The Toxic Foragers Lawn

I have read many times, over the years, about finding edible plants in your lawn or a neighbors lawn and harvesting them. Personally I feel this is mostly a bad idea. Lawns in general have more chemical additives than any other single place you might forage from. Lawns usually get a lot of fertilizers, with some having a so called weed killer added to the mix. Lawns use far more chemicals per square foot than even commercial farms use, all in the name of a green lawn.

I feel the prudent forager would be aware of the kinds of chemicals he has added to his lawn. If you are confident you know the level of toxic additives you have applied, or not, use your informed judgment at that point. Your neighbors lawn is a crap shoot. You have no idea what and how often he has poisoned the land, in order to attain the preferred green lawn. Harvesting from that toxic plot of grass may not be a good idea. The plants that pop up can be loaded with bad stuff. Pass up the temptation of that lambs quarter that is calling you.

I believe lawn chemicals added to the millions of acres of lawns, are doing way more harm to the nations water tables than most heavy duty industries. Of course this is conjecture purely based on nothing other than observation and coming to a logical conclusion.

Even vacant lots in many cities are places where the city government dumps weed killers to eradicate those “unsightly weeds”. The exception might be if you have observed those locations for years and have seen  no evidence of chemical use , you could be good to go.

City and county parks have the same problem. In order to make it a pleasant place and to attract visitors, they soak the green with chemicals, and the great looking edibles that spring up, look great, because they get regular water and fertilizer. Any area that is “maintained” should be avoided in my book.

I think my friend Christopher Nyerges had it right , his whole front yard was filled with edible plants, looked way better than the useless green lawn.

Where does that come from anyway, having a green expanse no matter how small or large. My research shows it came from George Washington, at his home, in Mt Vernon. He had an immense front lawn, Why? He was emulating the brits, the rich ones who all cultivated green grass in front of their homes. It came to show prosperity to the passing citizens. It sure got out of hand. It created whole industries, from lawn mower makers to seed companies to fertilizer companies and the endless lines of gardeners to mow for you. People spend millions taking care of a useless lawn.

The useless lawn space could be used to grow edible plants of your choice, saving money instead of spending. Also would be a better more practical use of the front lawn.

By Dude McLean

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