This question can be approached on several levels. One, YIELD per square foot, and there are several searchable sites that can be explored on that. Two, TASTE, which is subjective, but folks generally seem to agree that tomatoes always come out on top in the homegrown vs storebought comparison. Then there's COST: another variety of factors comes into play here. Factors influencing cost include: seasonality (almost reduced to nonexistant due to air shipment in off seasons); transportability, the more delicate bruisable stuff have highest loss rates; perishability, short shelf-life; and overall exoticness. For example, very unusual tropical fruits will have less availability and be costlier than, say, apples which grow almost anywhere in the US and have good storage capability. Artichokes need a very long season but can't be grown reliably in zones colder than zone 7 and their cost reflects that (but cardoons, same family and similar in taste, can be grown much further north). Asparagus are pretty hardy growers but short harvest season in most of the US, so imports are available year-round. But if you want white or purple asparagus, you have to pay the piper. Iceberg and other more common lettuces are fairly inexpensive, but get into the fancy shmancy stuff and you're shelling out dough. So IMO, it's kind of like creating a matrix of yield vs taste vs cost and deciding what floats your personal boat.

Bart, I agree that Vinca on a path is an accident waiting to happen. Super stringy, tangly and great murder mystery material. If you want a slightly more expensive but more long term solution, I'd go with crushed rock (NOT pea gravel) and edge the path with some kind of hardscape material--bricks, recycled concrete, etc. The crushed rock will need to be amended over the stretch of time but not completely replaced. The hardscape edging will mostly hold the path material in place. Chunks of broken concrete work well and are cheap and usually free. They can, with safety precautions, be sledge hammered into smaller chunks. Sometimes construction companies will drop a pile of concrete at a homeowner's lot. It saves the company dump and recycling fees. You can combine the crushed rocks and edging with switchbacks and log inserts or other "steps" in the steeper areas. If the grade isn't super dicey and the path is wide enough, a wheel barrow or garden cart can fairly easily traverse this kind of path. I've installed paths like this on pretty steep terrain and maintained the gardens and paths following installation. Prior to the installation of a path, one Portland West Hills slope was so steep that I slid down it on my belly during a particularly saturated winter, fingers digging a trail like cat claws on curtains all the looooong way down to the bottom of the incline! Carol

For some reason this year old comment thread popped back up on my feed. How did your sidewalk/steps project turn out? After pics? Did you clad your front porch post to make it larger (and sturdier looking)? It occurs to me that if you're working on enhancing curb appeal, you might consider creating a distinct property boundary -- left and right side of the house -- and adding a trash can corral against whatever fence you are able to create (building codes permitting, of course). https://www.pinterest.com/pin/3799980914189117/ Your front yard has great potential to be an attractive private front yard patio. You might consider cutting anything draping down over the concrete block wall that is parallel to the front sidewalk and, after scrubbing/bleaching away any sign plants were trying to take root in the wall, then keeping that trimmed. If the kinds of plants hanging down appeal to you, consider planting them only in the planter parallel to your sidewalk or another planter for less of an unkempt appearance. How does your front yard drain rainwater ... via a path beside your house or do you need to create a drainage path beside your house to make your front yard more usable?

Hi Adrien, I do think you’ll get some of the DG inside and on your floors, and will scratch. Probably not the best idea with kids. Adults who are sorta careful is iffy. And I’m not entirely happy with it, to be honest. I’d probably get rock if I had to do it again. Good luck!