Pathways for Fun and Profit

Community Contributed

By Joe Kennedy

To me, pathways are the simplest way of using our energy to get the things we want, and are loaded with possibilities. Pathways through our gardens and farms can be used for more than just access. Call it “pathway gardening and farming.”

When you arrive home, you get out of the car and usually walk to the kitchen.  Along that distance, every square inch has possibilities for making life better.  Potted herbs and veggies can be on both sides along the way — you can pick your dinner when you arrive home on the way to the door.

The watering hose can be situated with the right length to reach everything from the car door to the kitchen door.  Put every tool, container, extra soil, different kinds of mulch, seed packets and labels along the way just at the spot that feels right for you.

After many years of spreading out plants and trees over the edge of 25 acres, I’ve learned that a lot of my farming can be done by putting the trees right along the road to house. Seeing the plants every day always shows changes — growth, color, weed and grass competition, rat and bird damage, and many other things.  It’s art, architecture, and design almost, but the main idea is healthy, fresh food for the family.

All roads are also pathways, and we could utilize this space for growing food.