Why don't Americans plant trees and bushes of stuff that they can eat in their houses instead of having useless grass?
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Look into native plants. There are so many edible things that you can just leave in the wasteland that is your yard and they'll take over. Here in Tennessee we have pawpaws and maypops for fruit, tomatoes that pop up randomly, garden greens like wood sorrel and lambs quarters, and a bunch of other things that absolutely take over given half a chance. Sure, if you try and grow the seed packets from your local Lowes you'll have issues with pests and whatnot, but there is so much more food out there than these varieties.
Absolutely. Already have a couple.
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As someone who lives in an ex-industrial city (Birmingham Alabama), I’ve always been worried about air pollution and tainted soil (there are superfund sites nearby). I feel like every thing would have to be above ground and covered. That seems like a lot of work. Should I be worried?
Your city has a cool vibe.
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That will depend on what type of Home Ownership Association the house is on. Some of them mandate a well kept grass lawn and you get fined for not moving.
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Zoning laws in a lot of places.
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Grass lawns as a concept came from Europe as a symbol of wealth. If you could afford a large green lawn, you were likely rich.
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We do? At least where I live I see mango trees all over, saw a longan the other day, there are loquats all over too, and until citrus canker there were orange trees in mine at backyards. At my old house we had loquat, tangelo, lemon, lime, carambola and bananas, and a papaya tree.
At this house we have lemon, lime, Valencia, and sugar bell citrus trees, a fig (all of these are dwarf trees) and a vegetable garden but all are in back. In front a small lawn, a few ornamental plants and sometimes I plant bulb fennel out there.
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It’s a stupid reason. Historically, if you were a peasant and had been granted access to land, you grew food or herbs. If however you were a lord, you got your food from your peasants. You had no need to grow your own food. So they could afford to grow lawns as a sign of wealth.
This has transferred across into the modern psyche. Lawns are a way of saying “i’m so rich, i don’t have to worry about sustenance. In fact i’ll throw money at it to maintain this slab of green rather than have it provide food, or shade.”
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HOAs say “ew no that’s for the poors” and good luck finding a house that’s not in an HOA within a reasonable commute to your job
Sadly, bad behavior from owners are the cause. I have several fruit trees in my backyard and the pest presence is high. If they aren't harvested and maintained the impact on your neighbors is high. I hate HOAs, but I get why they would prohibit it, and it's not a class thing, after all...you're a property owner.
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Rodents mostly
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There is a pretty great website called Falling fruit to map trees and other plants that you can pick from freely.
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Littering your yard with food attracts things like rats, raccoons, squirrels, etc, which destroy property and infrastructure, spread disease, and cause injury to people and pets. I'm not saying I'm against fruit trees, but I do understand people who are. It's a legitimate concern. Some areas even have things like boars or bears which are extremely dangerous.
I'm also curious with the way you can sue people in the US what would happen if someone becomes sick after eating one of your fruits. I imagine it varies by state.
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This is the correct answer. So many US'isms are bourgeois / aristocratic imitation.
Cars / wasteful transportation, lawns, sprawled out cities, high amounts of meat consumption, vacation homes / timeshares / exotic vacations, having servants, etc. These are things that are only possible for countries with huge amounts of land and resources, and not sustainable or doable for most of the world.
It could also be seen as rising standards of living, and aristocrats were optimizing their advantage before the standards rose for everyone due to cheap energy availability.
Saying people consume meat to mimic the rich is a little silly.
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Because having a big yard of grass that you have to mow every week while using up gasoline is the American dream and a flex for some reason.
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Probably need a permit and license
Wait...
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Littering your yard with food attracts things like rats, raccoons, squirrels, etc, which destroy property and infrastructure, spread disease, and cause injury to people and pets. I'm not saying I'm against fruit trees, but I do understand people who are. It's a legitimate concern. Some areas even have things like boars or bears which are extremely dangerous.
I'm also curious with the way you can sue people in the US what would happen if someone becomes sick after eating one of your fruits. I imagine it varies by state.
Reading this made me even happier I don't have to live there
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There is a pretty great website called Falling fruit to map trees and other plants that you can pick from freely.
Hey. Thank you for sharing this.
Websites like this are the good part of the internet.
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Thank you. So not having a proper garden increases the value?
Correct, The value is arbitrarily tied to what the older (richer) generation wants. What they were raised on, and what they want is uniformity. They want a white picket fence, no visual obstructions on the premises, no cars visible, no individuality, and no sign that anybody in the neighborhood is insubordinate to the will of the HOA's board.
HOAs in my experience are universally hated by younger generations, but they can't afford houses or change anything.
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Littering your yard with food attracts things like rats, raccoons, squirrels, etc, which destroy property and infrastructure, spread disease, and cause injury to people and pets. I'm not saying I'm against fruit trees, but I do understand people who are. It's a legitimate concern. Some areas even have things like boars or bears which are extremely dangerous.
I'm also curious with the way you can sue people in the US what would happen if someone becomes sick after eating one of your fruits. I imagine it varies by state.
This. Fruit trees are loads of work that most amateur gardeners don’t know how to deal with or have the time to deal with. Gardening and farming is a shitload of work and was only made cheap and easy through the marvel of modern technology. You don’t just plant shit and get to eat lol
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Littering your yard with food attracts things like rats, raccoons, squirrels, etc, which destroy property and infrastructure, spread disease, and cause injury to people and pets. I'm not saying I'm against fruit trees, but I do understand people who are. It's a legitimate concern. Some areas even have things like boars or bears which are extremely dangerous.
I'm also curious with the way you can sue people in the US what would happen if someone becomes sick after eating one of your fruits. I imagine it varies by state.
Trees in general do all of those horrible things you mentioned.
I'm glad I don't live wherever you are.
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Trees in general do all of those horrible things you mentioned.
I'm glad I don't live wherever you are.
Dropped fruit all over the ground really encourages rats though.
My mum got a house super cheap when I was young because it had a "rat problem" it also had a peach tree in the back yard that the owner didnt pick up after. We removed literal garbage bags of peach pits from the roof space and crawl spaces of that house and garage.
Chopped the peach tree down (it wasnt a healthy tree anyway) and the problem basically disappeared in days.
