On the QT | The Official Newsletter of GWA April-May 2016 | Page 21

MEMBER PROFILE

CATHY WILKINSON BARASH

Rosalind Creasy — edible
landscaping pioneer

A

Edible Landscaping was one of the first
American landscaping books to advocate
organic methods, encourage recycling and
provide alternatives to resource-wasting
gardening techniques. It served to move
edibles out of their former sheltered backyard existence into the prominence of the
front yard. Since the book’s publication, the
term edible landscaping has become part
of horticultural, architectural and common
jargon. Ros revised and updated the book
— complete with luscious color photography in 2010.

A GARDENER AND MORE
A prolific garden and food writer, Ros is also
a photographer and landscape designer
with a passion for beautiful vegetables and
fruits. Frustrated by America’s penchant
for lawns, Ros has used her front garden
to showcase an ever-changing display of
edible ornamentals. It has been the workhorse that fueled her books, articles, and
calendars for more than 30 years. Impressed
by the creativity I saw in her photos, I was
relieved to learn that she has help installing
and maintaining the landscape. She isn’t a
superwoman!
Ros’ photos were among the first to feature
then-unknown heirloom tomatoes and melons, blue potatoes and corn, mesclun salad

Neighborhood children regularly stop
by Ros Creasy’s front-yard edible
landscape. Kate (bottom left) instructs
other children on the rules of the
garden: let your parents know where
you are; don’t pick anything unless Ros
says it is okay; don’t step in the beds;
do not open the coop or go inside
and only feed the chickens the greens
growing in front of the coop.

greens and edible flowers. She helped
popularize these and other outstanding,
but then little-known, vegetables, in her
1988 book Cooking From the Garden. That
book and her syndicated column for the Los
Angeles Times helped introduce a vast new
palette of edibles like candy-cane-striped
Chioggia beets, Rosa Bianca eggplant,
baby bok choi, Rainbow chard, purple cauliflower, golden zucchini, purple asparagus,
carrots (in hues of purple, red, white and
yellow) and other culinary delights that are
commonplace today.

CHANGING SCENES
Living in the San Francisco Bay area, Ros
has been able to change both the design
and concept of her garden twice a year,
even redoing the hardscape from time to
time. Because her articles are photo-driven, even changing the color of the garden
walls, trellises or fences makes a big visual
impact. Over the years, themes have been
as diverse as Alice in Wonderland, the Yellow Brick Road, children’s vegetable maze,
vegetable and flower trial gardens, Magic
Circle Herb garden, container gardens and
100-Square-Foot Garden (which produced
$700 of vegetables) and nationality-oriented
food gardens (Mexican, Italian, German,
Asian and others). Additionally, a chicken
coop resides in the front garden.
The engaging gardens welcome friends and
neighbors. The UPS driver may pick a few

cherry tomatoes as he makes his
way to the front door. When her
thornless blackberries are at their
peak, Ros hosts a neighborhood
ice-cream social, where everyone
helps themselves to blackberries to make
sundaes. When she grew wheat, neighbors
helped cut, thresh (between sheets on
the driveway), winnow it and bake several
loaves of bread for the annual Fourth of July
block party.
Children regularly stop by to look at the
garden and feed the front-yard chickens.
Mr. X, who lived to be 15 years old, was a
favorite. It is heart-warming when children
bring friends to the garden, you hear them
reciting the rules and showing them around.
Grown-up children come back to visit,
bringing their own youngsters.
Since 1982, Ros has written 18 books on
gardening and cooking. Her books have
garnered some prestigious awards including Quill & Trowel Awards and ]