I AGREE! This has been one of the first things I've come to question since coming to this country. That and why they put soooo much cream cheese on your bagel at Dunkin Donuts. Seriously, WTF.

REMIND ME TO PROMOTE!!!

nerdfighters! :-)

Tags for this video have been changed from 'lawn, grass, yard, turf, John Green' to 'lawn, grass, yard, turf, John Green, vlogbrothers, nerdfighter' - edited by DerHasisttot

Cactus garden!

I had to point out to him the story of that one lady who was facing 93 days of jail time for having a vegetable garden until the city finally relented.

*nsfw

This video has been flagged as being Not Suitable For Work - declared nsfw by ant.

What could possibly be nsfw about this video?>> ^ant:

nsfw

>> ^Skeeve:

What could possibly be nsfw about this video?>> ^ant:
nsfw



Cussings.

I just watched a second time. Like all vlogbrothers videos, there is no swearing - he says fracking and freakin', but nothing nsfw.>> ^ant:

>> ^Skeeve:
What could possibly be nsfw about this video?>> ^ant:
nsfw


Cussings.

I'm taking the nsfw off.

Perhaps it is from a Anglophone cultural distinctive to keep a large area of uninhabitable lands near your home?

"Julius Caesar, in his famous account of the Gallic Wars of the 50s BC, provided readers at home with a blood-curdling description of the Germanic tribes he encountered in battle:

'The various tribes regard it as their greatest glory to lay waste as much as possible of the land around them and to keep it uninhabited. They hold it a proof of a people's valour to drive their neighbours from their homes, so that no-one dare settle near them. No discredit attaches to plundering raids outside tribal frontiers. The Germans say that they serve to keep young men in training and prevent them from getting lazy.'"

- Taken from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/romanpropaganda_article_01.shtml

edit: embed ain't working

http://videosift.com/video/Vegetable-Garden-in-Front-Yard-Brings-Wrath-of-City

As Videosift's resident doctor of ecology, I approve this video.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag.(show it anyway)

He'll yes. Totally agree with Speedymouth McShortcut. Who else is tired of this kind of delivery style?

I like my lawn

I don't use pesticides. I draw water from my well, not a municipal water supply. Groundwater levels are not threatened here and I only have to run my sprinkler system about three months a year. So, I don't think it's a huge time or resource sink.

I'm not sure we would be able to enjoy the space around my house without a lawn. I'm not about to plant an acre worth of vegetables -- 400 square feet is plenty for me. If I just let it grow naturally then it would be impassable waist high scrub in a year. I guess it might be interesting to only mow a small fraction of my yard and seed wildflowers in the rest. Not everyone in my neighborhood mows their entire yard regularly.

EVIL THY NAME IS RYCHAN!

>> ^rychan:

I like my lawn
I don't use pesticides. I draw water from my well, not a municipal water supply. Groundwater levels are not threatened here and I only have to run my sprinkler system about three months a year. So, I don't think it's a huge time or resource sink.
I'm not sure we would be able to enjoy the space around my house without a lawn. I'm not about to plant an acre worth of vegetables -- 400 square feet is plenty for me. If I just let it grow naturally then it would be impassable waist high scrub in a year. I guess it might be interesting to only mow a small fraction of my yard and seed wildflowers in the rest. Not everyone in my neighborhood mows their entire yard regularly.

>> ^rychan:

I only have to run my sprinkler system about three months a year.


Holy frack! You have to use sprinklers on your lawn for a QUARTER OF THE YEAR and you think that's fine?

Do you people in the states have any concept of low impact? It truly is stunning... I mean, we here in Australia are pretty damn f*cked up too, but we're trying...

What about fricken rainwater tanks? All new houses built in Australia require them now... and guess what? They give you heaps of water for watering any lawn you may want or your veggie patch or your fruit trees, or your small wheat crop.

>> ^spoco2:

>> ^rychan:
I only have to run my sprinkler system about three months a year.

Holy frack! You have to use sprinklers on your lawn for a QUARTER OF THE YEAR and you think that's fine?
Do you people in the states have any concept of low impact? It truly is stunning... I mean, we here in Australia are pretty damn f cked up too, but we're trying...
What about fricken rainwater tanks? All new houses built in Australia require them now... and guess what? They give you heaps of water for watering any lawn you may want or your veggie patch or your fruit trees, or your small wheat crop.


Geesh, calm down. We actually have a shared rainwater tank here -- the groundwater that I already mentioned.

I calculated the electrical cost of running my sprinklers, and it came to 5 or 6 dollars a month. So yes, there's some carbon impact.

When I say 3 months a year, I don't mean 3 months of continuous operation, you realize? It's 2 and half hours every morning. In the Fall and Spring the grass doesn't need watering, and in the Winter it's under snow.

Anyway, if you want to yell at me for not being low impact, do so because I live 20 miles from work. I don't want to, but I don't have a choice.

Actually, I'm curious about your electrical consumption since you're shaming me for mine. I live in a state with one of the lowest per-capita carbon emission rates. I have aggressively programmed electronic thermostats and compact fluorescent lights. I run my air conditioner only about 30 days out of the year. I wonder if you're not actually living a higher impact lifestyle by trying to live in an arid area?

@rychan My response is mostly due to you saying that you water that much of the year as if it's low. If that is considered low in the States then that's terrible. And they're electrical sprinkler too... 2 and a half hours of watering every morning is a HUGE amount of water, that's just insane.

Do you catch public transport to work? I live about 30Km from work, and walk to the station and then train in.

>> ^spoco2:

@rychan My response is mostly due to you saying that you water that much of the year as if it's low. If that is considered low in the States then that's terrible. And they're electrical sprinkler too... 2 and a half hours of watering every morning is a HUGE amount of water, that's just insane.
Do you catch public transport to work? I live about 30Km from work, and walk to the station and then train in.


We get plenty of rain here -- our groundwater levels aren't dropping, our lakes aren't draining. The water I use on my lawn isn't washing away with any chemicals (it's not washing away at all -- I don't overwater). I don't see what your objection is to drawing the water out of the ground instead of building a basin for it, other than the increased electrical demands. But as I said, I don't think those electrical demands are ridiculous.

There is no public transit near my house.

"I'M the 'green-est'."...
"No way, I'M the 'green-est'."
* repeat *
...just thought I'd sum that up for 'yall.

*promote

Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Saturday, July 23rd, 2011 1:03pm PDT - promote requested by legacy0100.

>> ^Skeeve:

What could possibly be nsfw about this video?>> ^ant:
nsfw

ideas. it breaks the status quo

I haven't seen these guys in like two years. THANKS, now I have to go watch all the ones I missed.

If people don't want to plant vegetable gardens, then what about habitat for something to live in? Lawns are a wasteland for native plant, animal, fungal, and bacteria species.
Also, I don't buy the carbon sink thing. Powered lawnmowers put out a lot of CO2. Also, a lot of cut grass decays... and that releases greenhouse gasses as well.
Oh.. and 'pesticides' were mentioned, but what about herbicide and fertilizer run off?
OhX2... and lawns are reeeaaaally ugly!