Backyard-to-table taking Savannah by storm | savannahnow.com

Do not be alarmed if you find Jamie Cribbs on top of his West Duffy Street roof with a little dirt on his hands.

He’s most likely gardening, or maybe just grabbing a few ripe tomatoes to go with his eggs for breakfast or a cucumber for a light afternoon snack.

Cribbs and his partner, Jay Guth, have about a dozen or so plants growing in earth boxes (a self-sustaining potting system) on a small part of their roof. The plants are thriving, too. Dozens of juicy, red tomatoes can be seen from the ground. But these plants are just a very small part of what sustains their backyard-to-table lifestyle, a trend that locals and farming experts agree is cropping up all over Savannah with new heights.

“For our little space we definitely grow enough for Jay and I, my mom, and to share with friends,” said Cribbs, who is a traveling hair stylist for Paula Deen, owner of Foil hair salon, and co-owner of Economy Feed and Seed. “And we never start cooking a meal without coming out to the garden first.”

And when he says they have enough to really sustain his family and friends, he means it. Their entire backyard, which was once an empty lot next to a dilapidated drug house, is now a lush mini-farm and garden in the heart of downtown that is well worth its square-footage in edibles.

They have large citrus trees dripping with fruit, potatoes, okra, squash, radishes, every kind of flavor of herbs, and much more all laid out in clean, easy-to-manage 4-foot square plots, inspired by the city squares.

via Backyard-to-table taking Savannah by storm | savannahnow.com.