Harvesting the Fruits of an Urban Farm

Take one environmentally minded chef, add a spacious city yard, subtract the grass, and you’re left with something both beautiful and delicious. 

Mark Campbell, executive chef at , spends his work hours carefully crafting signature dishes. He comes home to forage.

As a professional chef, the last thing he wants to grow at home is food that creates work. So his lush, full garden, which encompasses nearly all the outdoor space at his home, features fruit instead. There are red currants and apples, gooseberries and raspberries, rhubarb and blueberries, apricots and cherries, peaches, pears and plums. All told, there are 75 different varieties of fruit growing on the property. 

“Everywhere you go there’s something to eat," Campbell said. "Some days I’ll just walk around the yard and nibble.”

And to think it all started because Campbell didn’t want to mow the grass.

“Number one it started with getting rid of all the grass,” Campbell said. “I didn’t plant it and I resented having to mow it, so that was the intent with all this.”

About a decade ago, Campbell started removing the grass in his yard and replacing it with hostas. Little by little, he moved from the front of the yard to the back. Hostas love shade—and Campbell loves hostas—so he soon decided to plant trees to provide more shade. And if you’re going to plant trees, Campbell, thought, you might as well plant fruit trees and get something out of it.

Campbell focuses largely on low maintenance, low impact plants, like the disease-resistant and pest-free red currants, though the care of his 11 varieties of apples can be a little tricky, especially because he grows organic. The reward is worth the effort, though, Campbell said. 

“I find mowing grass to be so unrewarding—you get nothing out of it," he said. "At least when you’re taking care of the apple trees you get something in return. There’s a payoff, where with mowing grass there’s no payoff.”

Campbell’s garden, which was included in the Edina Garden Council Tour last year and was a winning garden in the Star Tribune Beautiful Gardens contest in 2009, will be featured as part of the on Sunday, July 31.

He keeps it simple, planting what is best suited to the environment, and focusing on what has few pests or demands, making it easy to grow organic and feel good about consuming the fruits of his labor. He also composts his yard waste and mulches with Minnesota produced pine bark mulch. 

“By going organic and knowing what I put on them, I don’t have to be concerned about eating right off the plant,” Campbell said. 

Campbell’s urban garden has also become something of an accidental animal sanctuary, a safe haven for bees, butterflies, dragonflies and toads. Even a few deer.  

Campbell will be available during the tour to answer questions about his garden and demonstrate the leaf blower and shredder he uses for yard waste composting and the electric weed whipper he uses on the minimal amount of grass left in the yard. 

Take a hike in Campbell’s urban farm and four other locations during the Edina Eco Yard and Garden Tour from 1-5 p.m. on Sunday, July 31.

Tickets are $15 and can be purchased today, beginning at 12:30 p.m. at 7013 Comanche Court.

Be on the lookout for more sneak peaks of each Edina Eco Yard and Garden Tour stop before you have the opportunity to see them in person.