After nearly 11 years, Anne Davis was ready to say goodbye to her front lawn.

The northwest Corvallis homeowner had already replaced the grass in her backyard with a vibrant flower garden. Out front, she wanted to do something similar, but with a neighborly twist.

"I thought, 'I know my neighbors like to get fresh produce,' " said Davis.

But she knew not everyone had the space or time to invest in a vegetable garden. "I thought, 'hey, why not just share the space?' "

And from that, a small-scale community garden was born on Terracegreen Drive.

To help with the project, Davis recruited three other nearby residents, plus a friend: Patty Pape, Maureen Rhea, Jessie Anderson and DeeDee Schneider.

In May, Davis made the first big step, putting cardboard down over the lawn and covering the cardboard with soil.

Planting happened Memorial Day Weekend. Now, as summer nears its end, the five gardeners have enjoyed eggplant, tomatoes, kale, basil, squash, onions and more.

Davis figures they've harvested about 200 pounds of produce from the garden.

"Everyone sees it as a plus rather than a deterrent," Davis said.

She said they've gotten "thumbs up" from passerby, who notice not only the garden but the sign that declares it the "Erasing a lawn, raising the bounty" project. There also are cards with the URL for Davis's blog, which she has diligently kept since the garden's inception.

"There hasn't been one negative bit of feedback," she said. "Everyone thinks it's a positive step and looks good."

The looking good part initially concerned Maureen Rhea, who told Davis she'd seen community gardens and wasn't sold on how they looked.

"The produce may be great, but it wasn't very aesthetically pleasing," Rhea said.

Davis promised the Terracegreen garden would be different - and it is. For one thing, it's one big garden, not a series of small plots.

Really, the only problem that the crew has found is in trying to keep from sharing the food with certain visitors - deer, crows and jays.

With a successful summer coming to a close, the five women are looking forward to next year. Davis wants to terrace the sloping ground to get more room out of the plot. And she thinks planting lavender along the border will help keep the deer from snacking on the produce.

Davis notes that unlike some people who replace their lawns, she didn't start this project to cut down her water bill. Her motivation had to do with local food and community, she said. It's worked for them, but could be even better if more than one yard participated, so properties could grow different crops and rotate, to keep the soil and plants healthy.

"This is small scale and there's so much food we give away," she said. "There's no reason for people to go hungry."

It's been a worthwhile project.

"We've had a lot of fun with it," Davis said. "And I look forward to more fun with it."

So does Rhea, whose gardening experience was limited before the project. "I grew tomatoes, in pots," she said. "This is much better."

Follow the garden project online at erasinglawnraising

bounty.wordpress.com.