Where does your garden grow?

Photo courtesy ABC News

According to ABC News last night, not necessarily in the back yard.

But in drought-ridden prairie country, the Cox family says its curious front yard saves money on the water bill while giving a new use to the space. "It's so much more interesting. A front yard is flat and boring," Priti Cox said. "And when you don't have young children, the only reason you ever go out in your front lawn is to mow it."

Architect Fritz Haeg has targeted that space, and started converting lawns like the Cox family's into what he calls edible estates by creating environmentally-friendly landscapes that overflow with vegetables and indigenous plants.

"The lawn has become an icon of the American dream. But there really is a dark side to that image because … we pour water on it, we pour chemicals on it, we mow it. It pollutes the air. And then, it's not even a space that we occupy. We don't feel comfortable spending time there," Haeg said.

Haeg isn't the first to think of this, but he's probably the most visible as a crusader for it. And really it's about time, as America needs to pull back from the culture of excess. Two books on the subject are available for those who want to know more. One is The Front Garden: New Approaches to Landscape Design by Mary Riley Smith, and The Edible Salad Garden (Edible Garden Series) by Rosalind Creasy. The latter is part of a whole series with other pertinent varieties.

This week's tip of the Black Hat goes, for once, to a major player in the mainstream media, namely ABC News. And only for this. Don't let it go to your heads, guys.