Whether it's time or ability that you lack, you can still have access to fresh, organic produce just steps outside your door. A pair of master gardeners is bringing edible landscaping home to you.
Dennis Matyja and Julia Govis met last year while completing coursework to become master gardeners. They quickly discovered that his knack for landscape design and her background in organic farming together could fill a niche.
"People want to eat right. They don't want to worry about contamination in their food, especially in produce because there's been a lot of that over the last several years," said Matyja, Urban Home Harvest.
They call their company Urban Home Harvest. They specialize in growing organic produce in tight, city spaces. They do the heavy lifting and the creative design so that you don't have to.
"When you think about edible landscaping, you don't just have to have a backyard plot. you can use regular landscaping ideas. Instead of using a foundation bush that might be a ewe, you could use something like a blueberry or a cranberry, so that you're producing food, but it's ornamental landscaping," said Govis, Urban Home Harvest.
They are also conscientious about food safety, which is one of the reasons they are constructing raised beds on this project and filling them with organic soil.
"In an urban setting, you have to be particularly careful about potential soil contaminants. Depending on where you live in the city there's a lot of lead in the soil," said Govis.
Sharon Todd contracted the crew after moving into her Portage Park home in April. She has big dreams for her backyard but that's about all.
"I'm not handy and I work a lot. So this was perfect for me, just perfect," said Todd.
We are told that even a small garden like the one you just saw could yield $600 to $800 worth of produce in a year.
For more information, visit urbanhomeharvest.com .
