This was literally just a lawn
about a year and three months ago, a lawn with grass,
and then I turned it into this giant garden.
This is actually my first garden basically.
The perfect lawn is an American pastime.
We love our lawns so much they take up
63,000 square miles in the U.S.,
which is roughly the size of Florida.
We mow, fertilize, and water them.
But what if instead of using those resources
and that time and that money to make our lawns
the perfect monoculture, we actually grew something
like food or habitat for animals.
So I wanna know
To find out, I visit Rob Greenfield,
a community activist in Orlando, Florida,
where he's teaching his neighbors
how to convert their lawns into food gardens.
And then I pay a visit to one of those neighbors
to see how their garden is growing.
I'm Lucy Biggers, and this is One Small Step.
The costs associated with keeping our lawns green
are pretty steep.
Americans use roughly
And it's not just water.
In 2012, Americans used roughly
And we can't forget the millions of tons
of fertilizer we apply each year.
The EPA estimates
Not to mention, lawn mowers are loud and annoying.
Who has had a Saturday morning in the summer
completely ruined by the sound of a lawnmower?
With pesticides, fertilizers, and gas-guzzling gadgets,
That's why we came here to the neighborhood
of Audubon Park in Orlando, Florida
where growing food on your lawn is a common sight.
That's because in 2013, a couple successfully
fought for their right to grow a front-yard garden.
And now, they're thriving in this neighborhood,
and more could soon be growing across the state.
That's because the Florida State Senate just passed a bill
that protects the right to grow front-yard gardens.
What was the effort that you had to take to take this
from a traditional lawn to what we're seeing now?
It wasn't very challenging.
We're talking some cardboard, some mulch,
which is just wood chips from a tree,
and some soil brought in, some compost.
And that took a lawn to a garden.
Within three or four months, it was producing
five or $600 worth of food every month.
Wow, and I know a lot of people in America
are obsessed with their lawns.
They wanna keep them perfect,
and they water them, they fertilize them.
Do you think that this is any more effort
than keeping a green lawn?
I'm dealing with some major diversity here,
so I do think a lawn in many ways is easier.
But of course, it's worth it.
I get to eat 50 different plants.
And I only put in a little more work, and I've already
produced thousands of dollars worth of food out of it.
This uses a lot less money and a lot less water
than a traditional lawn.
The money that I do spend is actually returned tenfold.
that I don't have to buy at the grocery store.
Growing food, it's great because it actually
helps your garden to do better.
If you have pollinators, it's shown
that you can have up to a 50% increase
in food production by bringing in pollinators.
So you'll see, it's full of both honey bees, native bees,
native wasps, there's tons of beneficial insects.
And the reason they're here is because this garden
is full of flowers and native flowers.
The one small step people can take is to plant something.
One small step for anything in sustainability,
I think planting something and growing
your first bit of food is one of the most
revolutionary things you can do, period.
I'm so excited to check out this garden, try some food.
Can we eat as we go?
There's all sorts of things we can munch on.
All right, let's do it.
Growing your own food in a garden isn't new.
During World War I and World War II,
the U.S. government encourage Americans to grow
their own fruits and veggies as part of the war effort.
They became known as victory gardens.
By 1944, there were an estimated
20 million victory gardens in the U.S.,
producing 40% of the fresh produce consumed in the country.
If we did it in the past, we can do it again.
I wanna show you this pepper plant first.
This has produced over a thousand peppers since I started.
There's probably 300 peppers on this plant alone right now.
From one seed?
From one seed that I just snagged from a friend's garden.
This has produced for the last year,
this has been putting out peppers.
Can I eat this pepper?
Yeah. Is it spicy?
You look nervous for me.
I'll do it with you, but I don't know how this gonna go.
I think we should do it, cheers.
They're somewhat hot.
We might have to take a break.
OK.
I'm good, I'm good, I'm good.
If you wanna grab a carrot,
grab the greens and just yank it.
Oh my gosh, OK.
Look at that thing.
So amazing.
So good.
Yeah, there's few greater things
than pulling a root right out of the ground.
I've never done that before.
Yeah.
This is celery.
Oh my gosh, so what do I do?
Just go in there and break a stalk off.
Oh gosh, oh I got it.
Cheers. Cheers.
It's more flavorful than the grocery store.
Way more flavorful.
It's denser and sweeter.
I've never eaten healthier
than I have in the last 30 minutes.
Really.
Growing your own food can help fight climate change
by reducing your carbon footprint.
With a garden in your yard, zero gas has to be burned
transporting the food to your plate.
Rob's garden was so impressive,
but also a little intimidating.
That's why I'm so excited to check out
the garden of Chloe Destine.
She took one of Rob's free gardening classes last year,
and now she's become a gardener in her own right.
It's so beautiful, thank you so much for having us.
Thanks for coming.
So when did you decide to start
turning your lawn into a garden?
I actually thought about having this magnificent lawn.
And then I thought, you know what,
why grow grass when I can grow food?
The sod, the seed, the fertilizer,
I've spent thousands of dollars on this lawn,
and it still didn't look right.
So I was like,
Ditch the lawn.
Ditch the lawn,
we're gonna plant some food on here.
And you took Rob's gardening lesson?
Yes, I sure did.
That was my first course that I ever took.
And I went, I liked his method.
And I think a lot of people are intimidated by gardening,
so what would be your advice to the beginning gardener?
Start with maybe a seed, like the seeds that you eat,
from just a fruit that you eat,
just start with a little small plant
and see if you can do that, then move forward.
So did this used to be grass?
All grass, this time last year, grass.
This time last year grass, wow.
And what about this pretty tree
we got right here. This right here,
this is a tree from Walmart.
Walmart tree.
The Walmart tree.
And this is an orange tree.
You can a tree like this, Walmart $25,
and you may have some fruit this year.
These are raspberries, and as you can see,
they're already fruiting.
These are strawberries
that I've planted. Amazing.
These are my eggplants.
If you can see, I've got a little eggplant on here.
Since you've been growing your food,
has it changed your perspective
in other aspects of your life?
Yes, I think I've become more calmer.
Really?
Yes, more calmer.
Whenever I'm stressed at work, I'm thinking
now what when I go home, I can go to my garden.
I can sit in my garden with my dogs,
run around, check on my plants.
Well, your whole yard, garden, is so beautiful.
Thank you. And it's so peaceful
back here, so thank you
so much for having me. Thank you.
Thank you, no problem.
And I can't wait to see what your garden
looks like in another year.
It's gonna be amazing.
Awesome.
It is so cool that our lawns can feed us
and make our environment better.
After all, our lawns are part of nature
and not just a mantle that's meant
to look perfect and pretty.
This whole experience has opened my eyes
to the potential of lawns
and gotten me so excited about the future.
That's all for this week's episode of One Small Step.
Thank you so much for watching.
If you liked it, please share it,
and we'll see you next time.