiful tire planters

32

Oh, I do have flowers! And herbs and a butterfly bush and all sorts of things! I just haven’t done much vegetable gardening as of yet.

Thanks for all your thoughts. I think fizgig and Dogface must be right as to why it might be considered tacky–that it’s a matter of showing that you don’t “need” to use your whole lot to grow food.

I’m very environmentally conscious (Green=environmentally conscious, Bean=slang for head or brain, so Green Bean=environmental thinker.) Part of that is making choices that result in less consumption and less waste. I live in a house that would seem frightfully small to the McMansion set, but I like it. Instead of buying a house that sits on destroyed farmland, contains vast amounts of unused space, and requires that I use a car to get everywhere, I live in an 80-year-old house in town where there is no wasted space. I’m proud that I am not contributing to sprawl, and instead supporting town/country style living.

Yes, sometimes I wish I had a bigger house or piece of land, but with a little effort or ingenuity, we manage beautifully. Part of that, though, is being somewhat flexible about things. For example, a couple of months ago, we moved the computer into the living room area. I’d rather have it and all its ugly paraphernalia elsewhere, but it has been working out great.

Similarly, I would rather but the vegetables in the back. That just seems more natural to me (I guess that is why I’m asking about this). I am irretrievably middle-class, after all. But, I am more than willing to re-think things a bit. I don’t want to get into a situation where I feel like I “need” a bigger piece of land because I “can’t” do the gardening that I want to do here.

For those of you who have wondered “what kind of neighborhood” it is, or whether I have an HOA…well, I live on the busiest street going into and out of town. The area is mixed commercial and residential. I live across the street from a pizza place with an 8-foot high chain-link fence. It ain’t Sutton Place. Technically, I live in the 'hood–the worst section of Westfield, NJ. (If you know Westfield at all, you are probably laughing your ass off right about now.)

I promise not to use pantyhose as plant ties!

Omorka: I was under the impression that the Big Unspoken Southern Belle Rulebook has now been put to paper: A Southern Belle Primer: Or Why Princess Margaret Will Never Be a Kappa Kappa Gamma by Marilyn Schwartz. I’m dying to read it–not in small part because I am a Kappa Kappa Gamma! :eek:

33

I think they are beautiful plants with nice blossoms and a great smell. Not tacky at all

34

Yeah, traditionally veggies are grown in the back, if one is concerned about tackiness. But since you’re more concerned about environmentalism, I say put edibles in front, and try to raise people’s conciousness about it. Your main problem might be theft, though…it’s darn hard to resist real tomatoes, once you’ve tasted them!

Strawberries are very pretty as a plant, as a flower, and as a fruit. You can buy special strawberry pots for them to live in. I’ve never had much success with MY strawberry plants, but then again, I’ve got a brown thumb.

I do think, however, that the compost pile MUST stay in the back yard. Really and truly I do.

35

I plant lots of marigolds around my tomato plants. I was told that this would keep the bug & worms away, and I’ve never had to use insecticide or pick worms off the plants. People always admire the marigolds. And of course they can’t wait to get some free home-growns.

Only two things that money can’t buy, and that’s true love and home-grown tomatoes. (Guy Clark)

36

One word: EarthBox - you can’t overwater . . .

I swear by these things - lots of great 'maters and real easy. Front yard, back yard, deck, patio, balcony, anywhere.

37

Well, your mom grew a Green Bean out there that wasn’t tacky so if’n you ask me I say “fire away”.
Mmmmmm… beefsteak.

38

Seeing as how it’s your front yard, I say go for it. Anyone whose delicate sensibilities would be offended is probably not someone you want to pal around with anyway. Me, I like seeing my neighbors’ gardens, be they in front, side, or back yards. I don’t know why, but it gives me a lift.

39

Ha ha. Yes, the composters are in the back, at the furthest point from any neighboring house. But considering we’re on 1/10 acre lots, they’re not too far. We got enclosed bins (Soil Saver Classics) in an effort to keep the compost as tidy and inoffensive as possible. It’s been great so far. You should see my worms! I’d like to add a 3rd bin sometime, soon. We could use the capacity.

I do have a random strawberry plant in an herb bed. It is some kind of wild alpine strawberry that is very pretty, but only produces a few tiny berries. That’s okay–I get an occasional treat while I’m weeding. I would like to get into doing strawberries, 'cause I love them. Mmmm!

lainaf–I passed on buying some marigold seeds last night–I had heard they were good for pest control. I’ll have to go back and get some. Maybe I’ll get the tall ones so I can cut them, too.

FWIW, I considered containering the tomatoes. I do have 3 large pots. There are a couple of drawbacks to container gardening–the main one being that I’m unreliable about watering. I can’t afford to buy a bunch of self-waterers at the moment, but it is something to consider for the future. Besides, I have this gorgeous double-dug bed where the soil has been nicely amended!

p.s. Aww, thanks lieu.

40

Put them in some Greenall potting soil which has organic fertilizer in it & they should grow great.

I don’t put them in the front yard near the sidewalk anymore cause someone took one once. I asked a cop why anyone would take them & he said they look like pot plants.